Mount Hayes and Mascot Mine 6-24-2015

[WeRmudfun]

For our second adventure on this vacation we hiked Mount Hayes and then went out to the Mascot Mine located in Shelburne, NH. We decided to make it more interesting by starting the hike in Gorham, NH, so we park by the old train bridge off Rt16 and use it to cross over the Androscoggin River. A walkway is built underneath the bridge.
On the opposite side of the river there is an AMC trail sign pointing which way to go. The trail we were using was called the Mahoosuc Hiking Trail Detour. If you decide to take this trail and have never taken it before, you might want to take a look at the beginning of the video to avoid the extra 3 miles mistake we made. This was a difficult detour to figure out. The signs are extremely small (maybe 3x2"), smallest we ever saw!
All I can say is after getting on the rail trail, you will cross a bridge, then look for a right after the "interesting" signs. Lol This trail will lead you out to power lines, once there take a right and follow it to the trailhead.
Finally being on a real trail we started our ascent. From the trailhead to the summit is only 2.5 miles. The cutoff to Mascot Pond and the mine is only 0.7 miles from the trailhead. We bypassed the pond and went for the summit first. The trail was was uneventful on the lower part, but after crossing the road the trail seemed a bit harder to follow as the blazes were on the faint side. We also encounter a lot of muddy sections and slippery rocks. It was a pretty tough hike to get up to the views, but so worth it once we hit the ledges. It was easy to see why this mountain is on 52WAV.
We took a break and enjoyed the views along with watching a couple Turkey Vultures playing in the winds, then it was off the the summit, the view less summit that is. There is just a lonely cairn marking the summit. With no views we couldn't see hanging out there so we headed back down.
We bush whacked a lot around the mud and wet rocks. Before we knew it we were back down to the road that criss crosses the trail. We took the road this time and followed it to the right about 300 feet. We found the herd path and followed it up to the Leadmine Ledges. Working our way down, we found the first 2 openings to the mine. There are all gated off to protect the bat population that hibernate in the mines. One of the openings appeared to be a cave in or a vent hole, the other one was impressive. It looked to be 20-30 feet high and completed gated off. The gating itself was impressive!
After exploring that area we continued to work our way down the side on the mine. The idea was to get to the main entrance with out having to climb up the steep loose tailing. We failed miserable on that plan. So up the tailing it was and it was steep. We got to the entrance and read the sign about the bats. We added to the bat info in the video. We would love a chance to get into that mine and see it. Where do we sign up for the bat counting committee? Lol
We had heard that there are at least 2 more entrances, but we were tired, so we'll save that for another day. We headed back down the tailing and out to the detour trail. Overall it was a great hike with lots of history. We wouldn't rush to hike the mountain again, but we may go explore the mine again.

 

[Jazzbo]

Well done! Just last night I was watching a video about Ore Hill Mines in Sugar Hill and Franconia Smelter. I wonder where the smelter was for this operation. The video said Franconia smelter closed approx. 1870 so there must have been another one in area.

 

[peakbagger]

There was a quite a development at the base of the mines including a large boarding house but I have never seen reference to any processing of the ore. Some contemporary reports were that the main thing produced at the mine was bait for investors. There is another lead mine a few miles east in Shelburne that is in bottom of a stream. The only to access to that one is divert the water and pump. Various bits and pieces of property have been obtained by the state in this area and are combined into Lead Mine State Forest.

The issue with the AMC signs was that the AMC didn't put them up. When Brookfield (illegally) closed the traditional crossing over the dam, the AMC decided it wasn't worth arguing the point and abandoned the trail between RT 16 and the Hogan Road where the trail head is now located. The state OHRV bureau had some involvement and decided that if the trailhead was to be moved if would be moved to the OHRV parking lot 2 miles west on RT 2 but nothing formal was ever done. Someone from Brookfield put an arrow on the fence at the dam redirecting hikers away from the dam but didn't do any other signage until recently when the put the one immediately after leaving the bridge. The solution was a local citizen put up some discreet signs to keep hikers on the right track without calling attention to the signs. The trail still officially starts at the Hogan Road but the newer WMG trail guides reference the method of getting to the official trailhead. The blaze after the canal is new.

There is an old logging road that follows the outlet brook of the Pond. It makes a nice loop using Hogan road.

Prior to the closure of the trail over the dam, Mascot Pond was popular with thru hikers on a budget who wanted to stay near town but didn't want to pay for a hostel. Its still is a nice remote feeling spot that is quite close to a road. The one caveat is that water should be obtained from the brook that runs alongside the Mahoosuc trail rather than the pond. The AT historically joined the Mahoosuc trail in the area above the pond, early on the official route was down a side street in Gorham where a hiker would get rowed across the river, it then shift south to a footbridge near the next hydro station across the river and then was shifted to the railroad bridge before finally being moved to the Centennial trail in Shelburne.

 

[WeRmudfun]

Thanks Jazzbo, like peakbagger, I didn't find any info on them processing the ore.
Thank you too peakbagger for clearing up what those little signs and the detour were all about. We only went in using the bridge because we thought it would be more interesting..well it was!