Fahnestock: Pelton Pond

1.  From the parking lot off of Rt 301 (see “Directions to the trailhead” below), check out the educational signage and kiosk at the edge of the parking lot.  Might as well learn something while we’re here.  (And thanks for striking a perfect learning pose, stranger person.)

2.  Facing the kiosk, turn right to begin following the Yellow Trail around Pelton Pond (we’ll be on the Yellow Trail for the entire 1.5-mile loop, so feel free to not read anything else I’ve typed from this point forward).

3.  If your out-of-town friends brought their baby on his very first hike with you today, take a picture of their growing, happy, relatively sleepless family.  Otherwise, keep on trekking and enjoying the water views to your left.

4.  Ten minutes (moving at a very casual pace, which is the recommended pace here) from the parking lot, the trail dips down to let you take in a nice long view of the pond.

5. Immediately after that view, you’ll see some serious beaver carpentry along the banks of the southern section of Pelton Pond.

6.  As you round the scenic southern end of the pond, the forest opens up to give you a clear view across the water.  You may also notice, in the furthest corner of the pond, an old half-submerged rowboat that looks as if it has spent a fair amount of time as a beaver chew toy.

7.  Keep heading around the lake as the Yellow Trail rolls along, never venturing far from the shore.

8.  About five minutes after you pass the rowboat (or the spot where the rowboat used to be, in the likely event that the beavers have finished it off by now), you’ll see the White Trail splitting off to your right.

Ignore the White Trail and hang a left to continue on the Yellow Trail.

9.  Enjoy the next stretch of trail, perhaps the nicest of the loop, with its wide views across the pond and picturesque wooden bridge over a burbling stream.  What a nice spot.

10.  As you round the far side of the lake, you’ll pass an abandoned habitat of the rare northeastern bald-footed hobbit.

This subspecies prefers rectangular doors to round ones, but is otherwise nearly indistinguishable from its more well-known cousin, the common hobbit.

11.  Just a minute after the hobbit habitat (or “hobbitat” to local naturalists), the Yellow Trail takes a hard left – be sure to follow it.  Careful not to wander straight here, which is what you’d probably do if you didn’t notice the abundance of yellow blazes and arrows advising otherwise.

12.  The trail climbs up to that cool old stone pavilion, where you can feel free to wander up and check out the overlook across Pelton Pond.

(We didn’t check out the overlook on our visit because there was a birthday party going on in the pavilion.  If that’s the case during your visit, you should probably steer clear, too, unless there’s a gift-wrapped Buzz Lightyear in your cargo pockets.)

13.  Just behind the pavilion, you’ll find the steps leading down to the parking lot and your car.

Beautiful stroll, right?  This may be a short hike, but it’s still a hike, which means you’ve earned lots of pizza and/or ice cream tonight.  Don’t forget to cash in those credits!