T H E C O H O S T R E K K E R

The electronic newsletter of The Cohos Trail Association

MISSING SUGARLOAF

Most correspondence we receive from those who have thru-hiked or trekked in the Nash Stream Forest does not mention Mt. Sugarloaf (3,701 feet elevation). Most trampers bypass the spur trail up to the terrific summit of the second tallest peak in New Hampshire north of the White Mountain National Forest.

Many hikers report something about the fine experience climbing The Horn in the Kilkenny section of the White Mountain National Forest. The Horn's summit is quite similar to that of Sugarloaf, and both offer a 360 degree panorama of remote terrain. While The Horn is just an easy 800-foot spur trail off the long, high ridge north of Mt. Cabot, Sugarloaf's steep path (an old jeep fire warden lane) is well over a mile long. Once committed to climbing the big Nash Stream Forest summit, the hike is a slog at a weary angle that never lets up. But the final reward is well worth the effort.

I first climbed Sugarloaf in 1972, when the fire watch cabin was still perched on the summit ledges and the watchman's camp was still standing high on the side of the mountain. The watch cabin (there was no need for a fire tower on this exposed summit) has long since been removed and the camp has crumbled. The spring is still potable, and water is available in all seasons.

Hiking the Cohos Trail isn't really complete without a trek up this big, graceful peak, the southern-most mountain in a long chain that makes up the so-called Northwest Peaks that stand along much of the western boundary of the Nash Stream Forest. From the topknot, the northern Presidential Range summits are visible above the Kilkenny Ranges and Long Mountain and the Percy Peaks. From this vantage point, one can see other ranges, such as the Whitcomb and Goback ridges, that few people know exist. Due north, Bunnell Mountain rises at the far end of the Northwest Peaks chain, its blue-black round dome standing just a little over twenty feet taller than Sugarloaf itself.

It was good to reclimb Sugarloaf and to spend time studying the topography below. In the 70s, there was a modest but steady parade of climbers who came to visit the fire watch cabin and chat with the warden. The cabin log was full of entries. When the cabin was torn down, hiking on the mountain declined until the early 90s, when interest in lonely, remote peaks away from the crowded White Mountains began to escalate.

In the Nash Stream Forest, the Percy Peaks get most of the attention, because of North Percy's dramatic baldpate and because of the big crop of August blueberries that carpet the summit. There are three trails now up the Percys, so people have their choice of routes, and they can even make a loop hike around the taller of the two twin peaks. Sugarloaf still boasts just one tough trail up to its heights. But it is well worth the sweaty pull up the east flank.

THE PRICE OF GASOLINE

The correlation between hiking interest and the price of gasoline was very apparent during the 2006 hiking season. Demand for Cohos Trail hiking guidebooks and maps was off by fully one-third from the usual levels. Folks who own inns, motels and B&Bs that service CT hikers reported that their businesses saw fewer hikers this season.

Most of the Cohos Trail snakes an hour or two's drive farther north than the White Mountain National Forest. Some trekkers decided not to drive those extra miles to reduce driving costs.

When gasoline approached $3.00 per gallon, the impact on hiking activity was substantial. Most experts monitoring global oil output are now warning that peak global oil output is at hand right now. In the next few years, global demand will quickly outstrip known supplies and reserves and prices are likley to rapidly increase well beyond the $3.00 per gallon threshold.

TRAIL CHANGES FOR 2007

There are a number of changes slated for 2007. Please make a note of these if you have the current maps and guidebook.

Cherry Pond Area

The Slide Brook Trail (the Cherry Pond Link of old) will be closed in 2007 and may be closed for good because beaver activity has walled off the trail and rerouting it onto private land is not a viable option at this time.

To bridge this gap, walk Route 115 and Route 115A about a mile. About a quarter mile north of the junction between these to routes, the hiker should look for a bar-gate 100 or more feet to the west of the highway. The gate rises over the old B&M railroad bed. Walk this bed west and soon you are back on the route to Cherry Pond. Continue northward by slipping west through Moorhen Marsh and around Cherry Pond and picking up the Ice Ramparts Trail and the Col. Whipple Trail (Cherry Pond Trail on older maps) on out to Whipple Road.

Trails in the area are much improved thanks to a White Mountain Regional High School student crew and to volunteers from the Randolph Mountain Club.

