Viewing the Presidential Mountain Range on Election Day 2012

As time and weather has permitted, I've been visiting each of my adopted hiking trails to assess the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy.   After casting my vote on Election Day 2012, I decided to hike up to Cherry Mountain to patrol my adopted Martha's Mile Trail.  Considering the remarkable views of the Presidential Mountain Range from Cherry Mountain, it seemed fitting to visit this mountaintop on a Presidential Election Day.

Although I'm not always consistent, my current goal for this Blog is to only write about hikes that are either new to me and/or hikes that are a bit different.   With that objective in mind, I am reluctantly including this hike in my Blog, even though it's one that I've done many times.

A major factor that tipped the scale to write about this trip was the fact that this was my first trek of the season that included snow.  As I left my home in Bethlehem, no snow could be seen on the surrounding landscape.   However, upon arrival at the trailhead for the Cherry Mountain Trail on NH Rt. 115, there was a light coating of snow.  The snow-depth eventually topped out at about 3 inches along the Cherry Mountain ridgeline which connects Mt. Martha and Owl's Head.

Upon reaching Mt. Martha, I was greeted by a view of the Presidential Range encased in snow which I'm certain was deeper than the 3-inch layer I was experiencing!

 Presidential Range as viewed from Mt. Martha

I lingered just long enough on Mt. Martha to snap a few photos.  Just over my left shoulder was the Martha's Mile Trail which was beckoning me.   And after all, assessing the condition of this trail was my main objective for this day!

Sign for Martha's Mile Trail

Although the Winter Season has not officially arrived according to the calendar, there were wintery conditions all along the Martha's Mile corridor.

 Typical wintery scene along Martha's Mile corridor

Besides the wintery scenes along the trail corridor, there were scenes overhead which I found appealing.  I loved seeing the snow-coated tree branches contrasted against the brilliant blue sky.

Snow-coated tree branches contrasted against a brilliant blue sky

And so you might ask, did Superstorm Sandy have any impact on the Martha's Mile Trail?  Yes, is the short answer.  
The slightly longer answer is that there were a total of five downed trees.  All but one of them required a saw for removal. However, none of the five blowdowns were truly significant.  There were hiker's tracks in the snow which showed that they had been able to maneuver around these obstacles.   Nonetheless, I feel better about having removed these downed trees from the trail.

After having worked the entire length of Martha's Mile, it was time to enjoy the reward of experiencing the awesome views from Owl's Head.   The main attraction at this viewpoint is the sweeping vista of the Presidential Range.  It is somewhat similar to the view from Mt. Martha, but is a more open view.

View of Presidential Range from Owl's Head

And of course, on such a clear day, I simply had to take a highly zoomed photo of the summit of Mt. Washington.

Highly zoomed photo of the summit of Mt. Washington

A few other zoomed photos were taken of other landscape features, such as Willoughby Gap in northern Vermont, and Cherry Pond and Little Cherry Pond which rest near the base of Cherry Mountain.

 Zoomed view of Willoughby Gap in northern Vermont

Zoomed view of Cherry Pond and Little Cherry Pond located near the base of Cherry Mountain

Of course, it eventually came time to descend Owl's Head and retrace my steps back to the trailhead.   On both my inbound and outbound trek along Martha's Mile, I took time to saw-off any snow-laden branches that were obstructing the view of the blazes along the trail.  The surrounding woods along the trail corridor are very open.  Without the aid of blazes, it can be easy for hikers to lose this trail during wintertime travel.

Once I arrived back at Mt. Martha, I took time for a brief visit to a viewpoint that I had bypassed when I was there earlier in the day.  From this particular spot, there is a nice vista of high peaks in the Franconia Range and Twin Range.

High peaks in the Franconia Range and Twin Range as viewed from Mt. Martha

Following my brief side trip atop Mt. Martha, I began my final descent.  By this time, evening was fast-approaching.  
I stopped to take a photo of the trail being illuminated by the golden colors of the setting sun.  This was a wonderful ending to a very enjoyable day on Cherry Mountain.

 Trail being illuminated by the golden colors of the setting sun

To sum it up, many other hikers have already taken the plunge into winter hiking for this season.  However, this was my personal kick-off to what I'm hoping will be just the first of many enjoyable winter hikes for the 2012-2013 season.   And besides all that, it was a gratifying experience to hike to a mountain with views of the Presidential Range on a Presidential Election Day!
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ADDENDUM (added 08-Nov-2012):

The route I followed on this hike is highlighted in yellow on the map shown below.