Ammonoosuc Ravine Trail Maintenance Summary

[Raven]

This is a brief summary of some of the basic trail work I’ve done on the Ammonoosuc Ravine Trail this year over four days between May and July. Bear in mind, I am only the trail adopter - much work is done by others as well.

This is the fourth year I’ve been the adopter for this trail. For those who are not familiar, it is a beautiful trail (IMO) that starts at a USFS lot on the Cog Railway Base Road and ends at Lakes of the Clouds Hut. It follows the Ammonoosuc River’s headwaters and passes beautiful Gem Pool where bats with white-nose syndrome are seen periodically during the day (I have not seen them lately) before climbing the ravine wall. A side path leads to a gorge above Gem Pool and much of the last mile of trail up the ravine is very steep and quite slippery on the slabs when they are wet. This is the shortest way from the west to summit Mount Washington (along with Crawford Path segment). There are numerous waterfalls along the way, some very stunning. Overall, including the spur trail, there are 3.4 miles of trail.


Dates of Trip: May 26 and 27, 2013

On Saturday the 26th I cleared water bars in the first mile of trail from the USFS lot to the junction with the Marshfield Station access trail, a 0.3 mile side access trail from Marshfield Station. I also cleared the bars on the short access trail itself. These had made some difference by Sunday although the lower mile of trail is very wet. I also removed 3 medium blow downs that did not require cutting by pulling them off trail. On Sunday the 27th, I came back and removed 4 medium-sized blowdowns requiring cutting, all in the first mile of trail. All told this amounted to 6 hours of work over both days.


Date of Trip: June 9, 2013

Mile 1: I walked the first mile from the USFS lot to the junction with trail to Marshfield Station and did some minor clearing of water bars. A blaze needs a new coat of paint at the crossing to avoid confusion with the rogue trail leading back to Base Station Rd. I will blaze that section this summer. I removed a few minor blow-downs (easy step-overs). The fist mile is in great shape in terms of water bars, blow-downs, and brushing.

Mile 2: in the mile from the junction to Gem Pool, I cleared most water bars, especially those most needing it. I will need to return to dig out a few with a mattock that I did not get this time. I removed a few minor blow-downs and did some cleanup work. Brushing, blazing, and blow-downs are fine in this section.

Near Gem Pool: Most of my time and effort were spent on 5 water bars above Gem Pool (in the first 0.2 above the pool). I cleared all brush around these, dug them out, rebuilt rock bars where they had deteriorated and generally got these flowing again. I also did this with a few water bars just below Gem Pool. Minor blow-downs removed. 6 hours work.

• Trail needs blazing at the first water crossing
• 2-3 water bars in second mile need digging out.

Major Maintenance needs observed:

There is a big hole (1.5 foot diameter) in the side of the trail bed very close to the Young Memorial Boulder. This looks like it could result in a major washout of the trail given any rain and erosion. My guess is that the trail will have to be rerouted up higher on the side hill when this part ultimately washes out.


Date of Trip: July 4, 2013 (Happy Independence Day!)

I cleared brush in multiple sections on the upper mile of trail between Gem Pool and LOTC Hut. This was the last part of the trail needing any significant brushing and some of the crossings needed it badly as the entrances back into the woods were getting grown in a bit. 10 hours work.

And the best part of doing maintenance in the upper mile? It’s only a stone’s throw from the top of Mount Monroe. So, I took an hour break to summit and hang out on the summit cone on this trip.

Basic Maintenance still needed:

Trail needs fresh blazing at the first water crossing. I need to dig out a handful of water bars along the trail (6-8), most in the upper 2 miles, but will need an adze or mattock to do this so will plan it for another trip.

Overall, I think the trail is in good shape and finally feel I have caught up on brushing (95% done), water bars (80% done), and clearing blowdowns (100%). I hope to freshen a few important blazes and dig out some water bars needing more than a fire rake later this summer.

I encourage anyone who is thinking about adopting a trail to do so - it's hard work, but fun, rewarding, and gets me out on the trail in a different manner - it's interesting to stay in one place on the trail for long periods of time to see who is coming by.

 

[Driver8]

Thanks for your work on this awesome trail, Scott. I had one question - in the upper mile, are the blazing and trail-finding signals fully sorted out? I hiked Ammo up and down May of last year and down in June last year and found the trail route hard to follow in some places. Specifically, going up, the forest service quarter mile sign was misplaced last May at the spot where the trail last turns, to the right, away from the brook for the final ledgy ascent to the hut. In the snow, not seeing the turn, I turned left, following a herd path and ended up on a misadventure in the brush. Worked out ok, but it could have been avoided if there were a cairn there and maybe some blazing marking that important place on the trail.

Also, in the stretch around 4500', there are some spots where the trail is hard to find, even if you've hiked it before, recently even, as was my case. Has this stretch been reblazed? Not looking for overblazing, just for a review of the trail, headed down, to ID spots where, for one not intimately familiar with the trail, its turns might be hard to find or easy to lose. There definitely were a few of these.

