Old rail bed near USFS Ammi parking lot?

[Bob T]

Ignoring blow-down, does anyone know if the rail bed shown below is passable? I'm looking to solve an Edmand's Path parking problem and it seems like it might be possible to ski from the cog lot down to Mt. Clinton Rd. along that bed. Thanks!

[Btw, I skied to the E. Path from the 302 parking lot yesterday and saw the most amazing (to me) thing. Three winter overnighters had recently emerged from the E. Path and had arranged to be picked up by snowmachines! I watched as 3 machines pulled over, they hopped on with all of their gear, and away they went!]

 

[dr_wu002]

Ignoring blow-down, does anyone know if the rail bed shown below is passable? I'm looking to solve an Edmand's Path parking problem and it seems like it might be possible to ski from the cog lot down to Mt. Clinton Rd. along that bed. Thanks!

[Btw, I skied to the E. Path from the 302 parking lot yesterday and saw the most amazing (to me) thing. Three winter overnighters had recently emerged from the E. Path and had arranged to be picked up by snowmachines! I watched as 3 machines pulled over, they hopped on with all of their gear, and away they went!]

I think it's just part of the network of ski/snowmachine trails.

-Dr. Wu

 

[sardog1]

Midwinter backcountry overnighting, with motorized transport just at the right time and place for a pickup. Sounds like "somebody" was perhaps out on a training mission.

Met a group of Marines once in the Chugach Mountains, skiing under their predictably monstrous packs. Half were having fun; the other half were decidedly not.

 

[Ridgewalker]

If it looks very old, it could be the failed attempt in 1912 to build an electric railroad around the Presies. See Nick Howe's book "Not Without Peril," and the vanishing of John Keenan for further descriptions and clues. I think the Mt. Washington Observatory might have stuff on 1909 fire and the failed railroad if you do have the book. Hope this helps as well as Dr Wu's info in your research.


Regards,

Ridgewalker

 

[1HappyHiker]

Bob . . . I’m probably not understanding exactly what you want to do, and perhaps you’ve already discounted the following suggestion for some reason. BUT, would it be a viable option for you to park at the Crawford Path trailhead lot (once they get it plowed out), and then ski the Mt. Clinton Road to/from the Edmands Path trailhead?

 

[sardog1]

Bob . . . I’m probably not understanding exactly what you want to do, and perhaps you’ve already discounted the following suggestion for some reason. BUT, would it be a viable option for you to park at the Crawford Path trailhead lot (once they get it plowed out), and then ski the Mt. Clinton Road to/from the Edmands Path trailhead?

Bob be lookin' to use infernal combustion and gravity-pulled glidin' to get hisself to the trailhead. Bob not much innerested in humpin' his load for 2.5 miles on a boring road, right, Bob?

 

[1HappyHiker]

Bob . . . I’m probably not understanding exactly what you want to do, and perhaps you’ve already discounted the following suggestion for some reason. BUT, would it be a viable option for you to park at the Crawford Path trailhead lot (once they get it plowed out), and then ski the Mt. Clinton Road to/from the Edmands Path trailhead?

Bob be lookin' to use infernal combustion and gravity-pulled glidin' to get hisself to the trailhead. Bob not much innerested in humpin' his load for 2.5 miles on a boring road, right, Bob?

Yup . . . like I said . . . didn’t quite know what Bob be tryin’ to do!
Anyway Bob, hope you have a good “do” whatever you “do”!

 

[Willoughby]

Ignoring blow-down, does anyone know if the rail bed shown below is passable? I'm looking to solve an Edmand's Path parking problem and it seems like it might be possible to ski from the cog lot down to Mt. Clinton Rd. along that bed. Thanks!

Wow... let us know what you find. I did an impromptu Ammo-Crawford-Edmands loop this summer, and the walk back up Base Rd was nasty. If that RR bed is navigable, it might provide a shorter, pleasanter route.

 

[4Khiker]

The old railroad grade shown on the map is the former B&M branch that ran from Bretton Woods to the Cog Base Station. The RR grade is pretty obvious if you know where to look and are passing over the Mt. Clinton Road. Though I have never walked it, it looks to be pretty open from the road back towards Bretton Woods, but going in the direction of the Cog Base area and the Ammo Trail, it's looks to be very overgrown and would probably not be skiable. Hope this is helpful.

 

[Bob T]

4Khiker nailed it. I'm kind of embarrassed to say that even though I asked this morning I ended up going there this afternoon. That wasn't the plan when I posted, but one thing led to another and I had the opportunity to check it out.

After a fascinating conversation with a guy working on building the second diesel cog locomotive, based on a 617hp John Deere tractor engine, I asked about the old rail bed. The fellow said, sure follow the cog rail down past the shop area. It's still there. I should really post a mini-TR based on what happened next, but the punchline is that 10-ish years ago that rail bed would have provided great access to Mt. Clinton Rd. As it stands now, it is chock full of young fir. Because of this, it is the most obstructed part of the forest! Oh well.

WRT why I'm interested in this: I didn't make myself clear, but 1HappyHiker, I parked in the Crawford Path lot and skied over to the E. Path yesterday. (The lot is kind of plowed out.) The 2.5 miles wouldn't normally bother me, BUT, what's so irksome is that the E. Path trailhead is about a mile closer to the other end of Mt. Clinton Rd. That somehow makes that 2.5 mile trek a lot longer!

sardog1: I'm happily self-propelled, but seeing how easy a snowmachine would make that approach has caused me to have a few "impure" thoughts.

 

[Peaks]

Well, I for one, did try to ski it a couple of years ago. Like others have suspected, it was fairly overgrown, and barely passible until I got to the remains of a trestle. I didn't get all the way up to the Ammi parking lot.

 

[AndyF]

Though I have never walked it, it looks to be pretty open from the road back towards Bretton Woods, but going in the direction of the Cog Base area and the Ammo Trail, it's looks to be very overgrown and would probably not be skiable.

IIRC this section is part of the Cohos Trail and is probably why it appears more maintained.

 

[sardog1]

I don't know what the situation is these days with snowmobiles on Mt. Clinton Road -- I lost track around the time of all the hubbub 'tween the AMC and the state Bureau of Trails. Having skied it in years past, I can recall a few machines but nothing real annoying until the Base Rd. junction -- that was a regular circus.