Having previously hiked a loop over Bald & Speckled Mountains from the Little Concord Pond State Park trailhead, today we hiked the loop from the Speckled Mountain Pasture Trailhead. Heading up the lower part of the Speckled Mountain Pasture Trail, there wasn't anything particularly new to note, except for some ribbons and signage put there to keep ATVs on the designated ATV trail. We hiked the loop counterclockwise, so we split off from the Speckled Mountain Pasture Trail and continued around the base of the mountain on logging roads and the faint trail crossing a low saddle to Little Concord Pond.
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| Speckled Mountain Pasture Trailhead |
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| A waterfall along the Speckled Mountain Pasture Trail |
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| Little Concord Pond |
After hiking along the north shore of the pond, we ascended Bald Mountain, where we started to see multiple groups of other hikers. After a short snack break on top of Bald, we continued on to Speckled. At the summit of Speckled, we had lunch and enjoyed the beautiful views on this early fall day.
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| View from Bald Mountain |
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| Trail junction near the summit of Bald Mountain |
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| Speckled Mountain summit Geodetic Survey marker |
After lunch, we descended back to the car on the Speckled Mountain Pasture Trail. The first part of the descent along the ridge with alternating forests and open ledge is always a very enjoyable part of the trail. It's always fun finding new variations on mountains which you've hiked many times!
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| View northwest from the summit of Speckled Mountain |
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| Sampson at the summit |
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| View east while descending on the Speckled Mountain Pasture Trail |
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