Bowman Base Camp is for sale

[StonyLonesome]

Maybe a nice big parking lot would be good. Ease the situation up the road.

Yes - if consistent with the strategic objectives for the use of the area. To that end, we've contacted the USFS to ask how we might partner with them and other parties for the best use of our land stewardship consistent with those goals (and of course there's likely other organizations and entities that will be involved). Because of that, we have no doubt it take time (and impact studies and the like) before we get an answer and recommendation. We'll see what happens.

 

[peakbagger]

I have been getting driven over to Lancaster to see the doctor or a fairly frequent basis, so I have noticed some changes at the former Bowman Base Camp. The new owners have put in a new driveway and cleared out a lot of the woods. With the leaves down and the clearing, the camp is now quite visible from RT 2. I do not know their schedule to remove it but if someone wants to take a last look now is the time to do it. I shouldn't need to add that the land is private and the building is severely deteriorated so viewing should be from the side of RT2 staying off their land. When I looked at it previously prior to sale it was in the condition that some of part of the building could fail at any time.

 

[Scubahhh]

Is it just me, or does it seem like there's more to this than meets the eye.?

"StonyLonesome:" welcome to the group, and I doubt I'm the only one here who'd like to know what you have in mind other than just the legacy. Your side of the story might prevent a lot of speculation about what interest a bunch of Pennsylvania city slickers might have in Coos County!

Thanks!

 

[sierra]

Man I loved that place. The owner and me and friends had a great relationship. He left us alone and we had a blast at that place. We slept inside on bad days and outside on good nights. The owner would rarely come out of his side of the house. He had a penchant for alcohol and I made sure he was taken care of when we were there. I also remember he always went into Gorham for church on Sunday, that was one of the few occasions we would see him as we made breakfast. For some reason, I think he was a rocket scientist for NASA, although my memory is challenged as booze and grass were the staples of the 80's I'm afraid. Anywho, very fond memories, we killed the trails on the Northern peaks back then, the peaks, like the camp were basically our home for a year or two. I hope the owner faired well, he was a pleasant man.

 

[peakbagger]

I thought the new owners original post was fairly specific. You may not be familiar with Randolph but it's a very small seasonal somewhat intentional community that attracts a fairly limited pool of folks from all over. There are many multigeneration homes and ownerships that date back over a 100 years but there are always new folks that have sampled the community and want to think they can fit in. Once they go to the town wide charades every year, they are hooked Lots rarely come up in town especially one with a bit of history (Lowes Path) and Randolph is pretty careful with planning and zoning.

I was quite surprised recently that the first real subdivision for a group of homes was approved in town. The last one was over 30 years ago. It is on the town line with Gorham somewhat out of sight out of mind but the developers claim they are expecting that the average home prices will be in 400 to 600 K range.

 

[StonyLonesome]

Man I loved that place. The owner and me and friends had a great relationship. He left us alone and we had a blast at that place. We slept inside on bad days and outside on good nights. The owner would rarely come out of his side of the house. He had a penchant for alcohol and I made sure he was taken care of when we were there. I also remember he always went into Gorham for church on Sunday, that was one of the few occasions we would see him as we made breakfast. For some reason, I think he was a rocket scientist for NASA, although my memory is challenged as booze and grass were the staples of the 80's I'm afraid. Anywho, very fond memories, we killed the trails on the Northern peaks back then, the peaks, like the camp were basically our home for a year or two. I hope the owner faired well, he was a pleasant man.

Thank you for sharing your experiences with us. The gentleman passed in 2014, full of years and memories. He was Harvard-educated, spent many years working for Raytheon Corporation (which very well could have been your NASA memory/connection, given their business specialty), and served his communities well, earning many awards from philanthropic groups for his efforts and time. His name was David Lempereur McMurtrie.

 

[StonyLonesome]

I thought the new owners original post was fairly specific. You may not be familiar with Randolph but it's a very small seasonal somewhat intentional community that attracts a fairly limited pool of folks from all over. There are many multigeneration homes and ownerships that date back over a 100 years but there are always new folks that have sampled the community and want to think they can fit in. Once they go to the town wide charades every year, they are hooked Lots rarely come up in town especially one with a bit of history (Lowes Path) and Randolph is pretty careful with planning and zoning.

I am grateful for your gracious remarks, Peakbagger. As you're aware from your neighborly reach-out to us (and shared here in the forum for the benefit of others), we plan to retire to the Randolph area in some years, as we enjoy long-distance backpacking, the history and community of northern NH. There are many things to do between now and then. The 52-bunk base camp needs to be respectfully dismantled (demolition permit now active, as published in the Randolph Board of Selectmen minutes - ETA as soon as the demo company can fit it into their schedule). We need to ensure the land is restored, then maintained (replacement culvert, temporary new driveway to support demolition of existing buildings, planting native-friendly trees and browsing shrubs for wildlife, cleanup of trash migrated from US Route 2, etc). We are actively partnering with strategic organizations (USFS, RMC) to understand how they might wish to use easy access from our property to Lowe's Path. Other goals are to listen more than we speak, learn more than we pretend to know, and support the community's values, including development of the area consistent to maintain its character. We want to live our lives in such a way that the only way one would be able identify us as "out of the area" would be our accents, and the only remarkable thing of our presence in the community is that we care for it as earnestly if we'd been born there. Time will tell whether the fit is good. I look forward to the journey of discovery.

