The Israel River takes no prisoners
Since Route 302, the Kancamagus Highway and Crawford Notch are still closed due to damage from Irene, the parking lot in Appalachia (a popular spot) was completely filled, so we ended up not doing the Link Trail, as planned. No matter; we ended up only a few miles down the road at the Castle Ridge trailhead, which goes up towards Mount Jefferson. Got a bit of a late start, but managed a good 7 mile hike (2540′ elevation gain). Trail was in good condition, but we could hear lots of underground rivers. And the one river crossing was probably a bit deeper than usual.
There were dozens of tiny toads along the trail, but here's the mother of them all.