A
few days ago, I had the urge to hike just for the sake of hiking. The objective was merely to meander with no
particular destination in mind. The only
criteria for this adventure was that it would involve something related to the
Springtime season which is just beginning here in northern New Hampshire.
From
previous spring seasons, I recalled doing some pleasant off-trail trekking in
the vicinity of the Davis Path. Since the trail faces southwesterly, the snow tends to melt a bit sooner, and water in the nearby
brooks begin to flow with some vigor. This
seemed like it would be a good location to launch a meandering Springtime journey. And so, off I went!
For
the first 20 minutes or so, I hiked on the Davis Path itself. I briefly toyed with the idea of continuing
on this trail to the top of Mt. Crawford.
However, it quickly lost its appeal since it really didn't fit the theme
that I had in mind for this particular day.
So, I headed westward off the trail to reach an unnamed brook which only
flows on a seasonal basis. As luck would
have it, there were several cascades at the point where I intersected the
brook. Shown below is one of the more
picturesque cascades that I saw.
 |
| Picturesque cascade along an unnamed brook located west of the Davis Path |
To comfortably walk in the vicinity of the brook, I stopped to put on my
Microspikes since there were some icy patches here and there. When putting my foot up onto a rock to adjust
my footwear, it was comical to see a "shadowy friend" mimic every
move I made. I took a snapshot of my
shadow's foot “touching” my foot. It's
one of those things where you had to be there in order to appreciate the humor
of the situation.
 |
| Me and my shadow |
After
sauntering along the brook for a while, I eventually made my way back to the
Davis Path and headed in the direction of the trailhead. However, before reaching trailhead, I decided
to head northward off the trail to roam along the east bank of the Saco
River. Although the majority of the
shoreline is on public land within the White Mountain National Forest, there is
one small segment that is on private land. However, the landowner kindly allows public
use of this land, except from April 20 through May 1. (I
don't know what significance those dates have.
I'm not a fisherman, but as far as I know, it doesn't seem to correlate
to a particular fishing season.)
 |
| Sign posted at both ends of short segment of private land along east bank of Saco River |
The
next two snapshots show typical scenes while wandering along the east bank of the
Saco.
 |
| Looking southward down the Saco River |
 |
| Looking northward up the Saco River |
So,
that's the story of one of my Springtime meanderings. I roughly guesstimate that then entire round-trip
journey was less than 4 miles. Although
the distance was short, the enjoyment was BIG!
I'm
uncertain if doing this type of meandering hike with no destination in mind is
an acquired taste, or just one of my personal quirks. Regardless, for anyone who has yet to
experience this type of hiking adventure, I would encourage you to at least
give it a try. There will be times when
you see nothing of significance, and other times when you see things that are a
total surprise. For me, part of the
appeal is related to the uncertainty about what will be found. Perhaps many readers will recall the line
from the Forest Gump movie, i.e. “Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get!” :-)
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