A couple weeks ago when Michelle, Alex, and I climbed Little and Big Deer Hill we saw this spring on the map and wanted to investigate it, but some threatening clouds had us finishing the loop hike we were on without any detours. I had a couple of free hours yesterday so Alex and I got out for a short but fun hike with longtime friend Rob and his canine companion Lhotse.
The bottom portion of Deer Hills Trail, accessed from Deer Hill Rd in Chatham, NH
I love heading to this area. The drive from Conway up Rt 302, to Rt 5 in Fryeburg, then over Fish St to get to 113, to a point just south of Evans Notch is incredibly scenic. To the west the backside of the Green Hills Preserve lead up to the very visible fire tower on Mt. Kearsarge. More to the north Middle Carter occasionally pokes her pointed head up behind the scenic Bald Faces, and all the while you’re driving though some of the most fertile flat farm land with beautiful huge active farm houses that just scream “Americana” to me. It’s no wonder why I see so many cyclists enjoying this stretch of Rt 113 almost every time I drive it.
After locating the trail head we set off for our short stroll. It was good to catch up with a friend I hadn’t seen in awhile, and Alex hummed and coo’d after recovering from the surprise lick from Lhotse at the parking lot. 25 minutes into the hike we reached the spur path that would take us down to the spring, that, according to to the guidebook was “a shallow pool with air bubbles rising through a small area of light-colored sand”. It was this description that had peaked my attention, and I wasn’t disappointed.
The short spur path that leads down to the spring
The Spring
I nearby sign informed us that this was a natural artesian well and that the light colored sand was so fine from hundreds of years of turmoil. Realizing a still photo wouldn’t do it much justice, I grabbed a short video clip:
Rob and I wondered what would happen if someone stood in the soft sand and as I expected Rob was quickly removing his shoes to find out. The experiment proved that what looks like quicksand acts like quicksand, and Rob had the foresight to only go to the calf before pulling his leg (forcefully), back out. A future Darwin Award avoided, we headed back up the spur path to return to the car.
Along the way I started noticing interesting bits of quartz, mica, and perhaps feldspar scattered in the forest duff. I knew there was an old mica mine nearby and started making plans to explore that on my next trip. After returning to the car we drove further up Deer Hill Rd to look around a bit and located a USFS kiosk with directions to a nearby recreational mining area. When Alex is a bit older I think we’ll have a few family outings to collect some of the semi-precious stones (where legal) from the WMNF. I’m sure the folks at Donero’s Rock Shop in North Conway will know how to get us started!
Adventure with Alex 
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