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Thoreau Falls Bridge Loop 10/8/16

Today's hike was a long 22.2 mile loop in order to check out the endangered Thoreau Falls Bridge before a final decision is made on whether or not it gets torn down and if it gets replaced. This hike also got me past two remote ponds, a remote waterfall, and on about 12 miles of new trail for me. The foliage was nice, but just before peak. The weather started off sunny but became cloudy by midday. Overall, the hike had 3,288 ft of elevation gain and took me just under 10.5 hours of hiking (which was just over 2 hours below book time)
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Almost within sight of the parking area, the trail crosses the railroad tracks. As noted by the signs, these tracks are still currently used
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Almost within sight of the parking area, the trail crosses the railroad tracks. As noted by the signs, these tracks are still currently used

BridgeLoop0185

  • Almost within sight of the parking area, the trail crosses the railroad tracks. As noted by the signs, these tracks are still currently used
  • Looking up the tracks before crossing
  • Where the trail for Ripley Falls branches off, the Ethan Pond Trail gets a series of wooden steps as it climbs uphill
  • Sign at the intersection
  • Further up the trail, it levels out a bit and today it also turns into a bit of a colorful tunnel
  • Looking up at the leaves with blue sky (for now) behind them
  • Signs at the turn where the Willey Range Trail starts. Almost to the highest spot on the trail for the day already
  • Leaves on the ground
  • A few red maple leaves on the ground with some leaves on a hobble bush plant that haven't turned yet
  • The top of this small incline might have been the highest point along my route for today. If it wasn't, it sure was close
  • Now headed back downhill until about the halfway point of my hike. the Ethan Pond Trail has MANY of these bog bridges along the length of it
  • While on the trail passing Ethan Pond, you can see some impressive cliffs on the backside of Mt. Willey
  • Some nice coloring in the trees along the trail today
  • The first footbridge of the day. This isn't the one I based this hike around, it just happens to be on the route. It crosses the North Fork of the East Branch of the Pemigewasset River
  • Looking up the North Fork of the East Branch of the Pemigewasset River from the bridge
  • Looking down the North Fork of the East Branch of the Pemigewasset River from the bridge
  • The top of Thoreau Falls
  • Looking down to the bottom of Thoreau Falls
  • Thoreau Falls is a long somewhat gentle cascade around a corner. It's hard to get the whole waterfall into one shot and still have the curves and elevation drop easy to distinguish
  • Mt. Guyot and Zealand Mtn. as seen from Thoreau Falls
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