 

[peakbagger]

Randolph and the RMC are usually quite friendly to new folks if they want to participate in local events. Randolph's 200 anniversary is coming up in 2024 so a good time to volunteer as the town is doing a lot of planning. Its a small town with few residents and in order fill all the statutory positions on boards its pretty well takes every official resident to fill the slots. So be prepared to volunteer. Bonus points if you want to be a first responder or even more points for volunteer firefighters.

The RMC is always looking for hike leaders and trail maintainers, no experience or residency required. If you are a member of RMC you should be getting the newsletters and the Randolph Foundation should be sending the winter newsletter. Once the summer rolls around it goes weekly and if you are not in town to pick it up, its available on the Foundation website. If you can make it up for the Randolph Tea (4th of July) that is good kick off event and the RMC annual meeting is another one to try to make. Lots of bonus points if you show up at town meeting in early March.

There are actually quite few books about Randolph and aspects of the town or by local authors, usually they are short run but I think the library has copies. There is supposed to be a book on the distinct architecture of the various summer properties coming out at some point. Doug Mayer formerly from Car Talk has quite a few humor/satire books that he has coauthored over the years, some more successful than others.

The one caveat is you may run into is a northern New England trait that the locals, what few there are in the off season, may not be super friendly, they are usually polite and helpful if you ask, but some folks "from away" get the wrong impression. Many folks "from away"move to the area in the spring to live in the area full time, they have a great summer and fall and usually make it through the holidays but when the dark days roll in in December and the weather cannot make up its mind between late fall and winter, without distractions more than a few folks start to rethink the year round concept a bit. Many times by February they are plotting their escape and as soon as the snow melts the for sale goes up. It happens often enough that some locals just dont want to waste social capital until they are sure the new folks are going to hang around for awhile If you have winter hobbies involving snow than it may be non issue. Worse case is succumb to the temptation and pick up a few snowmobiles since you have major route in the backyard. Unlike ATVs, snowmobiles are tolerated in town as long as you stick to the trails (conveniently shown on the RMC map) there are ties to many trail systems with hundreds if not thousand of miles accessible.

BTW, NH has a state nursery and sells a lot of native plants. Its long haul down to pick them up but a nice option.

 

[sierra]

Thank you for sharing your experiences with us. The gentleman passed in 2014, full of years and memories. He was Harvard-educated, spent many years working for Raytheon Corporation (which very well could have been your NASA memory/connection, given their business specialty), and served his communities well, earning many awards from philanthropic groups for his efforts and time. His name was David Lempereur McMurtrie.

Thank you very much for the follow up information on Mr.McMurtrie. Considering our time frame was the 80's and he didn't seem to young then, he lived a long life.

 

[Fisher Cat]

I remember Bowman being built, and watched it slowly be grown back in by cover. My great uncle hoofed my brother and I to the top of Bowman too, based on an internal reckoning and compass only he possessed in October of 1981 - according to our family's hiking log.

I just wanted to chime in that, since being raised in Jefferson (Valley Road - side) we had the chance to be familiar with some of the Randolph residents, just as much as those in the Riverton - side of Jefferson were closer to the Lancaster folks. The McMurtrie family were some of the most patient, kind, and quiet people we have ever known. We did some work on their old house, and his sister - Marguerite - was my AP English teacher at WMRHS for 2 years. They were generous and unassuming in word & deed.

StonyLonesome - my best wishes to you

 

[peakbagger]

Hard to think of better potential stewards for the property.

If could have been sold to far worse given the adjoining snowmobile trail. There are numerous former residential properties in the Berlin Gorham area that have become ATV/snowmachine parking lots with Air B&Bs. The former hotel cottage complex at the Intersection of RT2 and R 16 (location of the former Hikers Paradise0 is a sad example. Like many other North County towns, Gorham is putting in Short Term Rental (STR) regulations to try to minimize the impact to neighborhoods.

 

[peakbagger]

Everyone I have heard that have bought from them have been very happy with the plants. Hazelnuts will grow in the north country but good luck ever finding good nuts. I will see my wild bushes loaded with immature pods but the squirrels seem to raid them just about when they are ready. They will leave the ones with the brown spots which means an insect bored in an ate the nut meat.

The Randolph Community Forest Stewardship plans are good source of education on the many forest types in town, worth reading http://randolphforest.org/documents/ Just plan on lots of lime to sweeten up the soils if you want to grow apples. Not that far away on Durand Road there is house that has or had some health tart cherry trees. IF you do find old apple trees, they usually can be brought back with lime and fertilizer. My guess is the water table may be high but then again there are occasional small post glacial gravel deposits.