Clarksville Bog Area

The old impoundment holding back Clarksville Bog has been gated off to prevent passage. At this writing, we do not have permission for an alternate route to pass around this problem. We hope to resolve this soon, so stay tuned.

MAP REVISIONS

We are working on the new 2007 Cohos Trail maps right now and hope to have them ready by the new year. They will be a bit more detailed, particularly regarding what to do at critical junctions along the route.

See you on the trail.

Kim

Kim Robert Nilsen

The Cohos Trail Association

DECEMBER  2007

T H E   C O H O S   T R E K K E R
The electronic newsletter of The Cohos Trail Association

HAMMERING THE TRAILS
    During the 2007 hiking season, volunteers combed virtually every inch of
the Cohos Trail Association maintained pathways that make up much of the
Cohos Trail system to ensure the route was in good condition throughout most
of its length. Hereıs a rundown of what was accomplished.
    In the Pondicherry Wildlife Refuge in Jefferson, the Col. Whipple Trail
received a complete makeover and is now in the best condition it has been in
since first constructed a decade ago. Cohos Trail Association trail adopters
Stacy and Greg Boone, a pro Youth Conservation Corps crew headed by Jen
Barton, and a Kingdom Corps crew from East Charleston, Vermont all put in a
great deal of time and sweat on the trail, including building an extensive
bog bridge system, pulling logging debris off the ground, trimming back a
raspberry thicket, clipping, and more. The hemlock planks for the bog
bridging were milled out and delivered to the refuge by Bob Paradis of
Stark. According to refuge manager David Govatski, it is likely the Col.
Whipple Trail will be outfitted with a small parking lot in 2008, and the
old skidway in the north end will get loads of fill deposited and graded to
improve the trek there considerably.
    Every foot of the Cohos Trail in the Nash Stream Forest received
maintenance work this year, including considerable work on the Bald Mountain
Trail, Rowells Link, Old Summer Club Trail and the Percy Loop and Percy Loop
Camp. Farther north, the short trail into Pond Brook Falls got a good
clipping, and a blowdown and trash removed. The East Side Trail around Nash
Bog saw folks work on the path on two separate occasions, including efforts
put in by trail adopter Sam Farrington and by a four-person crew that
improved the old logging lane section in the northern reaches. Alders that
have been aggressively closing off sections of the old lane were trimmed
back and the entire way improved.
    In the far stretches of the Nash Stream Forest, the Gadwah Notch Trail
received a great deal of maintenance, major clipping, blowdown removal, some
stone path work over a moist spot, and ditching. A few new signs were put up
in the region, as well. The crew enjoyed a nice visit from a porcupine
during the effort and a full moonrise on the way out.
    From Baldhead Mountain to Dixville Notch, more new work was completed.
Bob Paradis reported that he had been over the Kelsey Notch Trail from the
old notch road all the way to the lean-to on Baldhead on several occasions,
making improvements to the trail each time. He reported that the lean-to,
the trail and its environs are holding up well. Bob also brushed out the Old
Summer Club Trail, taking out numerous blowdowns and clipping .
    Volunteers John and Joe Richardson trekked up the XC trail between Table
Rock and the Balsams Wilderness Ski Area and on to the Dixville Peak access
lane/snowmobile trail and placed new signage throughout that section to make
the route easier to follow.
    Peter and Lainie Castine took on a number of big projects, including
brushing out most of the trails in Dixville Notch to the heights of land on
both sides of the notch. They also put the finishing touches on their fine
work on the Ben Young Hill Trail, spent long hours improving the Lake
Francis Trail (more weed whacking than humanly possible) and the link
between River Road and Youngıs Store, and spent several long days working
with others in the Nash Stream Forest, laboring on half the trails in that
region.
    Trail adopter Yvan Guay and a crew of three others put in a long work
day on the Percy Loop Trail, taking out over 30 blowdowns and half a million
tiny maple saplings. The Percy Loop Camp was swept, trash removed, and the
latrine cleaned and the forest duff canister filled. Kim Nilsen continued
uphill from the Percy Loop Camp the next day and ran a clipper and an ax on
the upper end of the Percy Loop and through the junctions with the other
trails that intersect high on the mountain. He installed several new signs,
as well.  
    E.H. Roy improved blazing and signage on the trail system south of
Coleman State Park all the way to the Panorama lean-to on north Sanguinary
Ridge. He and Luke Oıbrien spent a day sizing up the Sanguinary Summit Trail
and scouting for an alternative route that would improve the going over one
half-mile section.
    Signage continues to improve, thanks to the woodworking skills of Peter
and Lainie and an effort to get them up. Some of the oldest (weather and
woodpecker beaten) signs have been replaced. In the Clarksville Pond area,
new direction markers are up to assist folks making the trek in there along
the half-mile pond dam bypass. The Devilıs Jacuzzi access trail got a sign
posted, as well.
    
