Yesterday, Sunday, was a clear and dry day. A rarity this summer. I took the opportunity to head down to Benton, NH to hike the Blueberry Mountain trail. This violated my rule of staying out of the Whites on the weekends, but this isn’t a super-popular trail and it was a Sunday after a rainy Saturday. That’s what I told myself and I believed it!

This mountain is on the 52 With A View list, and is the last mountain in the Benton Range I’d left to hike. Also, by all reports it seemed to be a relatively easy hike compared to some I’ve done lately. This is important, because I wanted to try out something new on this hike. More about that after the trail report.

I used Google to get to the Blueberry Mountain Trail south trailhead with no issues at all. Good thing, too, as when I did get to the small hikers parking lot, there was no signage at all. Google said “You’ve arrived at your destination”, and this time was correct.

There were perhaps six other cars there when I parked the Jeep. It was about noontime, and the weather was very pleasant; sunny and about 70°. I changed into the hiking boots, primed the hydration bladder and saddled up the daypack. This would be the first hike with the bladder. After the last adventure over on Franconia Ridge where every time I wanted a drink the pack had to come off, this was my solution to that problem. I really do enjoy the new backpack, and now I’d be using it as designed, with the integrated 3L bladder. 

The trail started off as a narrow grassland path for the first 100 yards or so, and then joined a true woods trail. Elevation gain was steady, but not severe. It didn’t take long for rocks to join the trail composition, and the rate of incline increased a bit. The trail wasn’t nearly as muddy as I expected it would be…..everything was easily negotiated.

It’s less than two miles to the top of Blueberry, and around the halfway point the old, familiar smooth granite rock face appeared. Went through a bit of a flat spot, and then more rock going upwards. The trees were thinning out significantly.

As I closed in on the end of the trail, the rock face became more expansive, and the direction of the trail more in doubt. This trail is not well marked. In the woods it’s easy enough to figure it out, but on the open rock there should be some fresh blazes accompanying the cairns.

The top now being very close, there was a brief walk through a small wooded spot, and then some more ledge walking until the final stretch to the summit. There is a sharp right turn for the summit that’s easy to miss. Turn hard right at the cairn pictured below. There is no other sign.

The summit is noted only by a small pile of rocks in the center of some old ironwork that secured an antenna at some point? Hard to know.

I spent a few minutes looking around the summit and taking some video (see end of post). 

The trip down from whence I came was without incident. I think I met about a dozen people also hiking the trail that day, and did encounter a couple of ladies collecting blueberries. There’s a reason for the mountain’s name- there were blueberry plants everywhere on the ledges. Finding these plants on the open rock tops of the mountains in Northern New England is common.

Not an incredibly exciting hike, but enjoyable as are all walks in the woods. This one took about two hours to complete, with a gain in elevation of about 1100 feet. Total distance for me was just shy of four miles. Were it not on the 52WAV list, I probably would have passed on this trail. The new hydration system worked flawlessly.

Now, here’s the “something new” part. I used an old Google Pixel4 to film the hike, and then took a shot at creating a short video. The video below is the first video I’ve ever stitched together, and I’m wondering if this could be another way to share these stories. What do you think? I realize that the camera needs upgrading and my videography skills need improvement, but that aside, I’d be interested in any feedback on content, pace and delivery. Comment here, on the Youtube channel. I’d appreciate it.

But please don’t tell me not to quit my day job. I don’t have one! 

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