BOISVERT & NORMAND NATURE PRESERVE WINTER HIKE & MEAL

A beautiful winter hike to the Boisvert & Normand Nature Preserve with fellow Gay Outdoors members! Everyone had fun exploring the lesser-known trails and getting some insider knowledge. We hiked a bit under 3 miles in relatively flat terrain.  

The trails had a coating of about one inch of frozen granular with some ice hidden beneath the snow in some sections. We could bare boot the trails; Microspikes were not needed.  

Beautiful sunny afternoon with temperatures in the 20s and a bit of wind! We walked to the Grand Junction and turned right to check out the future location of the Pollinator Garden…thanks for all your suggestions regarding designing it. We then explored a couple of the logging roads and saw a number of deer tracks in the snow.  

This western section of the Nature Preserve would be great for cross country skiing except that the past couple years we’ve not received much natural snow. Fingers crossed that this trend will change in the future.

To change it up a bit, we did a short bushwhack to our 14-acre lot where a timber harvest is underway. We plan to build a trail to connect both parcels to add more land for cross-country skiing. The trees to be cut are marked in blue paint. At the other end of this lot, we saw cut trees ready for transport and evidence of the trees previously cut.    

We then followed the Soucook Sanctuary Trail down to the river that was certainly a highlight of the hike! It was peaceful in this medieval forest with towering old trees with the Soucook River on one side and Oxbow on the other…felt like we were on a peninsula. We reached the end at a sunny point remarking this being an ideal spot to take a dip on a hot summer day.

We returned back to our cars following the Esker Trail that brought us high above the Soucook River, passing by some vernal pools and climbing back up to a higher elevation. We reached a view of the marsh below where we are thinking of building an outdoor educational pavilion.  

We survived…LOL. The Nature Preserve is ideal for anybody no matter what their fitness level is. Most of us went to Mavris for a delicious meal. We were wondering if Noah our waiter was available for takeout!

It was a great day out; and thanks so much to everyone who joined us and who support us on our efforts!

Check out our Nature Preserve followed by a meal at a local lobster & steak restaurant!

We can enjoy a less ambitious winter hike in the terrific Boisvert & Normand Nature Preserve! This is an easy hike on mostly flat terrain where we will first explore the woods roads, check out our recent timber harvest on our other lot and then do a loop hike over to Soucook Sanctuary and Esker Trails. The highlight will be the section along the Soucook River in an old growth forest. Overall, this will probably be two miles with hardly any elevation gain.

We will most likely need snowshoes on this lightly trafficked preserve. I’ll monitor trail conditions and update the group if we will really need them. Otherwise, I think barebooting will be fine since the trails are mostly flat. If weather/snow conditions are questionable, the leader would cancel.  

For the hike we recommend wearing insulated hiking boots since the snow melt will get into boots making your feet cold. Otherwise, since this hike is so short, street clothes should suffice, but don’t forget to have gloves and warm hat. If you tend to get thirsty, a small water bottle should be fine.    

We will meet for 1PM at Boisvert & Normand Nature Preserve Trailhead. I’ll be driving a blue Toyota Tacoma truck.  

Following the hike, we’ll get together for a meal around 3pm at Mavris Lobster and Seafood Restaurant in Concord, NH. The address is 354 Sheep Davis Road, Concord, NH. You can check out the menu here: https://www.eatalobster.com/menu

Please sign up if you are interested in going, as I will be making reservations at the restaurant.  I hope you can join us!