Cherry Mountain, NH (Mt Martha and Owl’s Head)

INTRODUCTION: 

Two of the named peaks on Cherry Mountain (located near, Carroll, NH) are Mt. Martha and Owl’s Head.  I am the volunteer trail maintainer for Martha’s Mile which is the trail that connects the two peaks named above.

In mid-May 2019, I did maintenance on Martha’s Mile.  Considering the devastation suffered by this trail during the Halloween storm of 2017, the trail was in relatively good shape.  There are still a few large trees that were uprooted and are leaning over the trail corridor in a few spots.  They are aesthetically unpleasant, but they aren’t impeding hiker’s travel along the trail.  All can easily be ducked under or walked around.

PHOTOS:

This is one of the portions of Martha’s Mile that was devastated by the Halloween storm of 2017.  It’s hard to tell from this photo, but the trail does weave its way through this ‘demolition area’.

Despite some parts of Martha’s Mile being devastated by the Halloween storm of 2017, many of the idyllic segments of the trail remain intact, such as shown here.

It was overcast and stormy on the day of my trail maintenance trip.  This was the view from Owl’s Head.

On this particular day, the view from Mt. Martha was non-existent.

Access to Martha’s Mile was done via the western segment of the Cherry Mountain Trail that begins at the trailhead on NH 115.  The entire length of that trail was in good shape.  Quite a few wildflowers were in bloom along this trail.  A few are shown here.

At LEFT are Dutchman’s Breeches; at TOP RIGHT are Purple Trillium, and at BOTTOM RIGHT are Hobble Bush blossoms.

My route of travel is highlighted in yellow on this map.  The round-trip mileage for this hike is about 4.75 miles.