THE COHOS TREKKER

President's Message

Sorry for it being so long in between Trekkers. It has been a busy summer. There were 5 new trails opened here in Pittsburg. The Falls in the River Trail, the Moose Alley Trail, the Camp Otter Trail, the Round Pond Brook Trail and the Prospect Mtn. Trail over to Ramblewoods. These trails are seeing heavy day hike traffic. For the thru hikers, these trails take away several miles of road walking.

I want to welcome Chad Pepau as our new vice president and would also like to say welcome our newest board members, Tracy and Leanne Rexford of Berlin.

We are still in great need of volunteers and trail adopters. Please contact us if you can help out. We need labor, materials and dollars.

Donations are slow in coming this year. Without your support, it becomes very hard to accomplish what needs to be done. Just think, if everyone on this mailing list gave $10.00, that would equal over $10,000. That would go along ways in meeting our goals.

See you on the Trail

Pete Castine

President

The Cohos Trail Association

THE COHOS TREKKER - by K. R. Nilsen

HELLO FROM THE COHOS TRAIL

NEW FOOT TRAILS OPENING IN RAPID SUCCESSION

Near a little split-log bench by Round Pond Brook on The Round Pond Brook Trail, the stream tumbles four feet over a ledge and fills with woods a pleasant murmur. A small feature, it is nonetheless a delight in the quiet forests of the Connecticut River headwaters country at the top of the Granite State.

Four miles away as the crow flies, things were much more hectic recently. More than one hundred men and women participating in the Untamed New England Race, a three-day wilderness endurance marathon, spent three hours each of community service work ferrying dozens of heavy three-inch thick planks and peeled log rounds many hundreds of feet across nearly a sixth of a mile of spruce bog in the Coon Brook drainage just north of First Connecticut Lake. When finished with their work, they had added nearly 400 feet of new bog bridging to a stretch of 300 feet put in a few weeks earlier. Their effort made it possible for the entire span to be completed a few mornings later and for the last brush-out work to commence on the three-plus-mile Camp Otter Trail from Camp Otter Road through to the Magalloway Road bridge over the Connecticut River.

And so it goes all across the big forested town of Pittsburg, as the Cohos Trail Association hammers out new trail after new trail in an effort to complete the 162-mile Cohos Trail from Crawford Notch to the Canadian border. That goal is now in sight.

On Covell Mountain between Ramblewood Cabins and Campground and Round Pond, more than half of a 4 mile-long trail has been cut to the summit. When complete, that pathway will run over the fine little peak, with exceptional views from the northeast to the southeast, and down to Round Pond. When open for hiking traffic, the Covell Mountain Trail will link the recently completed Prospect Mountain Trail, over another low summit with a sensational vista, to the Round Pond Brook Trail. That trail along the brook valley in turn links to the Camp Otter Trail, the new Moose Alley Trail, the new and suddenly very popular Falls in the River Trail, and the short new Idlewilde Spur Trail from Second Connecticut Lake dam out to the Second Lake boat-launch-access lane, Idlewilde Road.

One no longer has to ford Big Brook to reach the Moose Alley Trail on the west bank of the stream. A strong lightweight steel truss has been installed and planking and heavy rope railings are in place to provide safe passage between the two trails. Once across Big Brook, hike a short distance to a trail junction. If you turn right, the Moose Alley Trail reaches Route 3 in a few minutes. If you turn left, you may continue your hike south nearly two miles on the Moose Alley Trail to the Magalloway Road.

In a few weeks, a hiker will be able to step off the Cedar Stream Road near the east end of Lake Francis and walk to the Canadian border almost entirely on woods trails, many of them brand new, and a few of them well-maintained machine-mowed snowmobile trails. The only gap by the end of the season should be the two-mile road walk on Route 3 from the Second Lake boat-launch-access lane to the Route 5 snowmobile trail just across the highway from East Inlet Road. That last stretch will probably have to wait to be fully brushed out in 2011.

Much of the corridor was laid out by Peter and Lainie Castine of Pittsburg. They did yeoman work on these trails, and continue to do so, with the help of a host of volunteers ranging in age from nine years to the eighties, plus that big adventure race crew.