TRAIL CLOSINGS
    The Slide Brook Trail in the Pondicherry Wildlife Refuge remains closed
because it was flooded by beaver activity. Recent reports indicate that the
flooding is even worse now than it was at the beginning of the hiking season
due to more extensive beaver dam building.
    A new route had been determined but no longer looks promising because of
the new beaver work. So more scouting has to be done to see if a new trail
can be created. Donıt hold you breath, as the entire region is low and the
soils saturated with water. So developing a trail in there would be a feat.
    Presently, thru-hikers have to bypass the closed trail by walking
portions of Route 115 and Route 115A.
    Hikers electing to begin their northbound trek of the Cohos Trail in the
Pondicherry Wildlife Refuge may start at one of two different locations. The
most well-developed access into the refuge is the parking lot on Airport
Road in Whitefield, just east of the wood-fired electric powerplant and on
the opposite side of the road from that facility. To reach the trailhead
most easily, travel on Route 115 northeast or southwest until you see the
Airport Road sign near the height of land on the highway. Take that lane
west and downhill a good long mile until the powerplant begins to show
itself. Look on the right for a narrow entranceway into the woods. The
parking lot is just a few dozen feet off the road but is hidden by trees.
    At the parking lot there is a fine sign kiosk with lots of information
provided by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Follow the old cinder
railbed northeast out of the parking lot and walk on the level for over a
mile to reach Waumbek Junction and big Cherry Pond.
    The other access for those starting their hike north is located on Route
115A, about a quarter mile northwest of the junction with Route 115. Look
for high-tension powerlines over the highway and what looks like a general
store/residence which is now used as a home on the right. Across the highway
is a flat open area. One hundred feet to the west of the road is a bar-gate.
That gate blocks access (when closed) to the old B&M Railroad railbed that
runs about two miles to Waumbek Junction and Cherry Pond. This walk is a
very pleasant one with a stop on a big rail trestle (views of Owls Head to
the south and Pliny and Pilot Ranges to the north), and a trek through two
large marshes, back to back, known as Moorhen Marsh. The view east from the
marshlands of the Presidential Range is a delight.

NEW HEADWATERS TRAILS IN 2008
    We are seeking the last of the necessary signed go-ahead papers to begin
developing the extensive new foot trail system in the headwaters forests of
the Connecticut River extending through the communities of Clarksville and
Pittsburg. This is what we hope to accomplish in that country in the new
year:
    1. Open the three-mile First Connecticut Lake Trail between Camp Otter
Road and the Magalloway Road at the very beginning of the hiking season. The
route is the combination of an existing ungroomed snowmobile trail and an
old anglers trail and could be completed in a day or two with minor
clipping, minor ditching, and signage and blazing.
    2. Develop the two-mile Moose Alley Trail from Magalloway Road to Route
3 a thousand feet south of Big Brook bridge. This path would string together
two very old skidways with very short segments of newly cut trail to make a
suitable way. The route needs considerable clipping and drainage, some
smoothing of the surface where deep skidder ruts appear, debris pulling in
two short sections, one span of bog bridging over a rivulet, and signage and
blazing. Without question, this new path would be a wildlife watcherıs
dream, as moose constantly move in the area between zones of good browse and
night bedding.
    3. Brush out the all new Falls in the River Trail between Big Brook
bridge pullout and Second Connecticut Lake Dam. This pathway would be one of
the more dynamic in the region because it reaches a turbulent step-falls and
flume in a wild section of the Connecticut River and traces an old angler
path along a fast running stretch of river just south of the concrete and
earth dam at Second Connecticut Lake. The route also passes through
clearings in the forest created by a salvage harvest in the 1980s during a
major spruce budworm infestation. Most of the work required on this trail is
simple clipping, debris pulling, and modest blowdown removal, but there is a
need for a bog bridge string some thirty or more feet long and one
additional single span. Signage and blazing, and a sign kiosk or two would
round out the work. When complete, this new trek will be a fine addition to
the small network of existing day-hike trails spotted about the headwaters
region.
    Depending on how well things go, there are other new sections that could
get attention, including: the Covill Mt. Trail (name not settled on yet)
from Golden Eagle Road over the little peak (terrific view) and down to
Round Pond; the Round Pond Brook Trail connecting Round Pond down to Route 3
near Camp Otter Road; and the Deadwater Trail from the height of land on Ben
Young Hill down to the Deadwater Road (cuts off a good deal of road
walking).    
    By the close of 2009, it is hoped that the Cohos Trail will be complete
as originally planned and will include such features as a restored access
foot trail to the top of Deer Mountain, linkage with the Sentiers
Frontaliers trail system in Quebec, a through trail over Prospect Mountain
(sensational view) to Ramblewood Cabins and Campground, and access to rustic
Bear Ledge Campground.