Anyhow, it may have been you I mentioned these things to last year, it was someone who works on maintenance of the Ammo, and I was hoping some of these things might have been addressed. Thanks again for maintaining this extraordinary trail, one of my favorites.

 

[Raven]

Thanks for your work on this awesome trail, Scott. I had one question - in the upper mile, are the blazing and trail-finding signals fully sorted out? I hiked Ammo up and down May of last year and down in June last year and found the trail route hard to follow in some places. Specifically, going up, the forest service quarter mile sign was misplaced last May at the spot where the trail last turns, to the right, away from the brook for the final ledgy ascent to the hut. In the snow, not seeing the turn, I turned left, following a herd path and ended up on a misadventure in the brush. Worked out ok, but it could have been avoided if there were a cairn there and maybe some blazing marking that important place on the trail.

Also, in the stretch around 4500', there are some spots where the trail is hard to find, even if you've hiked it before, recently even, as was my case. Has this stretch been reblazed? Not looking for overblazing, just for a review of the trail, headed down, to ID spots where, for one not intimately familiar with the trail, its turns might be hard to find or easy to lose. There definitely were a few of these.

Anyhow, it may have been you I mentioned these things to last year, it was someone who works on maintenance of the Ammo, and I was hoping some of these things might have been addressed. Thanks again for maintaining this extraordinary trail, one of my favorites.

Thanks for the input. Yes, it was me you had mentioned this to last year. Blazing is the next thing to tackle. The first water crossing and a couple spots up high need some clarification. I cleared brush at the crossings so they should be more obvious, and the USFS has replaced some arrow signs at the turn below the highest falls. I block rogue trails with brush but they are often cleared quickly. There are plenty of side trails up high leading to rogue campsites. Hard to manage these of course. I expect to take a blazing trip in August that will help somewhat although I will be somewhat stingy with paint. I'm not a believer in overblazing. You are correct though in pointing out some of the confusion near the top.

Thanks!

 

[Driver8]

Cool. Thanks again, Raven. This may be my favorite trail. Certainly one of them. I intend to do it when I come up for Monroe and Isolation. Not sure when. Such a beauty, especially when the water's running well.

 

[IQuest]

Thanks for putting in your time. It is much appreciated.

 

[Lost Dad]

Scott, most importantly, THANK YOU for your contribution to the maintenance of the Ammonoosuc Ravine Trail. We (Dad, Mom & 2 teens) hiked the Ammo trail for the first time last Monday. I do agree that the first crossing could do with a bit more guidance. But, other than one crossing, we found zero issues with trail finding. My kids even went way out ahead of us and they got right up to the hut, no problems. OTH, a bit more blazing will certainly help come winter time.
Reviewing our day, both my daughter & I decided that the Ammo trail is our favorite "up" trail that we have encountered in our pursuit of the 48. Currently, we are half way through the list, working as together as a family.
Ammo is a beautiful trail and it is in wonderful condition, thanks again.

 

[Driver8]

Scott, most importantly, THANK YOU for your contribution to the maintenance of the Ammonoosuc Ravine Trail. We (Dad, Mom & 2 teens) hiked the Ammo trail for the first time last Monday. I do agree that the first crossing could do with a bit more guidance. But, other than one crossing, we found zero issues with trail finding. My kids even went way out ahead of us and they got right up to the hut, no problems. OTH, a bit more blazing will certainly help come winter time.
Reviewing our day, both my daughter & I decided that the Ammo trail is our favorite "up" trail that we have encountered in our pursuit of the 48. Currently, we are half way through the list, working as together as a family.
Ammo is a beautiful trail and it is in wonderful condition, thanks again.

Hi Lost Dad. If you enjoyed ascending the Ammo, I very highly recommend going up Beaver Brook from Kinsman Notch. If you can spot a car in Glencliff and traverse Moosilauke via the A.T. routing, even better - it would be a treacherous descent, a bit moreso than Ammo, and it's neat to cross the mountain and take in the views from the South Peak, near the Glencliff Trail-Carriage Road split.

Beaver Brook does not offer the anything like the distant views that Ammo does, until you get above treeline right before the summit, but the waterfalls are extraordinary - I lost count, something like a couple dozen, ranging from 5-10 feet to a couple hundred. It was awesome in the true sense. If you like waterfall trails, it's hard to beat.

 

[Raven]

Thanks Lost Dad. Glad you liked the trail. It is pretty awesome. Here's a perfect example of the team effort it takes to maintain a trail:

This past week, Ryan H. (USFS), Bruce (Brewster on VFTT), and Maria spent the day working on the trail relocation to avoid the washed out section of trail in the second mile. Looks like they did a fantastic job, and at the very least, Bruce has his own trail to maintain and works with the Trailwrights to do all sorts of other more involved trail work around the WMNF. So a big thanks to them for helping out on a BIG job on Ammo Ravine Trail.

The Trailwrights are always looking for interested volunteers to help out as well.