TWENTY MILES JUST GOT BETTER

Today, if you amble off the Percy Road in Stark and start a long trek from the Upper Ammonoosuc River Valley to Dixville Notch, you will be greeted with trail that has seen a heavy dose of maintenance. For more than 20 miles, the Cohos Trail has had its blazing heavily touched up with yellow paint. And many more blazes have been painted and many dozens of new, painted cedar blaze plates put up, particularly at trail intersections. Numerous blowdowns and drops have been removed and debris pulled, and lots of clipping and weed suppression carried out. Some sections have received ditching to improve water drainage. In the future, some new trailhead signs will go up, big raised letter signs expertly fashioned by Lainie Castine.

So right this minute, the various paths that make up the Cohos Trail from Stark to Dixville Peak south flank junction are in the best condition they have been in some time and things will only get better next year, as several new kiosks go up, information is posted, new signage is installed in some places, Gadwah Notch gets some additional bog bridging, and perhaps even a new road bypass trail comes on line and a new campsite is built.

TCTA NAMES A NEW VP

The Cohos Trail Association has named Chad Pepau of Stark as the new vice president. Currently employed at Bosebuck Mountain Camps on Lake Aziscohos in northwestern-most Maine, Chad has already been busy working on the CT, doing many hours of maintenance work on the Gadwah Notch Trail, the Kelsey Notch Trail, the East Side Trail, the Covell Mountain Trail and The Falls in The River Trail. He also helped install over 300 feet of bog bridging on the Camp Otter Trail, making it possible for that stretch to be done in a day.

Chad is a graduate of the University of Maine-Presque Isle, majoring in outdoor recreation. He spent a full year as a high school student working for the association. You can see his handiwork all over the Cohos Trail, from two composting latrines that he fabricated, to signage and blazing, to bridge work and lean-to construction.

NEW BOARD MEMBERS NAMED

A number of new members have been added to the Cohos Trail Association board of directors, bringing the number to ten. Recently named have been Tracy Rexford and Leane Rexford of Berlin, both of whom have done a great deal of work in the past in trail development, including work on the CT. Joining them is Ada Robbins of Lancaster, who has helped with trail maintenance work in Gadwah Notch and has obtained utility grants for the trail. Another new member is Mary Sturtevant of Sugar Hill. She is actively involved with the AMC and brings another dimension to the board. Last but not least is Ray Chaput of Twin Mtn. He has been instrumental in the new trail in the Cherry Mtn. area.

THE OWLS HEAD TRAIL BYPASS AND THE SLIDE BROOK TRAIL REBUILD

There is some movement regarding the possibility of the development of a bypass around a closed section of the Owls Head Trail in Jefferson. Board member Ray Chaput has indicated that he has been interacting with members of the Randolph Mountain Club (RMC) and landowners in the area to try to flesh out a new route around a property closure that shut down the wonderful Owls Head Trail maintained by the RMC. There is a lot of interest in getting a new trail in place as soon as possible to link with the upper elevation section of the trail that is on White Mountain National Forest lands.

Now we have word that an agreement has been struck with a local landowner and there is a good possibility that a 900-foot bypass will be built this year.

If a new bypass can be created, that opens up the potential for the redevelopment of a new Slide Brook Trail nearby that could route hikers off Owls Head and send them down into the Pondicherry Wildlife Refuge. The old trail was shut down because beaver activity flooded the trail and it could not be moved to the east onto private property. The new path would cross an open field shadowed by the summit spike of Owls Head and reach a large but inactive beaver bog. A 400-foot bog bridge would have to be built atop of the old beaver dam to make the trail passable, but it would be a fine feature in the trail because it would cross a large watery expanse and allow hikers to view the entire Owls Head peak.

For the Cohos Trail Association, the Slide Brook Trail would be a high priority in 2011. We would commit resources to purchase materials for the bog bridging and commit volunteer hours to get the job done.

THE PROPOSED TRIO TRAIL

Another priority for 2011 or 2012 would be the development of a proposed three-plus mile trail in the Nash Stream Forest designed to get hikers off the Nash Stream Road and keep them at the 2,000-foot elevation level in mixed forest between the Percy Loop trailhead and Pond Brook Falls. A formal proposal will be submitted this winter to the NH Division of Forests and Lands at the Lancaster regional office for a footpath tentatively called the Trio Trail, after the Trio Ponds region that the trail would cross.

