Trail Report: Nancy Pond Trail, Nancy Cascades and a wonderful surprise

This adventure takes us to Nancy Pond Trail, which leads to Nancy Cascades and Nancy Pond. Sadly we never ended up going all the way up to Nancy Pond for dark clouds rolled in when we were at Nancy Cascades.
I have always wanted to hike this trail ever since I heard the story about Nancy. The girl's name was Nancy and she went searching for her love. The man she was going to marry left to fight in a war and she went after him. She traveled through the woods in the middle of winter back in the 1800's. When word got out that she went after him, people went looking for her and they found her near Nancy Brook (which was named after her) and she was sitting on a rock, frozen to death. It is such a sad story. I wanted to hike the path where this girl is buried near by along side the river she was following.
The Trail starts on route 302, there is a small parking area, for its not a busy trail to hike. The trail is wide at the start and easy to follow. You cross two brooks, Halfway and Nancy on the way up to Nancy Cascades.

The sign at the start of the trail

The first brook we stopped for Stitch to drink at, he loved the water.

This sign was when we got to Nancy Brook Scenic Area. It is large and you can read it easy. The Red area is the Nancy Area where you will find the Cascades and Pond of Nancy. But we also got a fun surprise...we came upon a very old maple sugaring house. You could tell that it was old and hasn't been used in many many years.

 We weren't sure what this was but we knew it was old and must have been hanging in the trees. The nails in the front were hand made for the ends were squares. The other end had hooks so we knew it must have been used for collecting the sugar from the trees.

These two pictures is of the sugaring house. It has trees growing around and inside of the house but you can see some old rusted cans around the house which they used to keep the sugar syrup in. I love seeing old places like this one, it makes you think back to when they used it. The sugaring house is about two miles from the road...
 After seeing the sugaring house we soon crossed Nancy Brook and came upon Nancy Cascade. It was so beautiful and made lunch while sitting on the boulders. We headed back due to rain clouds which did decide to burst on us while we were still a mile from the car. Nothing like hiking in the rain:)

Nancy Cascades

Our hiking trip was 4.8 miles in all. Easy hike. Happy Hiking!

Three Haunted Trails I want to hike this Spring/Summer

1. Coppermine Trail

I have always loved the story of Betty Davis meeting her husband, Arthur Farnsworth on this trailback in the summer of 1939. She was lost and he found her. It's that love story of boy saves girl and marries her. But it has a sad twist, which is when he falls on the sidewalk "dead" and Betty is accused of killing him. Later a plaque appears on the trail which reads "The Keeper of Stray Ladies" No one knows who put the plaque but many believe it was Betty Davis herself. The Trail is located off Easton Rd 116, on Coppermine Rd. The Coppermine trail is 2.1 miles and leads to Bridal Veil Falls. If headed near Framconia Notch, check out this trail.

2. Nancy Pond Trail

Nancy Barton was a girl in love, so much in love that she followed her lover's tracks through the cold snow in the dead of winter. Nancy was to marry Jim but Jim left one day without word to war with his brother. Nancy followed his trail but dead at the ponds where she was later found frozen. The trail is named after her and located in Crawford Notch. The trail is called Nancy Pond Trail and it is believed that when she was found she was buried by the pond. Some who have trailed the trail have heard her cries. I am hoping to travel along this trail this summer and see the ponds for myself. The trail is about 4 miles of beautiful nature!

3. Nineteen Mile Brook Trail

 Has anyone seen Red Mac? He was once the watcher for Carter Notch Hut starting in 1916. He worked at the hut for many many years and later when he pasted away, they say he still watches over the Hut. Weird things happen at the hut to this day, some say that you can see Red Mac's lantern shining in the night over by the hut. He still watches over the place. Carter Hut is located in Pinkham Notch. The Nineteen Mile Brook Trail is 3.6 miles to the hut, and worth the trip. I have gone up the trail to Carter Notch Hut a few years ago and I had felt like I was being watched the whole time when I got close to the hut, every eery feeling. The weird part is that I didn't know this story at the time, but now it makes a little sense, so I want to travel up to the Hut again.

Have a Happy Spring Hiking Season and if you head to these places, enjoy the Haunts of the White Mountains!