THE COHOS TREKKER

Spring is approaching and there are a number of trails open for adoption.

Chad Pepau, Overseer for the Nash Stream District, has the East Side Trail open for someone to attend to winter blowdowns and debris as soon as the snow is gone. Throughout the summer there are sections that need weed control and work may begin on the Nash Stream crossing. The trail is approximately 1.9 miles in length.

The East Side Trail is located in The Nash Stream Forest (Odell Unincorporated township) and most of the trail is in good condition, however, some of it was built in an old eroded logging lane and this lane can get somewhat wet. It could use some erosion control and improved bog bridging in two spots.

The East Side Trail skirts Nash Bog and is a pleasant, somewhat level woods trail. In the south, it follows Nash Stream upriver close to the water, then cuts uphill. Work was done on that rise several years ago and is holding up well.

The trail reaches a spur trail to Devil's Jacuzzi (unknown natural pool shaped like a huge jacuzzi and frothing with bubbles) at .8 from the east end.

After crossing a wet section with a bridge that needs to be replaced in the near future, the trail becomes a true woods trail and is nice much of the way out to the grassy Nash Spur Road.

There's another spot where a side spur cuts down to Nash Bog so hikers can have a look at the bog. This needs clipping sometimes and the new maintainer would be instrumental in the decision making process of whether we should approach the State with plans of perhaps a boardwalk or platform. The new maintainer would also be included in the building of the project.

The walk out to the northern end of the Nash Stream Road requires no maintenance and at the junction with the Nash Stream Road we should put up a post and trail sign indicating the name of the trail.

If this trail is for you, contact the The Cohos Trail - Attn. Chad

GADWAH NOTCH TRAIL

Chad Pepau, Overseer for the Nash Stream District, also has the Gadwah Notch Trail open for someone.

It too, is located in The Nash Stream Forest (Odell Unincorporated township). This trail needs a good deal of work in several places from the gate all the way to the very entrance of Gadwah Notch.

The Gadwah Notch Trail is part of a route (that includes the Kelsey Notch Trail and Baldhead Mt. Trail) that takes hikers into the most remote country on the Cohos Trail north of the Kilkenny region. This is a critical trail in the system, as are the other two listed in the last sentence.

The first half mile is a grassy tote road that rises steadily uphill to Cathedral Meadow. There is no work required here unless trees fall into the lane. Between Cathedral Meadow and Moran Meadow, lots of thin trees break off or bend over and these need to be removed periodically.

At the entrance to Moran Meadow, the trail turns right uphill. There is a signpost and signage here. This post needs to be a big, heavy post. The present one needs to be replaced. Blazing on rocks on the old toteway should be touched up, or blazed grade stakes put in every 300-400 feet.

The trail climbs moderately up into Muise Bowl and no work is required in the bowl.

Leaving Muise Bowl, the trail narrows and climbs steadily. There are ditches and waterbars in here that need to be cleared and improved. As the trail climbs, growth is beginning to infringe on the trail. This growth has to be aggressively cut back four feet to keep the trail from sealing itself.

The pathway begins to level out a bit and crosses a wet spot. A few stepping stones would improve things in this area. A rotting log pile comes into view and the trail should be staked with yellow topped grade stakes to keep people on the "high" side here. Ditches need to be cut across this flat to help it dry out.

Pass the log pile and enter a raspberry patch. This patch needs to be cut back four feet each year. Drop down and cross Nash Stream (tiny here), and climb the rise to Bulldozer Flat.

Bulldozer Flat has rock cairns in it that need to be maintained and repainted. These cairns should be improved and built higher so they are more visible as one walks eastward toward Mt. Muise.

The blazes and arrow signs on the tree line have to be clipped around aggressively every year so the yellow paint can be seen for a good distance. The paint needs to be touched up and a few blazes made bigger so they are visible from farther away.

The trail makes a turn onto a moose path and moves north through increasingly tall but wide open spruce. The path is easy to follow but this section is often very wet. A number of good ditches need to be cut directly across this trail to dry it out. These ditches would have to be cleaned each year and rebuilt as moose will degrade them readily.

This area between Bulldozer Flat and the new trail punched into Gadwah is the biggest trouble spot at the moment in this trail. It needs to be done and done well. Two or more people with mattocks could get the job done in half a day. Mattocks are supplied by The Cohos Trail and camping is provided at the Baldhead Lean-to.

If this trail is for you, contact the The Cohos Trail - Attn. Chad or simply email us !

Mt Gloriette Link Off Dixville Peak Service Road

This is an old service lane to the Wilderness Ski Area. It's growing in and has never seen much work. There are one or two tiny ponds in the middle of it that need to be bypassed in the woods to the east and the trail needs clipping.

