Peaked Hill Pond Hike

Several weeks ago when we were in NH, I persuaded Mike to go on yet another hike with me.  From our condo, we have a great view of a few smaller mountains.  So, I checked to see if there were any trails on them.  There was only one and it seemed like a good choice being somewhat short in length.  Since we were trying to get some work done on the place, we didn't have a ton of time to play so the trail was a winning pick.  

We drove to the other side of the highway from us, a little over 3 miles and set out up the trail.  The trail was nice and wide and Mike and I walked side by side on it.  Somehow, though, I seemed to catch ALL of the spider webs on the trail.  It was seriously unreal how many I was constantly walking through and picking off while Mike was able to not go through one.  Also, I did a very stupid thing.  I forgot to put on bug spray.  Mosquitoes love me and I should really know better.  I paid for it.  I literally got over 20 bites on this 4 mile, 2 hour hike.  Other than the spider webs and mosquitoes, we really had a nice relaxing time and enjoyed spending some time outside.

We normally see critters on our treks, which is always very exciting.  On this one, we got to see a cool little dude - a red eft.  He was very cute and Mike couldn't resist picking him up for a better look. So, you can get a good idea of his size.  I have to say, I was pretty impressed that Mike spotted him among the leaves.  Note: no animals were harmed in the taking of these photos.

As the name of the trail pretty obviously suggests, our destination was a pond on Peaked Hill.  My trail book description notes that part of the trail is across private land.  At the pond, there were signs that the inhabitants of that land frequent the pond.  We found a jon boat, canoe and assorted fishing tackle at the edge of the water.  It really was a peaceful place and, I suspect, a really nice spot for fishing.
On the way back down, we encountered another couple of critters - a toad and a frog.  The dude below hiding among the grass\leaves is an American toad, I believe.
From the trail, we could hear rushing water so we decided to stray off of it and check it out.  We were glad that we did.  Just a little ways down a somewhat steep slope, we viewed a pretty cool waterfall.  Unfortunately, my camera battery died right after snapping a picture of the toad.  Thank goodness I still had my trusty iphone on back up to be able to snap a memory of the place.