 

[StonyLonesome]

Everyone I have heard that have bought from them have been very happy with the plants. Hazelnuts will grow in the north country but good luck ever finding good nuts. I will see my wild bushes loaded with immature pods but the squirrels seem to raid them just about when they are ready. They will leave the ones with the brown spots which means an insect bored in an ate the nut meat.

The Randolph Community Forest Stewardship plans are good source of education on the many forest types in town, worth reading http://randolphforest.org/documents/ Just plan on lots of lime to sweeten up the soils if you want to grow apples. Not that far away on Durand Road there is house that has or had some health tart cherry trees. IF you do find old apple trees, they usually can be brought back with lime and fertilizer. My guess is the water table may be high but then again there are occasional small post glacial gravel deposits.

Thank you for the references on the state nursery and also for the Randolph Forest plan site! Coincidentally, we did put in a few hazelnuts and a couple of apple trees - we'll see how they do over the next few years.

 

[StonyLonesome]

The nursery will ship quite a few of the plants they sell, via UPS, depending on size -- no driving necessary for immature trees, shrubs, etc.

Some of their selections grow very quickly; almost 20 years ago, we planted a number of birches and hazelnuts, and within five years' time, the hazelnuts were almost full size. 10 years later, the birches were pretty good size, too.

Thank you for this information. I'm considering trying to get a couple canker-resistant butternuts (white walnuts) if they are to be had. I am of the understanding that they're on the comeback as disease-resistant hybrids but may not be widely available. The nursery didn't have any white walnuts, but their black walnuts looked lovely and the prices were beyond reasonable. Gives me something to dream about!

 

[peakbagger]

If you are optimists, chestnuts are an option. They really didnt get that far north previously so the blight may never been present. There are reportedly some chestnut trees in Bethel that are used for collecting nuts from and a record Chestnut was found in the Kezar Lake area in Maine several years ago. There are a couple of sellers of pure chestnuts from remote isolated western patches. If and when the controversial transgenic version gets approved, I expect they will be very popular. I dont hold out much hope for the pure blight resistant version to every make it out in the field as every time they think they have gotten a blight resistant variety when they do a challenge the blight pops up agajn. Fedco Seeds in Maine is a co-op that sells a lot of predominantly local plants bushes and seedstock. Just make sure you have your soil chemistry checked first. There are deer in Randolph, like much of the north country they are very low density, but you do need to put in protection for young plants.

 

[Andrew]

The nursery will ship quite a few of the plants they sell, via UPS, depending on size -- no driving necessary for immature trees, shrubs, etc.

Some of their selections grow very quickly; almost 20 years ago, we planted a number of birches and hazelnuts, and within five years' time, the hazelnuts were almost full size. 10 years later, the birches were pretty good size, too.

I have a hard time not buying new tree seedlings every year, as a frequent buyer I receive the catalogs by US Mail late winter, so have learned to place my orders early before everything sells out. Here is the website for the state nursery and I would recommend seeing if you can get on their newsletter or catalog list so as not to miss out https://www.nh.gov/nhnursery/ . When I lived in Gorham and placed orders they would be shipped to the NH Forest & Lands HQ facility on Rte 3 North in Lancaster, along with all the rest for Coos County, and then you would pick them up there. There was just an article in a NH paper about the incredible high demand the state nursery has been experiencing the last few years and availability difficulties; funny as it used to be such a sleepy affair. Since we moved over to Bethlehem, we now order from the Grafton County Conservation District and pick up our trees at a central location local farm early spring. I have a thing about propagating white cedars, and the new owner of my former home in Gorham is blessed with a new grove of fine native cedar privacy trees that seemed just yesterday bare root twigs. We also enjoy planting as much hazelnut and buttonbush we can plug in for the benefit of wildlife.

 

[iAmKrzys]

We also enjoy planting as much hazelnut and buttonbush we can plug in for the benefit of wildlife.

What gets attracted to buttonbush? Do you get any hummingbirds?

 

[Andrew]

What gets attracted to buttonbush? Do you get any hummingbirds?

Good question. My wife is the wildlife biologist and always adds it to our orders and wants me to plant it. She is big into insects and we do maintain our land with consideration to encourage the bottom of the food chain and up. We are fortunate to have a few hummingbirds around every year that find food on our property even when the feeder is absent.

 

[StonyLonesome]

The knowledge and lessons-learned exchanges beyond hiking here are much appreciated - the stewardship (and safety and consideration of others) advice is priceless.

Wanted to pass along that Bowman Camp is scheduled for demolition by mid-January (given what is known now - that could change).

Happiest of holidays to each of you from a newbie here.

 

[peakbagger]

Thanks for the update. No doubt the building will come down quick but I expect the fireplace will be quite a structure to take down. Hopefully you do not need to haul that part of the building to the landfill. My next appointment in Lancaster is in mid January so I expect it will be gone by then.