Ossipee 10 & LRCT Patches | 11/2/2025
- Izzy Risitano
- Nov 2
- 3 min read
The wannabe Girl Scout strikes again! I tend to find myself in the Ossipees on cold yet sunny days, and today was no different. With a nice solo day to work with, I completed my Ossipee 10 and Lakes Region Conservation Trust patches over a 12-mile day with about 3000 feet of gain.
After an early wake-up from the time change, I got right to the Italian Trail for Big Ball Mountain. I had planned to hike the Italian Trail when my dad and I did Black Snout a few years ago (for obvious reasons), but for whatever reason, I couldn't find the start from Black Snout. I mustn't have been trying very hard, because even without trail signs, I had no difficulty finding or staying on the trail today.
The Italian Trail breaks off early from the Mount Shaw Trail and is marked with a green-red blaze that's unfortunately not the Italian flag. It was helpful to have a GPS through the bottom section of the trail, as several roads/snowmobile paths criss-cross over the trail before it eventually forks right up a more traditional trail corridor.
Around 1.5 miles in, the increasing ledges began giving way to some exceptional views of Lake Winnipesaukee. There is a false summit situation, as the first knob is topped with a series of cairns leading back into the woods. With a plunge down some steeper rocks and a final climb to the legitimate summit, I enjoyed even better views of the Lake with Black Snout at my back.
I spent a little while at the summit, thrilled with the list as a whole, before retreating to the parking lot for my second hike of the day.
The parking lot was pretty full when I got back at 10, where I met a fellow Saint Mike's alumnus drinking from a yerba mate gourd and wearing a Melanzana. It's times like these that I miss being in Vermont. I haven't seen those two things at once in months!
After an 8-minute drive to the Castle of the Clouds hiker lot, I started my 8-mile out-and-back hike. Though I'm happy to have completed this list, many of the trails are admittedly the same. Because the trails mostly used to be roads, I found Farraway Mountain Trail, Cold Spring, and Turtleback Mountain Trail to be almost identical. All were wide, covered in leaves, and had lots of ankle-twisting rocks. My honorable mention of the day was Whitten Trail for its glimpse into history with a cellar hole and a gravesite. Yet, the favorite overall favorite trail was Oak Ridge Trail because I am a sucker for interpretive trails meant for 8-year-olds. I learned a lot about animal tracks out there!
Anyhow, I got started with Cold Spring Road and then cut off to Whitten, where I passed the gravesite of Mrs. Whitten, the wife of a Union soldier, and the remains of their homestead. From there, I ran into another hiker who told me she liked my vest and then said to enjoy my walk, which was a kind reminder to trail run if I'm going to wear the trail running vest.
I ran up to the base of the Farraway Mountain Trail and Oak Ridge Cutoff, which were nearly identical. I out-and-backed to where I last stood and on Farraway, then bushwhacked to Oak Ridge Cutoff for my descent. Nothing wrong with either of these two, just not quite sure why there are two identical trails parallel to one another!
After my up and down, I enjoyed a more steady descent to Shannon Brook and then briefly ascended the first three switchbacks up to Turtleback before doubling back to Oak Hill. While I had hiked Oak Hill as a child, I didn't remember it until the very top, where there's a "here's what you're looking at sign." Although I didn't remember the sign, I remember thinking how grand the view looked as a kid- almost like I'd never see such big mountains again! If only I knew how obsessed I'd become.
Back at the pond, there were the typical swarms of children around the parking lots as families enjoyed the unexpected afternoon warmth of the fall day. Though I've summited the peaks and hiked all the trails, I'll always be thrilled to return to this area. Can't wait to get my new patches!
Big Ball: 3.85 miles, 1333 gain
Trail bonanza: 8.27 miles, 1210 gain
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