WHAT TO DO IF YOU LOSE THE TRAIL

Rule Number 1: Bring the new full color CT maps and a compass with you.

Rule Number 2: Learn to use the compass BEFORE you go into the woods.

The Cohos Trail is a new trail. It is now in quite good condition and getting better each year. Signage is improving as is the trail "on the ground". The treadway underfoot is new and is not always terribly distinct. But increased traffic is making the trail easier and easier to follow without relying on the blazing.

Perhaps the biggest problem encountered on the trail in several places is tall grass and super fast growing growth in recent logging cuts. Most tall grass segments are short in length but they can be unpleasant when the grass is wet. Fast growing trees, berry cane and weeds can hide blazing and cause confusion. We try to get at most of these problems to prevent problems. Remember to keep your compass with you.

The Cohos Trail intersects with old logging ways and skid paths in the woods. Watch the blazes in the trees and signs. You may think the wide grassy logging track is the way to go, but The Cohos Trail might and surely does sometimes strike off in different directions from what appear to be the logical route.

As the trail becomes traveled, blazes will become less critical to keeping to the trail. The trail has hardened in most places and become distinct in the ground. You need to rely on blazes much less than in prior years. And one other thing, moose make great trails, too. Sometimes hikers have followed moose trails away from the CT. So when in doubt, look for blazing. Remember, though, there is no CT signage and blazing in the White Mountain National Forest. Existing trails in the WMNF have their own color blazing. Many are yellow, like the CT, but a few are white or light blue. There is no blazing as well in Pittsburg township at the top of the state. Follow the maps and guidebook and you will be fine.

IF YOU LOSE THE TRAIL

It is very unlikely you will lose the trail now, as it is now rather distinct "in the ground" in almost all locations. But if you do lose the trail, stop right where you are. Turn directly around 180 degrees and walk very slowly back in the direction you just came from. As you go slowly, scrutinize EVERY tree (or rock on the ground) -- in every direction -- in your immediate vicinity for paint blazes. Every 10 feet, crouch down to change your eye level so that leaves at eye level don't hide a blaze that may be right next to you.

It is likely you are very close to the trail. If you don't find blazes within 100 feet, stop.

Place something big or bright -- a rain poncho say -- at eye level in a tree. Now choose a 90 degree angle from the direction you are going in. First walk very slowly out away from the spot you are on along that 90 degree direction. Always -- ALWAYS -- keep the object you placed in the tree within sight. Go as far as you can without losing track of the object you placed.

If you lose sight of the object in the tree, crouch down and take a look. It might just be obscured by leaves at eye level. Changing your eye level can often reveal what you are looking for. And rock your body back and forth two feet in each direction so your eyes can get a bit more view of the whole area. Sometimes a blaze is hidden by a tree between you and the yellow paint.

If you still do not find a blaze, return to the object you placed in the tree. Now go in the opposite direction and do the same thing. Do this until you've covered the four points of the compass.

If you still can't find the trail, Stop. Think for a second. Are you on a ridge line? If you are at the top of a ridgeline, the trail will probably be running along the ridgetop too, as a good deal of the Cohos Trail does. If the trail was on the top of the ridge and now you are below it, go back up to the top of the ridge.

Were you close to a stream? Can you hear the stream? If so, go to the sound of the stream. Walk up and down the stream until you find the blazes.

Did you recently cross a highway, a secondary road or a woods road that gets some use? If so, wait for the sound of traffic moving on the road. Go to the sound and you will come out on the road. Walk back and forth until you find where the trail crosses the road.

Are you in a meadow? Cross back and forth across the meadow until you find where the trail enters or leaves it.

Are you in indistinct territory without features to guide you? If so, you must get out your map and compass. (If you don't have them, you have not prepared well as all the information about the trail has warned you to do.)

You should know one thing for sure -- which section of the trail you are in -- The Montalban Whites, Jefferson Dome area, Kilkenny, Nash Stream Forest, Dixville Country, Connecticut Lakes, Boundary Mountains.

Now look at the map. The red or red orange line is the trail. Look at the section map, the one you would be in. Find any nearest road or big stream that reaches a road within as short a distance on the map as you can find from the red or red orange colored line which signifies the trail.

Now look at the map. Is the nearest road or stream east of the red line, north, south or west of the red trail line on the map? Decide which direction it is in. If you have your compass, line up with the compass needle facing due magnetic north (turn your body so it is facing magentic north with your compass reading. (True north will be just a bit more than 13 degrees east of magnetic north.)