This proposed trail would link the Percy Loop campsite on the north flank of North Percy Peak to Pond Brook Falls. It would begin in the campsite itself and run due north to the 2,000-foot elevation terrain on the south flank of Long Mountain. There the trail would turn westbound and run with the mountain’s flank for nearly a mile before turning abruptly northeast and reaching an old logging skidway sweeping around the west flank of the peak. A quarter of a mile along the skidway and the trail would turn due north once again and descend very gradually for a mile and a half until it approaches a drained beaver bog where there is a good view to the north of the cliff on the south arm of Whitcomb Mountain.

The new trail would swing to one side of the bog and reach the Trio Ponds road where Waterhole Brook flows under the road. The path would cross directly over the road and enter the woods just above the brook and reach Pond Brook in a few minutes. At the brookside, there are several large boulders that would act as crossing steps so trampers could move to the north bank of the brook without getting wet. Once above the north bank, the trail would turn west again and drop in elevation for a quarter mile until the ledges at the very top of Pond Brook Falls come into view. Here a hiker can see down the length of the big slide and step falls and look across the valley to Stratford Mountain. Here, too is a big kettle hole that is a good place to dunk a tired body.

The final leg of the new trail would run down a former trail that was brushed out by Stratford High School ten years ago to the bottom of the falls. The trail would end at the parking pullout for the falls that sits next to the Nash Stream Road. Once there, hikers could continue north simply by crossing the road and walking down the drive to Trailblazer Bridge over Nash Stream and move off toward the high country of Sugarloaf Arm a long mile away.

The trail route will have to be reviewed and walked by state officials from various divisions to see if it passes muster. If it does, that route would become an important corridor in the Nash Stream Forest because it would greatly improve the entire hiking experience over the sixteen-plus miles that the Cohos Trail runs through the forest. Because there are no substantial ascents or descents along the route, the treadway ought to wear well and be fairly easy to maintain.

THE FALLS IN THE RIVER TRAIL BRIDGE

For those who have not trekked the new Falls in the River Trail, it is a gem in the Connecticut Lakes region because it reaches a big step falls and roaring flume. But it also tracks along a new bridge that spans Big Brook. The new bridge is now the largest stream crossing structure created by the association at 28 feet in length.

The Big Brook bridge is made possible by a heavy steel truss that was donated to the association. The truss was propped up on timbers on the ground and laid on its side and spiked down. The truss superstructure was covered with heavy planks running lengthwise to make a level surface to walk on. The final touch was the installation of two heavy guide ropes on each side to give the tramper a better sense of security when crossing the bridge.

GRANTS AND DONATIONS MAKE IT ALL POSSIBLE

We would like to thank all of you that donated your money to our cause. Your donations helped to make the new trails in Pittsburg possible. The association is also grateful to a number of foundations that have seen fit to underwrite the extensive Connecticut River Headwaters trail projects we have undertaken this year. We have been fortunate to receive funding from the Neil and Louise Tillotson Fund, from the small grants program of the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation, and from the New England Grassroots Environmental Fund. We have also received a small grant from Public Service of New Hampshire and are awaiting still another grant from a New England utility.

NEW EQUIPMENT IN HAND

The association boasts some new equipment, in particular a donated heavy-duty ridging lawn tractors as well as a purchased one and a purchased utility trailer well suited to hauling the mowers and most anything else the organization might want moved about.

A FEW SMALL PROJECTS FOR 2011

There are a few minor projects that will address big potential problems on the trail in 2011. The Rowells Brook bridge will have to get a new log stringer under its downstream side to ensure the bridge remains safe. That effort probably is the highest priority task the association can undertake next year. Failure to replace the log stringer is not an option. It has to be done.

The short link between Mt. Gloriette and Dixville Peak access trail needs a bypass around a couple of wet spots (almost tiny ponds) that have been causing hikers fits. We haven’t done anything suitable about the problem since the Cohos Trail came on line. It’s time we spent a few hours in there and got the job done once and for all.

The Bald Mountain Notch Trail west of the tiny notch itself has some increasingly wet ground to slog through. It’s time to move the trail uphill just a few feet and create a simple bypass in two areas to solve the problem.

And the Gadwah Notch Trail needs thirty feet of bog bridging at the head of the existing puncheon bridge span in the notch itself. The approach to the bog bridging is very wet now and difficult to get around. Just three ten-foot spans would do the job and make the trek through the notch a pleasant experience.

percy peaks

See you on the trail.

Kim R. Nilsen, board chair

The Cohos Trail Association

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