July 1 - 5, 2024: Wildwood campground in White Mountain National Forest

After maxing out our visit at the Dolly Copp Campground due to the 14 day limit, we headed southwest to the Wildwood Campground. There were several sites that are first come, first serve and we hoped one would be available and fit the camper. If not we had two other White Mount National Forest campgrounds further south we were going to try that also had some first come, first serve sites. However, we were able to find a site at Wildwood although branches at the site entrance were low enough to brush the top of the camper. With a little maneuvering I could limit contact to the small flexible branches and avoid camper damage. Here is the camper at the campground.

The view of the sky was very small so Starlink could only get online for brief moments within long periods of no service. Solar power was also limited and Jane's sewing remained on the agenda. Rather than take out our deployable solar panels to address the solar energy issue, we opted to travel up the road 2 plus miles to some wide open forest parking areas. After one trip to the parking area, I decided to ask the campground host if I could trim the branches at the site entrance so I didn't have to maneuver around the branches repeatably; he gave me permission and the pictures of the camper above are after the trimming.

The first parking lot we used was for a scenic view. The view was of a pond that people fished and to a lesser extent paddled. It had limited parking but there was one spot we waited on that fit the camper. I could just put the Starlink terminal on the ground in front of the camper without concern for obstructions. Here is a picture of the scenic view.

The next day we visited the scenic view pull off parking wasn't available for the camper so we headed to the other side of the pond where there was an Appalachian trailhead with a large parking area. Sky obstructing trees were more of issue at this parking area but the trees were short enough that putting the Starlink terminal on top of the camper rooftop AC unit successfully avoided sky obstruction.

While at Wildwood, I took one bike ride east from the campground. That ride was when I scoped out the two parking areas we used during the day for solar energy and Starlink. I planned on the ride being a conservative rone, nothing too challenging physically or navigation wise. I hoped I could just take the main ride east and check out the cell service when I got close to I-93. Unfortunately, I encountered hilly terrain and when I approached a sign for a 12% grade descent I seriously considered turning around. But I was just about 3 miles into the ride and I figured I would chance the descent not being too long and if worse came to worse I could always walk on the return ascent so I continued. The 12% grade didn't last that long but after about 3 miles with some level of descent I decided to stop and check for cell service and reassess continuing east. So I pulled over at an intersection with a nearby bridge that provided a good pull off area away from the road. I put my backpack on the ground and pulled out my phone. Although I was only two miles from the next town, cell service was still poor. As I was checking out the cell service, a baby mink came towards me. He didn't seem skiddish around me at all which made me wonder if I needed to be concerned it had rabbies or something. He/she decided it wanted my backpack and grabbed one of the straps in its mouth. At this point I was getting annoyed but wanted to take its picture. I shooed it away from the backpack and it retreated under the bridge's guard rail. It was sunny so I couldn't really see what I was taking a picture of so all I got was a black blob in the shade at the base of a guard rail post. My bike tire is to the right and my backpack strap at the bottom. I apologize for the poor picture. After retreating to the guard rail and as I fumbled taking the picture he made another dash for my backpack strap. I shooed him/her away again and this time it ran off across the intersecting rode to the other side of the river.

I decided I should return to the campsite after my mink encounter. I babied my way back up the hill so I avoided walking the bike and when I started the descent on the other side I noticed that descent "only" had a 9% grade. So much for my conservative ride.

I'd like to cover a couple of other tid bits about the area. The campground is named after an extinct logging village. This is explained by a roadside placard I encountered when I went west on my other bike ride. I'll let you read the placard if you're interested.

Across the road from the campground is the Wildwood picnic area that is on the bank of the Ammonoosuc River. There is a sharp drop off near the covered picnic tables to a small swimming hole. I hoped to wade in it but I never got around to it. One day I noticed someone panning the river a little downstream of the swimming hole. Pictures of the swimming hole and the prospector are below.

We decided to leave Wildwood on July 5th as I was able to schedule a blood donation on that day near my son's tree farm. This donation, if successful, which it was, is special since it puts me at 20 gallons total with the American Red Cross. Accomplishing this milestone gives me a lot of satisfaction.

We plan to stay at my son's tree farm for a couple of weeks before heading to Pigeon Forge, TN for my wife's family reunion.