MEMBERSHIP GETS A FACELIFT
    Membership in The Cohos Trail Association has been a hit or miss affair
for much of the trailıs short history. But in 2008, the infant will mature a
bit and membership will be more formal. New members will receive a
membership card for the first time that will entitle the holder to some
discounting. We are developing a car window patch, too, so you may display
your affiliation. New members continue to receive a new map set.
    The cost of membership has not gone up, and Coos County residents may
join the association for just $10.00. All will receive the e-newsletters
five or six times a year, as well as invitations to work days, work
weekends, and events.

GRANT APPLICATIONS
    To help move the new Cohos Trail projects forward in 2008, the
association has written and is planning to submit grant applications to a
number of organizations, including the American Hiking Society, the Fields
Pond Foundation and the Tillotson Foundation. In each case, the association
is requesting up to $5,000 in funding to help underwrite the cost of putting
professional crews on the ground in the Connecticut Lakes Region. The
association hopes to be able to match at least one of the grants so
sufficient dollars are available to pay a small local trail crew for much of
the summer and a professional trail crew for several weeks to help build the
bog bridge structures that are needed and do heavy ground work in several
sections.
    There is interest in partnering with the Kingdom Corps of East
Charleston, Vermont to seek state trails funds to underwrite some heavy
trail maintenance awork on the Sugarloaf Mountain Trail.

CAREY KISHıS LONG TREK
    True to his word, well-known Portland Herald outdoors writer and
columnist Carey Kish trekked the length of the Cohos Trail this past summer
to help raise money for our little association. He did just that, raising
over $2,000 in mileage pledges. In return he got sore feet, kept fit, and
got to carry an American flag and a State of New Hampshire flag for a
quarter mile at the end of the trek at the boundary monuments right smack on
the U.S.-Canadian border. He also received a free meal and a beer from the
association. (Big of us, eh?)
    When the trek concluded, Carey was met at the border by a cluster of 45
people, including a Canadian thru-hiker, Eric Lacoursiere, from the Sentiers
Frontaliers hiking club of Quebec who  trekked nearly 50 miles down the
boundary clearings, on existing Quebec trails, and on Canadian roadways to
rendezvous with his U.S. counterpart.
    The event was staged to celebrate the efforts of the hikers, but also to
symbolize the joining of two trail systems together to form an international
hiking system, the second such pathway in the eastern United States. It is
hoped that in 2008, the Cohos Trail and the Sentiers Frontaliers systems
will be complete enough to offer an exciting international hiking experience
for those who take their trekking seriously.
    Peter and Lainie Castine organized the border event next to the U.S.
Customs Station, setting up information tables and kiosks to display
photography, signage, and trail products. They brought all sorts of
refreshments for all to enjoy. For an event such a long distance from
population centers, it was well attended, we thought, and boasted officials
from nearby Canadian townships and Pittsburg dignitaries. The media showed
up in force, too, to cover the event. The weather cooperated. It was a
glorious day.
    By the way, go to www.cohostrail.org and click on Cary Kishıs Big Hike
on the home page. It will take you to a long series of fine photographs that
he took on his journey north to Fourth Connecticut Lake.

