Winter Road

Beau’s ready to go! What’s the hold up?

We’ve had a snowy December and an icy January, but up here in rural New Hampshire, our road crew does a great job keeping roads plowed and sanded. The condition of Mount Israel Road is a certain sign of a Sandwich Central School snow day: if the road hasn’t been plowed first thing, there’s no school.

Icy snow poses problems for winter sports — slippery skiing and difficult snow shoeing, particularly for dogs who either slip and slide on top of the crust or punch through and get stuck. For me and my exercise buddy Beau, the road is our go-to walking route, and we have a particularly lovely road.

It’s a hilly route and we walk briskly for about four miles round trip. (Gracie prefers the couch.) We don’t have to worry about traffic: on typical winter mornings, we’re passed by a couple of pick up trucks, a Rowan Electric truck (the Rowans live up on Maple Ridge), and maybe a car or two. Come with us this morning, and be sure you have creepers on your boots. My Kahtoola microspikes are the bomb!

View from our Little House

Right out the door we’re graced with this view of white-capped Mount Chocorua. It never gets old. Notice Todd’s excellent plowing job. Our driveway is long, steep and winding (just ask the UPS driver!), but Todd keeps it neatly plowed with his orange Kubota tractor. (Guess I can’t complain about that purchase. The motorcycle, on the other hand….)

We hang a left on Mount Israel Road, heading up to Maple Ridge, which is the dirt section of the road. We first pass our good neighbors the Browns, who have an excavating business, then we pass under the power lines that cut from a flank of Mount Israel on one side of the road to a beaver pond on the other. The Sandwich Sidehillers snow-mobile club grooms that swath and more, making miles of trails for us nordic skiers, as well. (They’re a courteous lot, always making way for skiers, and mostly only using the trails on weekends.)

Then it’s up the hill past the handsome Jonathan Beede House Bed and Breakfast and around a perilous hairpin turn. (The Davies lovingly restored the historic farmhouse, to all our benefit.)

The woods are wet this sunny day. Nice for thirsty animals, and Beau is clearly catching enticing scents. There are plenty of deer in the area, but you never know with this dog — he could be just as excited about a squirrel!

Down the hill we pass the Chapman Sanctuary on the left, with its miles of trails through woods and meadows, and the tiny Mason Cemetery on the right. The Sherman’s house is tucked back off the road; Booty Family Farm taps their Maple trees, in exchange for some syrup, of course. The sap will be running soon!

Next we come upon a dead tree with large holes bored in it and a pile of chipped wood at its base. Pileated Woodpeckers have been enjoying the insects below the bark. Those are some big woodpeckers! I’m encouraged to see signs of them pecking at something other than the sides of our house… Right? Gad zooks!

Beau and I also wonder about a roadside tree with exposed routes creating what looks like a little den underneath. It’s tucked up beside a stone wall. Is there an animal cozied up in there for the winter? Probably not with cars going by so close, but there are animals holed up all over the woods, waiting for the thaw. Including bears. A neighbor reported finding a bear on his porch just last week. Oh, dear! They should still be hibernating. When I told my mother about this she said two words: global warming. She’s a smart woman who believes in science. Go figure. In any case, we’ve started bringing her bird feeders in at night again.

At the bottom of the hill we pass a”camp” owned by a Massachusetts family that enjoys hunting and snowmobiling. I’m often amazed by the number of cars and trucks parked along the road here on some weekends. Where do they put all those people? I’m told there’s a bunk room in there, which makes sense, but in any case, they’re always friendly with a wave and a “Good Morning!”

Then it’s up the long hill that crests on Maple Ridge. On the left is a wide, rolling field that rises to a large white farm house set back but visible from the road. It’s a “summer house,” not insulated for year-round use and closed up after the Sandwich Fair in mid-October. I love seeing that house — it has a Walton’s vibe — and the field provides a glorious view of Sandwich Mountain.

Sandwich Mountain

Beede House B&B and Mt. Israel

Beau and I go all the way up to the end of Mount Israel Road, where it intersects with Maple Ridge Road and Wing Road, and sometimes we continue on a bit further to the Young Maple Ridge Sugar House. (That gives us our four miles.) On the way back down the hill, we catch views of Mount Israel, especially visible with the leaves off the trees.

Time to go home and add some wood to the stove. Thanks for coming along!