9/30/07
Trip to Mount Pawtuckaway 1011’

4.5 miles 750'Elevation gain

Kevin, Judy and Emma

I was on vacation, Jude had to work Saturday. we were leaving for the mountains Monday so, Sunday was open. We wanted to stretch our legs, so headed to Pawtuckaway. North Mountain is always a great hike and not too taxing. there are only the slightest hints of color there so far. What was surprising was many trees had begun dropping their leaves. Not in colorful array on the forest floor, but brown, dried out piles. The forest was as dry as tinder. A stray match would be devastating there now. The trees are so stressed from lack of rain that the leaves just turned brown on the trees and dropped. We've had very little rain in Kingston this year, but I thought other places in Rockingham County had recieved more. Many times this summer we had seen rain coming on the radar, only to watch it pass to our north, east or west. Apparently, the clouds were not dropping much rain as they passed. I don't remember a summer quite this dry. Places we hike near home where we always have found water are dry as a bone. Canoe trips on the Shawsheen River in northern Essex County just across the border in Massachusetts have been cancelled because there is just no water in the river. Our pond at home is very low, partly due to the lack of rain, but also because they are letting water over the dam to drain down the pond in an attempt to reduce the weed infestation. Don't know if it'll work or not, we'll see. Anyway, Pawtuckaway was amazingly dry. Brooks that have always been flowing as long as we've been hiking there are dried up. Ponds are very low, lower than we've ever seen them. It's supposed to rain tonight (10/6), I sure hope it does!