RENDEZVOUS IN THE DEEP DARK FOREST
    The Cohos Trail Association, again taking a cue from outdoors writer and
columnist Carey Kish, is exploring creating some sort of day-of-fun
Rendezvous in the grand forests of the Great North Woods, perhaps in Nash
Stream Forest, in Dixville Notch, Coleman State Park, or in Pittsburg.
    This fundraising idea is rather ethereal at the moment, but the event
could entail guided day hikes, a swim, storytelling, refreshments,
sing-along, barbeque, an overnight, a campfire (where legal), and possibly a
trail breakfast, say, of oatmeal, pancakes, and coffee, coffee and more
coffee. 
    If you have an idea or two for such a to-do, let us know by emailing us
at prospmw@localnet.com.. If you would like to attend such an fundraising
event, please email and express your interest.

CLEAN SWEEP ON THE BORDER
    A good many miles of the old 60-foot boundary clearings along the
international border at Pittsburg have been cut and anyone hiking the Fourth
Connecticut Lake Trail can see first hand the effort that was put in on
Prospect Hill where the trail runs in the clearing. Fifteen minutes into the
trek uphill, one can see a fine panorama to the east and can trace the
linear boundary clearing in the forests on Mt. Lignes and Mt. Salmon nearby.
    
BITS AND PIECES OF FALLING ROCK
    Dry River Trail in the White Mountains is closed. The suspension bridge
over the large stream has deteriorated to the point that the Forest Service
has elected to close the span.
    Noble Energy Corporation, with a local office in Lancaster, reports that
it will likely begin building its windpower generating wind turbine system
in the Phillips Brook Valley within a year or two, producing upwards to 30
megawatts of power from 30 wind turbines built on the ridgelines. It is
unclear right this minute if the tall towers will be visible from the trail.
Most likely they will be visible from the summits of Percy Peak, Sugarloaf,
Baldhead, Dixville Peak and The Horn.
    Mountain lion sightings continue to come in, this time at Pittsburg,
where two residents on two separate occasions say they saw a big cat.
    The new AMC Highland Center in Crawford Notch is a green technology
building. It is heated with cordwood burned at high temperatures inside a
high-efficiency boiler. The process generates almost no visible smoke and
little odor associated with the burning of wood. Heavily insulated and
featuring triple-glazed windows, the structure is very comfortable and as
quiet as a large facility can be. It is a handsome building, too, its facade
boosting the best features of turn-of-the-20th-century Adirondack Mountains
architectural design.
    Had the pleasure of seeing photography of the lynx tracks that were
discovered near Route 2 in Jefferson last winter, including one image of a
dozen prints running along a downed log. Itıs thrilling to know the presence
of lynx has been confirmed in the county after decades of its absence.
    After a century of papermaking in the village of Groveton, production
will cease altogether as of the new year. The Wausaw mill will close for
good. Several good people who were instrumental in helping the Cohos Trail
get up and going will lose their jobs after decades of employment in that
mill.  
    Looks like an old-fashioned North Country winter is upon us. More than
30 inches of snow has been reported in upper Coos and cold temperatures,
too, enough to keep the snow in good condition. It has been three or four
years since weıve heard a real honest-to-goodness winter come knocking.
Innkeepers have to be delighted. There is sure to be plenty of XC skiing,
snowshoeing and snowmobiling this winter.
    Terrific! Break out the cognac.

KUDOS FOR SPECIAL PEOPLE
    We would like to say thank you to Headwaters Forest Manager Sandy Young
for his solid support for and continuing assistance in our developing new
trails in the Pittsburg-Clarksville region at the top of the state. And a
special thank you, too, to one of the principle Headwaters Plan architects,
Johanna Lyons, who helped this association get most of our trail plans
adopted in the stateıs comprehensive land-use document covering the former
I.P. lands in the headwaters region.
     