The signage at both ends is critical, particularly at the south end. The signs there are old and the paint hasn't been touched up in years. This is a critical point, because the old Dixville Peak service road drops steeply downhill at this spot. We don't want hikers dropping off the mountain, we want them to take the link to the ski area.

This trail section is traveled by snowmobilers in the wintertime and technically the blazing could be put up now by snowmobile. From the summit of Dixville Peak, head down for a short distance and the trail to the Balsam's Ski Area goes off to the right but if you continue towards Errol and the Log Haven Campground, then you'd essentially go 'straight'....This is the section of trail in question. If you're heading out that way in the near future and would like to help out with blazing, please contact Lainie for supplies and complete directions.

THE COHOS TREKKER - by K. R. Nilsen

HELP FINISH THE LAST MILE OF THE COHOS TRAIL IN 2011

BLACK CAT SPUR, PITTSBURG, NH – The Cohos Trail, more than 165 miles of it, will be completed in 2011. Help us finish the job end-to-end and make the Cohos Trail the wildest trail in the East.

Pick a project you think you’d like to support, and help us to the finish line.

1. GOING THE LAST MILES: There are just five miles of uncut trails to be developed:

A. Two miles of the Mt. Covell Trail from the fine summit of Mt. Covell down to Round Pond

B. 3.3 miles (pending approval) of the Black Cat Trail from Second Connecticut Lake Dam area to Black Cat Spur near the East Inlet Road

2. LEAN-TOS THREE: There is a third lean-to that could be built, and we’ll need some extra materials to complete it. The body of the building will be donated by the Garland Mill at Lancaster, NH and by the North American Timber Framers Guild. But we’ll need the following:

A. Sixteen panels of metal roofing at $25 a panel

B. Materials for eight sleeping platforms and pads in the lean-to

3. BRIDGING WETLANDS: There are 1000+ feet of puncheon span (bog bridging) to be built on the trail.

A. 700 feet at a drained beaver bog in Pondicherry Wildlife Refuge, Jefferson

B. 100 feet on the East Side Trail and Gadwah Notch Trails in the Nash Stream Forest

C. 200+ on the new Covell Mountain Trail and the Black Cat Trail in Pittsburg

4. BUILDING A COVERED BRIDGE: There is a pedestrian bridge to be refurbished and then fitted out as a covered bridge.

A. Either a bridge in Pittsburg or Rowells Brook Bridge in the Nash Stream Forest

PICK A PROJECT

Would you help us with a donation to cut trail? Or would you rather help outfit the lean-to? Does underwriting the milling out of materials for a very long bog bridge span suit you? Or would you rather help fund a retrofitted covered bridge?

A GIFT OF $5.00 to $5,000. YOU CHOOSE

No amount of money is too small to help support the Cohos Trail Association finish and outfit the trail well in 2011.

$5.00 is a fine gift. It funds a half hour of trail work.

$10.00 buys two heavy three-inch thick planks for the bog bridging.

$25.00 underwrites a painted steel roofing panel for the lean-to.

$50.00 secures a foot of retrofitted covered bridge at Rowells Brook or Big Brook.

$100.00 puts a young person to work on the trails and structures for a whole day.

$250.00 pays for new trail signage, several sign kiosks, and blazing.

$500.00 provides all the extra materials for the donated lean-to so it can be completed.

$1,000.00 funds almost all the materials for the retrofitted covered bridge.

$2,000.00 underwrites all the bog bridging materials needed in Jefferson, Stratford, and Pittsburg.

$5,000.00 funds a professional crew for a month, so they can build just about everything.

HOW TO DONATE TO THE COHOS TRAIL ASSOCIATION IN 2011?

There are a number of ways to support the Cohos Trail:

A. Go to www.cohostrail.org and donate by clicking on the box at the upper right of the home page

B. Go to Facebook’s www.causes.com/causes/555098

C. Or go to Facebook.com and search for Help Improve and Maintain the Cohos Trail

D. Send a check or money order to: The Cohos Trail Assoc., 266 Danforth Rd., Pittsburg, NH 03592

E. Donate physical materials. Call 603-538-6777 or 603-363-8902

HELP US GO THAT EXTRA MILE

A gift of $5.00 or $5,000…all are essential to our effort to complete the Cohos Trail in 2011 and build the structures highlighted above.

You may deduct your donation to the Cohos Trail Association. We are registered as a nonprofit with the State of New Hampshire and are a 501(3)C organization.

The Cohos Trail Is Wild - thanks to you.

Kim R. Nilsen

Board chair, The Cohos Trail Association

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