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The Cairns LbNA #17002

Owner:Adoptable
Plant date:Jul 30, 2005
Location:
City:Temple
County:Hillsborough
State:New Hampshire
Boxes:1
Planted by:Rats and Turtle
Found by: LMS PFS ESY
Last found:Jul 28, 2010
Status:FFFFFFFFa
Last edited:Jul 30, 2005
Difficulty: moderate--2-3 hours RT hiking Clues: easy (we think) Alive and Well as of 10 August, 2008.

Background: Cairns are stacks of rock that people have built for centuries to mark places. Cairns can be simple or complex--and each has a unique beauty. Our family has long been a fan of the artist Andy Goldsworthy who has built some amazing cairns and other works of art with natural materials. We suggest you go to Google and look at some of his work.

Clues: From the intersection of 101 and 101A between Milford and Wilton take 101 west about 10.5 miles to the old Temple Mountain old ski area on the south side of the road. There is a good parking area and a sign for Temple Mountain. If you pass Miller State Park parking area on the right you have gone just a little bit too far.

Park in the lot and take the road at the southeast end of the lot (it is the one on the right when you are facing the LCHIP sign). This road heads west for a ways and then turns sharply to the left through a large metal gate (there are couple of smaller side roads--stay on the main one). Climb to the top of the old ski area. The top is a little less than a mile and this is the hardest part of the hike. At the top, go to the back side of the microwave/cell phone tower. Head south from there about 20 feet to the trail. There is a more obvious "trail" a bit west of the trail--you want the trail that is in the corner of the cleared area. You are on the correct trail if after a short distance you see the Beebe memorial bench on your right. At some point the trail starts being marked with yellow triangular blazes. After about 0.5 mile you will notice small stacks of rock along the trail; they get bigger. When you see a 5 foot tall cairn on the right you are almost there. In about 600 steps (we wear a pedometer) or 0.3 miles you will come to a clearing with another fairly large cairn (about 3 feet high). Turn right and climb uphill a short distance to the top of the ridge and a great view to the west. Here you will find several cairns, rock chairs, arches, etc. Admire the view, the handy work and maybe make something yourself. When we were here at the end of July the blue berries and the raspberries were plentiful. If you are here around that time bring a tuppy to take home what you can’t eat on the spot. From the center of this rock playground you will see a White Pine (long needles) at 230 degrees. From the pine it is about 6 paces at 200 degrees to a small birch. Behind the birch to the right is a small drop-off. Climb down and look under the top of this small cliff. Now before you go back: Up the trail just a little ways there is another clearing where people have built a couple of cairns about 8 feet tall. To find these, continue on the trail for about 200 paces (less than 0.1 mile) Keep looking for a clearing up-hill to the right. (there is another wonderful letterbox here)