Flagpole Hill in May

Hike Date: Monday, May 12th
Hike Distance: 2.5 miles (round-trip, GPS)
Time on the trail: 2hrs
Trail Conditions: clear & dry, very little mud
Parking: at the intersection of Taylor Valley Road and Chelsea Road

Parking sign on the tree at the large intersection pointing the way to Flagpole Hill.  The trail follows Chelsea Road for 100 feet before entering the woods on the right.

Fresh blazing (2013) thanks to The Mountain School trail adopters.

The trail follows an old logging road before turning into right the woods.

Vernal pools beside the trail ... drying up quickly.

The trail passes along the edge of an old clearcut with evidence of wind damage but the trail is clear. A nice easy walk to the north is parallel, and eventually through, a stonewall.

Spring flowers were out taking advantage of sunlight reaching the forest floor.  I'm no expert (corrections welcome) but the list included: coltsfoot

Bloodroot

Spring beauty

Red trillium

Trout lily

and common blue violets

At 1-mile the trail reaches a signpost and junction - Flagpole Hill is to the left and uphill.

The top of Flagpole Hill with the new (2013) single-post kiosk.  This is the western terminus of the CRT.

There are semi-obstructed views from the top looking both east and west.  With a little walking around, views of distant peaks include Camel's Hump, Mount Moosilauke, and Mount Cube to the east.  Sunday Mountain is the middle, rounded peak in front of Mount Cube.  Both are traversed by the CRT with the south summit of Cube 36-miles away by trail.