Early Bird
Active member
With a forecasted 70% chance of rain and decked out in waterproof clothing head to foot, Gig (Anti-Zen) and I headed out to meet RocksnRolls for a Moat Mountain traverse, north to south. Having heard of blowdowns in the cols between peaks, I first wanted to stop at EMS to buy a small camping saw. Once at the outfitter, I asked to see their saws for clearing the trails. The helpful woman led me towards what they had and looking somewhat concerned asked, “Are you part of a trail crew?”
“No,” I replied. “I’m just going to clear stuff out of the way while I hike.”
She slowly repeated my words, “You’re just going to cut things down as you hike?”
When she put it that way, it did sound bad.
EMS only had Sven saws. IME across the street had nothing. Farther down RT16 before bearing right towards the southern end of the Moat Mountain Trail, we stopped in the Army/Navy store, where I bought a cheap little $5 saw. We met RocksnRolls off Passaconway Road, drove up to the north end of the trailhead and began from there.
The three of us followed the gentle, wide, handicap-accessible trail to Diana’s Bath and stopped for a few pictures of the falls. On the way, we accounted for the drivers of each of the cars in the parking area as they headed out, and rightly predicted we’d have the ridge to ourselves. Gig had his new wrist GPS and would update us with our progress at each quarter mile or so.
At the junction of the Attitash Trail before we turned left and started to climb, we stopped for snacks. RocksnRolls also had a folding pull saw, and this is where we began to use them. Softwood trunks blocked our path. Before stepping over them we sawed away the protruding boughs. Finding it fun as well as useful, we’d stop for every thumb-sized nuisance branch. Although the rocky trail and ledges up to North Moat were slick with the snow melt and overnight rains, none of the stream crossings had been any trouble. Snow lingered in the deeper parts of the col between the ledges and the final ascent to the north summit.
Once there, clouded skies kept distant views hidden, but we were glad that the rains were holding off, though we were still soaked from the thick brush. A light mist fell as we summitted the North Moat. Anti-Zen marked a GPS waypoint. We regrouped and moved on.
From here the hike seemed to sort of temporarily end. Instead of a hiker I did feel like part of a trail crew. Thumb-sized nuisance branches were henceforth ignored. About every fifty feet there was an almost impassable blowdown. Most times we could cut between one and five branches and/or drag the felled tree away, but at least three times the damage was just too much, and we had to bushwhack around. This gave me some insight into what a bushwhack other than to Owl’s Head might be like. I’ve confirmed that I care for no part of it. I did like the scent of balsam from some of the cuts, and it was nice to have three of us out helping. Gig was glad that there were no other hikers out there thinking that he might come across them while he was soaking wet, covered in dirt and pine needles, wielding an eight inch saw and looking wild-eyed like something out of Lord of the Flies. We noticed some branches turned blue as we cut them, likely the result of blue stain fungus.
Our hard work was rewarding and gave us a true appreciation of what trail maintainers do for us each spring. It was very slow going to Middle Moat, but after that all was fine. In the past I’ve hiked the Moats from south to north. Heading off from South and Middle Moats had always been a bit tricky. I found the trail easier to follow in this direction.
The trail down after South Moat passes through a hemlock and beech forest. Light rain began to fall making the new spring leaves gleam brightly, very beautiful. I enjoyed the walk out as I listened to some of my favorite spring migrants: hermit thrushes, oven birds, black-throated blue and black-throated green warblers.
Back at RocksnRolls’s car we were all glad to be heading towards warm showers where we would get the sap and dirt off our hands and spruce needles out of our hair. Gig’s GPS claims that the trail was only 8.77 miles, and he says it don’t lie. I say for all the effort we put out, it counts as 9.7, as the guide book states. Later we nixed plans to meet at Flatbread and headed to Bangkok Café for some satisfying Thai food.
Thanks to RocksnRolls for joining us. Maybe he'll post his pictures, since I forgot the batteries to my camera. Here is a link to the map Gig's new GPS created showing how often we stopped. GPS map of pauses The first two pauses were for pictures. The next big bunch along the ridge were to clear the trail.
“No,” I replied. “I’m just going to clear stuff out of the way while I hike.”
She slowly repeated my words, “You’re just going to cut things down as you hike?”
When she put it that way, it did sound bad.
EMS only had Sven saws. IME across the street had nothing. Farther down RT16 before bearing right towards the southern end of the Moat Mountain Trail, we stopped in the Army/Navy store, where I bought a cheap little $5 saw. We met RocksnRolls off Passaconway Road, drove up to the north end of the trailhead and began from there.
The three of us followed the gentle, wide, handicap-accessible trail to Diana’s Bath and stopped for a few pictures of the falls. On the way, we accounted for the drivers of each of the cars in the parking area as they headed out, and rightly predicted we’d have the ridge to ourselves. Gig had his new wrist GPS and would update us with our progress at each quarter mile or so.
At the junction of the Attitash Trail before we turned left and started to climb, we stopped for snacks. RocksnRolls also had a folding pull saw, and this is where we began to use them. Softwood trunks blocked our path. Before stepping over them we sawed away the protruding boughs. Finding it fun as well as useful, we’d stop for every thumb-sized nuisance branch. Although the rocky trail and ledges up to North Moat were slick with the snow melt and overnight rains, none of the stream crossings had been any trouble. Snow lingered in the deeper parts of the col between the ledges and the final ascent to the north summit.
Once there, clouded skies kept distant views hidden, but we were glad that the rains were holding off, though we were still soaked from the thick brush. A light mist fell as we summitted the North Moat. Anti-Zen marked a GPS waypoint. We regrouped and moved on.
From here the hike seemed to sort of temporarily end. Instead of a hiker I did feel like part of a trail crew. Thumb-sized nuisance branches were henceforth ignored. About every fifty feet there was an almost impassable blowdown. Most times we could cut between one and five branches and/or drag the felled tree away, but at least three times the damage was just too much, and we had to bushwhack around.
This gave me some insight into what a bushwhack other than to Owl’s Head might be like. I’ve confirmed that I care for no part of it. I did like the scent of balsam from some of the cuts, and it was nice to have three of us out helping. Gig was glad that there were no other hikers out there thinking that he might come across them while he was soaking wet, covered in dirt and pine needles, wielding an eight inch saw and looking wild-eyed like something out of Lord of the Flies. We noticed some branches turned blue as we cut them, likely the result of blue stain fungus.Our hard work was rewarding and gave us a true appreciation of what trail maintainers do for us each spring. It was very slow going to Middle Moat, but after that all was fine. In the past I’ve hiked the Moats from south to north. Heading off from South and Middle Moats had always been a bit tricky. I found the trail easier to follow in this direction.
The trail down after South Moat passes through a hemlock and beech forest. Light rain began to fall making the new spring leaves gleam brightly, very beautiful. I enjoyed the walk out as I listened to some of my favorite spring migrants: hermit thrushes, oven birds, black-throated blue and black-throated green warblers.
Back at RocksnRolls’s car we were all glad to be heading towards warm showers where we would get the sap and dirt off our hands and spruce needles out of our hair. Gig’s GPS claims that the trail was only 8.77 miles,
and he says it don’t lie. I say for all the effort we put out, it counts as 9.7, as the guide book states. Later we nixed plans to meet at Flatbread and headed to Bangkok Café for some satisfying Thai food. Thanks to RocksnRolls for joining us. Maybe he'll post his pictures, since I forgot the batteries to my camera. Here is a link to the map Gig's new GPS created showing how often we stopped. GPS map of pauses The first two pauses were for pictures. The next big bunch along the ridge were to clear the trail.
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