Mason/Brookline Trail, NH

Ahh, springtime in the northeast, time to enjoy the bright sunshine and partake in some good trails. Well at least the trail was good. With the limited number of trails around the lower NY area we are always traveling further to do trailrides. This is fine most of the time except for the ride home when you wish you had that transporter device off of Star Trek. 5+ hours in the Bronco listening to those Swampers sing their song is enough for me. Along with Willie and Evan’s routine about Evan’s new Ram. Which will be in on Thursday, btw for all of you who missed the trailride and Evan’s CB transmissions. He’s pretty psyched as I would be too, I remember when I picked up the Ram that I had, it was a great feeling.

Our trailride for May was to the Mason/Brookline trail. I had done this once before back in 1996 and had 2 sets of different directions to it. After getting everyone assembled from our campsite we headed towards the trail, about 45 minutes away. We decided to stop for breakfast after a vote as to stop or just go on to the trail. Since we knew that another group was also doing the trail that day and didn’t want a logjam to occur so we figured to start after them.

By the time we got to the trail it was nearly 11:00 am and then our first breakage occurred on the access road to the trail. Jay Wrecker Reed’s Toyota toasted a front wheel bearing and after trying to fix it, with no luck I might add, the whole assembly was put back together and he wheeled it and later got his trailer to get the yota. After not recognizing any of the trails, we ran into some locals on quads and they helped us out and pointed us in the right direction and even watched for awhile. We came upon a creek crossing and a series of short climbs and small boulder sections to deal with, nothing super hard, just good enough to keep you awake. This trail is mainly access roads for the power lines in the area and the displaced rocks from the road construction are usually loose and vary in size.

Our first major obstacle was in the form of a swampy area that also had a boulder edge to it. As you snaked your way through the boulders you had a few different lines you could take. To the left was closer to the water and a bit more of the muck. To the right were bigger rocks and that’s the line most people took. It was in this section that we had our first breakage of the day. Marc Roseman’s Tan Whale beached itself on the rocks. One of its front leaf spring shackles inverted and in the process it also bent the main leaf. After closer inspection we also saw that he sheared the heads off of all the bolts on one side of his transfer case skid plate. A bit of wire and it wasn’t hanging anymore and with the help of the Hilift jack and a crowbar the shackle was also fixed.

Then it was onto some twisting and turning through the woods and as we came around a bend we came to the hardest obstacle of the day. It’s now named BJ’s rock. More for the 2 people who made it over then for any kind of oral gratification, though they had smiles on their faces after making it up and over. This rock is pretty flat and a little wider than a Bronco. At the base of the rock to your left is about a 3-foot drop-off. To your right is the go around for the obstacle. To approach the rock you’re coming uphill and have to make a hard right to get the proper approach angle. Out of 12 rigs only two made it up; a Toyota mini truck and a Scout II. All the shorter wheelbase rigs just couldn’t make it and Evan’s CJ-7 almost did an end-over on his first attempt.

After this point in the trail it opens up to a series of shorter side trails that have a nice mix of small rock gardens mixed in with downed logs and stumps to negotiate. The only problem we had in there was with Ted the Fed’s TJ. He snagged his rear ARB air line and broke it off at the diff. Seems like the skidders have been through the trail by the looks of things. After playing around on the side trails we then found a couple of nice ascents \ descents to play on. On one of the descents you are coming down a loose rocky section and have to sort of nerf around a big rock on your left and hope not to mash in the tail end as you go around it.

After that we made our way back to the trailhead and aired back up. Next time I’ll have to remember to come in the other entrance to the trail so that we can hit some of the other climbs and the 3-6-10 Hill Climb. After the long ride back to the campsite it was time to fire up the grill and time for adult beverages. After a bit of marinating the steaks and burgers were ready and once Evan and Jay made it back from picking up Jay’s yota they partook in the red meat madness.

The next morning wasn’t the brightest especially my face. Can you say major hangover, I can. Lots of fun breaking camp in the rain and John Acconi breaking wind that would wake the dead. I think he could give Howard Stern’s "fartman" a run for his money.

Well until next months run to the infamous MaBell trail with Monster Rock this is Wilbur saying happy trails to you.