THE LAST WORD
    The mountains of Coos County, NH can take their toll on the hiking
public. Hereıs a tale of the trials of one lone hiker who recently ascended
Mount Washington early in the day in good weather only to spend 28 hours
trying to get back to where he started.
    Conversing over an evening meal at the AMC Highland Center in Crawford
Notch, several of us at the table welcomed a stranger, who sat down with his
meal tray and began to relay a story that had all of us riveted to his
words.
    The fellow was man of Chinese lineage, a research scientist employed in
the Boston area who kept fit by running marathon races several times a year.
The meal he was about to eat was the first full meal he would attempt to eat
in more than 24 hours. He said he could not keep food down because of the
hardships he had endured the day before trying to get down off of Mt.
Washington.
    The hiker told us that several days before he had started out early in
the morning to climb the 6,288-footer. The weather was good, the wind calm
and the temperature for November not terribly cold. He shouldered a day-pack
full of trail grub, water, and a flashlight. He was dressed well for a
climb, but did not have full winter gear with him.
    His trek up the Crawford Path to the ridge of the southern Presidentials
was uneventful. He reached the summit of Mt. Washington by noon and was
feeling strong. Rather than descend after an hour or so, he began exploring
other trails and nearby summits so that he could spend more time above
timberline. It would still be light for some time, so he figured he had
plenty of time to dally. In any case, he had a flashlight with him should he
find himself on the trail after dark. What he did not figure on was the
recent time change to Standard Time and the condition of the batteries in
his flashlight.
    Late in the afternoon, he decided it was time to retrace his steps down
to Crawford Notch. But since he still had daylight to play with, he thought
he would try a different route to the lowlands. So he trekked across the
summit flat below the summit cone and made for the steep terrain of Oakes
Gulf. He figured he would try for a Dry River Trail descent and walk the six
miles out to Route 302, four miles south of the Highland Center. He was in
top shape. Why not?
    Of all trails in the Mt. Washington Region, the Dry River Trail is
probably in the poorest condition, and itıs closed now because of the
deteriorated condition of the suspension bridge in its lower miles.
    At the base of Oakes Gulf, nightfall came on quickly. He fired up the
flashlight and followed the trail...for a while. But he lost the path at one
point. Backtracking, he tried in vain to find his way. He couldnıt. Now he
was faced with a bushwhack in difficult terrain during the night hours,
illuminated by a single flashlight.
    Apparently, the man missed a turn where the trail slips across a branch
of Dry River. Now he was on the opposite bank of the big stream from the
trail and, of course, heıd never find it. Still, he told himself, he was
physically fit and fully capable of bushwhacking out of the woods, even in
the dark.
    Things proceded only a short time when his light failed him. Too cold
out now to stop and sit tight overnight, he had no choice but to keep going
in the dark to keep warm. For the next 10 hours, he struggled on steep
slopes, in boulder fields, in spruce thickets, and in blowdown tangles,
falling often, and ramming his legs again and again against objects down in
the dark forest.
    As the first photons of dawn lit the woods, he managed to reach Route
302. Exhausted and his legs in pain, he still had to walk four miles uphill
through Crawford Notch to reach the Highland Center.
    One of our group at the dinner table remarked that she saw him in the
afternoon coming down the hotel stairs backwards. He said he had no choice,
his legs bothered him so much. And he also remarked that he had tried to eat
during the day but couldnıt keep food down. He wanted to sleep, but anxiety
kept his eyes wide.
    The next morning, after taking a short hike, I met the man in the
parking lot. He was about to leave and was packing his car. We chatted for
five minutes. I told him I was more than a little happy that we were having
this conversation, knowing how many people have been lost in the mountains
over the past century and more. He told me he had slept well and was eating
again, but he complained his legs still ached terribly. He showed me why. He
hiked up his pants to expose his shins. The flesh appeared to have been
lacerated, as if he had taken a hundred lashes with a whip.
    The mountains have a way of making us humble, donıt they? You would
think these ancient rocks, these cores of long eroded mammoth peaks, would
be rather placid folds that coddle their human visitors. But more often than
we like to admit, these low forested and bony summits, so close to the
beehive of megalopolis, are killers. Each year they extract their quota of
the unfortunate. And each year, I have to remind myself to pay my respects
to these peaks, least I make one wrong move too many.
    
    See you on the trail, where wandering in the wilderness is a blessing,
not a curse.    
         
    Kim


    K.R. Nilsen
    The Cohos Trail Association
    266 Danforth Road
    Pttsburg, NH 03592

Your Hosts: