The girls, my nephews and in laws were spending most of the week in Glen, NH with and our days were spent visiting Story Land and Santa's Village. We rent a chalet and it's only minutes away from dozens of mountains and plenty of prime hiking trails. Last year I missed out on any hiking opportunities. But this time, I managed to slip away on Friday morning to hike Iron Mt. in Jefferson NH. I was hoping to check out some abandoned mine shafts past the Iron Mt. summit along with some southern cliffs which I think would give me a view towards the chalet if I had time.
To get to the trail head I took Green Hill Road out of Jackson which led me to Iron Mountain Road. Iron Mountain Road is basically a steep one lane dirt road or a Class 6 road as described by the street sign at the beginning of the road. Almost at the end of the road there is a parking area big enough for about 4-5 cards. Across from the parking lot is the trail head which is marked by the sign "Trail". The trail cuts through a field on Hayes Farm which instantly has amazing views of Pinkham Notch. I could make out bits and pieces of the Presidential Traverse which I had done a month prior. Once out of the fields, the trail was washed out and steep but quiet and peaceful. About 10 minutes from the summit there was a rock outcrop/boulder slide mentioned in the AMC White Mountain Guide book that had more views of Pinkham Notch. It took about a half hour of hiking at a moderate pace to reach the summit. After taking in the remnants of a fire tower at he summit, I started heading south towards the mine shafts when a blueberry bush caught my eye. I stopped to pick a couple blueberries from that bush and when I looked around I realized the entire southern side of the summit was covered in blueberry bushes! I never made it to the mine shafts or the south cliffs because I spent the next 15-20 minutes picking blueberries. Crouched over, I picked about half a zip lock bag while looking over my shoulder in case a bear was coming up for breakfast. When I was done picking I decided it would be best to head back and brought the blueberries back which were a pretty big hit with the kids, especially Emma.