Now line up your map's grid lines with the compass needle direction. Now rotate the map (not the compass) clockwise 13 degrees until it is lined up approximately with true north. North is always at the top of the map. Now chose a magnetic degree on the compass, north, south, east or west which corresponds with the direction you want to go in or feature you want to find. If your compass has a direction arrow you can set, set it now. Put the map away. Remember the compass degree from north that you wish to go in. Don't forget it. Or consult your compass direction arrow that you set. Every time you want to find out the direction you are trying for, line the compass up with magnetic north again and check the degrees reading or arrow direction. If you want to do all this again with the map, remember that true north (the way the map is illustrated) will be 13 degrees east (clockwise) of magnetic north (to which your compass aligns).

NOTE: Your compass aligns with the magnetic field of the earth. In Coos County, the compass points toward magnetic north, which is west of true north in extremely northern-most Canada. Therefore, true north is east of the compass reading. True north differs very slightly from "grid" north on maps. Because maps are flat and the earth is round, grid north compensates for that difference. No need to worry about that here. But if you were at sea and wanted to hit landfall 2,000 miles away, that slight difference between true and grid north would be sufficient to make you miss your destination completely. You should know that magnetic north is not fixed. The earth's magnetic field changes over time and over the course of years, magnetic north will not be where it is today. Old maps, printed when magnetic north was in a different location, will not be useful today if one is trying to navigate strictly by magnetic north.

In the future, the CT maps will have GPS coordinates and other features to work with. Until then, you must use a compass bearing.

Now strike off in that direction referring to your compass constantly. If you are unsure along the way, turn yourself until your compass is facing due magnetic north again (remembering the direction you decided to go in) and reestablish that chosen direction again.

Generally, the Cohos Trail runs roughly north/south. You are generally closer to roads or residences if you go west, down into the Connecticut River Valley. That is generally the best bet unless there is a wall of mountains ahead of you.

Generally, it is best NOT to turn east bound. In a number of areas, there are great expanses of woodlands without roads or areas that are riddled with logging roads that may take you many many miles away from a well traveled road or residences.

BUSHWHACKING

If you decide that you won't find the trail. Stop. Take a breath. Panic is of no use and is not productive. You will have to bushwhack out of where you are located. Bushwhacking is overland travel in unfamiliar country. If you use your compass to strike a straight line, you can take real comfort in the fact that you are moving in a relatively straight line and in all likelihood you should find, in a few miles, a road that will lead you eventually to a residence or camp.

Or find a stream and follow it downstream. It will take you to a larger stream or a pond. If it leads to a swamp, skirt the outer edges of the swamp until you find where the outlet is. Then follow the stream some more. Eventually it will reach a woods road or back road. In the back woods, roads often branch like streams do. They come down to a main road usually at angles not at crossroads, like in a city. Think of these branch roads like stream branches and go 'with the flow'. In most cases this practice will lead you to a main road.

PANIC IS OF NO USE TO YOU

Do not fear the forest without a trail. The woods can't hurt you. Trees are harmless. There are no creatures in the woods that will hurt you either. In the East, you are not prey for any large creature. So put that fear out of your mind. Just concentrate hard on finding your way down out of the mountains on a straight compass course or along a stream course.

If you are walking the trail late in the day and you have a good pack and a pup tent on your back, you can stay overnight without worry anyway. If you are on a day trip and you have a rain poncho, you can overnight under dense growth under the poncho and stay dry. Resume your walk out the next day.

Even if you become lost in one of the worst possible places, remember that the Connecticut River and the roads along it are usually no more than 12 miles away. The Androscoggin River to the east is usually within 12 miles too. And major roads that run east and west -- 302, 2, 110, 26 -- are no more than 12 miles away. In Pittsburg, always stay with the lakes and the Connecticut River and you will be fine.

So, for comfort, just remember that even under the worst circumstances, there is almost always a good road within 10 to 12 miles, and in some cases within three or four miles. At a steady pace, you can easily cover 10 miles in a day, even in the mountains.

Just remember to keep a straight course in the woods. Use the compass. Set that course and stick to it. Or follow that stream downhill. It will cross a road sooner or later.

SO REMEMBER

Take the compass with you. Take the map with you. Do it! Don't forget. And learn to use the damn thing BEFORE you go into the woods. Now, you can have fun.