Rockingham County High Point Trip Report
three areas on Nottingham Mtn (1,340 ft)
Date: January 17, 2003
Author: Clifford Young
Knowing that a couple of feet or more of snow would be on the ground, I used
Mike Schwartz's trip report as a starting point. I followed it to the fork
mentioned at 3.6 miles, turned onto the left fork and reached the houses near
the gate mentioned in other reports. With the snow mounds there was little or
no space to leave a vehicle without at least partially blocking the driveways of
the houses. I decided to explore further and return here and seek permission to
park if I couldn't find anything less intrusive. First, I explored the right
fork but that had much the same problem and I decided it was not a good thing to
park near the houses without seeking some sort of permission. Returning to
Center Hill Road I turned right and followed it to the east to Griffin Road.
Turning right I tried to find an area that was both not posted and where I could
get the vehicle out of the road. Pulling over to the side I climbed over the
snow bank (about 4 feet high in the area), and to my astonishment and delight
there was a snowshoe trail heading in the general direction of Nottingham Mountain.
It was completely invisible from the road. I figured this must be
fate and decided it had to be followed. After a few minutes driving back and
forth to pack down the edge of the snow bank I managed to get my Ramcharger
(thankful for four wheel drive) far enough off the road to be only mildly
uncomfortable leaving it there.
Mileage from US 202: Southeast on Center Hill Road (large sign at the turn for
Blakes Brook Campground). Proceed 1.4 miles to Mountain Road on the right.
At 2.0 miles reach Griffin Road also on the right. Turn right and at 2.65 miles
cross the town/county line into Deerfield, Rockingham County. After going by
Dow Pond (looks like nothing more than a bog in winter), park about half way up
the hill marked 855 on the topo, 3.9 miles from US 202.
Followed the snowshoe tracks downhill to the south end of Griffin Bog.
The snowshoe trail continued along the west side of the bog and after a few hundred
feet I turned to the southwest and started to climb trying to keep the sun
slightly to the left of my left eyeball. After some time I reached the Epsom
Town Forrest Boundary just to the east of point 1191 and continued on to this point.
Followed a set of cross country ski tracks toward the summit of
Nottingham Mountain until they turned and went down the west slope of the mountain.
Continued up to the top of Nottingham where a snowmobile trail came
in from the west. It went over to the south, made a loop around the strange
chimney-like stone structure and returned the way it came. No accidental county
highpointers here though, they missed the highest spots by a good 10 to 15 feet.
Nothing to add to others descriptions of the high points. I agree the highest
points are close to the chimney but even with the leaves gone from the trees
there was no way to be sure.
I decided that it was time to trust my GPS to get me back to the car.
It indicated it was 0.93 mile almost due east and I headed in the direction it indicated.
The thing worked perfectly. Got back to the car in about a half hour.
At 0.3 mile from the car I skirted the back of a house with several large
dogs which very quickly became several large, very loud dogs. I chose to ignore
their invitation to come over for dinner and continued to the car. The dogs
were still barking when I had taken off my snowshoes, packed away my gear,
and got in the car to leave. They may be barking still.