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BETHEL — The Mahoosuc Land Trust and the Androscoggin River Watershed Council are teaming up to offer two hiking adventures in July as part of the Source-to-the-Sea canoe trek.
The first hike will be to Mt. Jasper in Berlin, N.H., Thursday, July 13, beginning at 9 a.m. This is a three-quarter mile hike with features stretching back centuries. The trail passes glacial erratics and emerges onto ledges with rhyolite dikes. These ledges offer views from the Weeks Range to the Mahoosucs. The hike will leave from Berlin High School’s parking lot, at the end of Madison Street. It will end in time for folks to paddle that day’s section of the Androscoggin River, from Bofinger to Nansen Wayside. Boats should be at the Bofinger put-in at noon.
By Thursday, July 20, Source-to-the-Sea will have reached the Rumford Center area — the perfect chance to explore the Glassface Trail. Leaving at 9 a.m from the Hastings’ Landing boat launch, U.S. Route 2 in Rumford Center Village, the hike will ascend the Mahoosuc Land Trust’s newest trail, a short but steep climb with a beautiful view of the Androscoggin Valley. The round trip is 1.4 miles.
These two hikes transport us to the early history of this area. The Mt. Jasper Lithic Source is on the National Register of Historic Places. Prehistoric mines were discovered there in the 19th century, and the site has allowed historians to gain knowledge of tool use from 7000 B.C. There is evidence that rhyolite was extracted and made into tools by the Abenaki tribe of native Americans and brought down the Androscoggin to what is now Rumford. All are invited to join one or more of these explorations of early history and present beauty.
The Mahoosuc Land Trust is an accredited community land trust encouraging public interest in conservation in central Oxford County and eastern Coos County, N.H., supporting a balance of growth and conservation while emphasizing sustainable and traditional land uses. For more information visit www.mahoosuc.org or call 207-824-3806.
Source-to-the-Sea is the signature event of the Androscoggin River Watershed Council. For more information visit www.androscogginwatershed.org or call 207-824-3813.
