camping spot near Zealand Hut

[egilbe]

Wow - I'm surprised at the discussion that my request for backcountry site info generated. I want to report that I ended up staying off the Ethan Pond trail because it sounded easier to find and it was getting dark by the time I got to the A-Z trail. I'm happy to report that I did find the other site on the way out. Both sites were in pretty good shape, only a couple of other campers at Ethan Pond... I was especially concerned because it was not poo that was the problem, but fires. NOAA had issued a special hazardous weather alert because of high winds and dry conditions for Friday, with fires being the main concern. I took it upon myself to make sure that the guys nearest me knew about the alert(they didn't) and inform them of the Dilly fire. They weren't from around here and I told how dry it's been and that having a fire was risky. They didn't put it out right away but didn't let it get much bigger...and promised to make sure it was out at the end of evening. I still didn't sleep that well that night knowing that these yahoos had fires at all given the wind. I was glad I was there to at least warn them. Maybe that site is too obvious if it attracts people with such disregard for safety.

Did they know about the Kinsman Ridge fire thats been burning for three weeks? If I recall, its not too far from where you were, correct? We didnt see it from Franconia Ridge Saturday morning, but by noon, we could see the smoke blowing ffom behind Cannon Mountain.

 

[TJsName]

Did they know about the Kinsman Ridge fire thats been burning for three weeks? If I recall, its not too far from where you were, correct? We didnt see it from Franconia Ridge Saturday morning, but by noon, we could see the smoke blowing ffom behind Cannon Mountain.

Cathy references the 'Dilly fire', which is on the southern end of Kinsman Ridge. Ethan Pond is a few ridges NE of there - probably 20 miles as the crow flies.

 

[cathyf]

Cathy references the 'Dilly fire', which is on the southern end of Kinsman Ridge. Ethan Pond is a few ridges NE of there - probably 20 miles as the crow flies.

That's correct, TJsName.

 

[miehoff]

These legal or illegal site locations should be done via PM and not on the forum pages. Let's keep these hidden places hidden? Eh? Makes sense to me.

 

[peakbagger]

Some of the spots in this area are legal and some are not. A hiker just needs to know the rules and decide if they want to follow them. PMing a so called "stealth" spot doesnt change the legality of a spot, its just encouraging someone else to break the rules.

Read the rules https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb5363715.pdf

The two controlling rules are the 1/4 mile rule which would be 1/4 mile radius from the Hut. The FS does mark those boundaries pretty well on all trails in the area. The other controlling rule is 200 foot rule from trails for wilderness areas. This gets tricky as the Wilderness boundary is most likely not the centerline of Twinway and the Ethan Pond trails. The boundary is generally some short distance from the centerline of trails to allow some buffer around the trails to allow maintenance. The 1/4 mile rule pretty well locks out any legal camping between the hut and the Ethan Pond trail and some short distance north and south of the junction with the Twinway and Zealand trails which pretty well excludes any camping up to the junction with the A to Z trail (and the area around Zealand Pond). There are many illegal sites within the 1/4 mile radius and different hut crews appear to have differing interpretations on what is legal. Unfortunately they dont have any authority to waive the rules, only the FS has the authority so any suggestions the AMC crew makes has no standing.

There are legal sites a short distance down Ethan Pond trail once the 1/4 mile marker is passed and many just off the A/Z trail. This get even more tricky as the official FS maps show the wilderness boundaries far closer to the trails than that shown on the circled map insert prior in the thread. Since the wilderness boundary is somewhere west of the trail a camper can camp directly on west side of the trail or at worst 200 feet in the woods to the west. To the east side of the trail, there is no minimum buffer. There are several patches of open woods in this area. The other somewhat popular spot is on the Zeacliff trail down near Whitewall Brook (past the boulder fields). This is definitely Wilderness area so the 200 foot rule applies. There are some obviously used areas that are within the 200 foot limit but plenty of spots outside the limit.

PMing is the not the big issue in this area as much as the adoption of several electronic aps by AT thruhikers which have formalized what were formerly "stealth" sites. I have not looked at recent versions but the prior versions I have seen listed numerous potential campsites with no regard to FS regs. Hikers assume that if these spots are listed in the AP they are legal.

 

[MikePS]

climbed up to Zeacliff today, tenters right in the wooded area near the cliff, would be surprised if this is recommended?

 

[JoshandBaron]

climbed up to Zeacliff today, tenters right in the wooded area near the cliff, would be surprised if this is recommended?

Ha. I know those people. That spot is pretty well known.