Pine Mtn Gorham NH

[peakbagger]

One of the benefits or living in the whites is the option on occasion to climb a local mountain without having to drive. I have done Madison and Adams in the past by walking from the house but those trips are reserved for the summer and long days. I have mixed feelings about Pine Mountain, its definitely a small mountain that pretends like its taller then it is, but the local 4, 5 and 6 thousand footers all glare down upon its summit and keep it in its place. At one time it had a fire tower which apparently gave it 360 degree views but even that small ego boost was taken away long ago. It also has a popular snow machine trail to the top which limits it attraction in the winter and the summer camp operated near the summit in the summer cuts back on its solitude. Most annoying of all is that it just happens to be tall enough and in the right location that the winter sun just below the horizon ducks behind it just at the last minute prior to sunrise during part of December and all of January to cut back on the morning sun to my office.

The time of year I normally visit is winter in February and March as my normal approach is via the north side from the former railroad station at the former Harriman Springs Bottling plant. By early February the sun is high enough to illuminate the woods on the north side and to get some warmth in the Moose River Valley, which is decidedly one of the colder spots in the area without sun. There formerly were two trails that accessed the summit from the railroad stop and I expect when the bottling plant was operating this now very quiet area was quite busy. I have seen old railroad schedules that listed stops every 1/2 hour along this railroad line that also serviced stops at Randolph East (Howker Ridge Trailhead), Appalachia, and Bowman (Castle Trailhead). The area just west of the station was an another important stop to an even older group as the area of the Moose River is a major Paleo Indian archaeological site as it was a major east west thoroughfare as the glaciers retreated.

My normal access is via a town right of way that runs south from RT 2. This route runs right by the old spring pool and comes out on the old railroad track (now a rail trail) next to the old bottling plant. From there I cross the river on the railroad bridge and then head up on the woods. I generally navigate by eye, basically heading up the slope and slowly slabbing east. The two original trails, the Straight Path and the Brook Path are long gone but the woods are open hardwoods and by staying out of the stream beds its easy going. The road to the Horton Center on top runs roughly west to east so unless you get real turned around you will hit the road and then its easy to head up hill to the Horton Center and take a right on the final trail to the summit. The Horton Center road marks a transition to dense spruce so the final leg is best by the cut hiking trail

There are actually three distinct summits on top, all worth visiting. I decided to visit the north summit today with its well situated view west and an inviting lean to. The highest summit has some open ledges that look directly at Madison, by moving around somewhat you can get different viewpoints but the rocks can be icy. There are couple of side paths that lead to viewpoints on top of the southerly ledges the final summit is Chapel Rock which can be very icy but has some great views south down Pinkham Notch and over towards Madison. The many options for camping as you roam around the summer camp apparently can be used by responsible folks but the lack of an sanitary facilities would make leave not trace a very important thing to practice. The snow machine traffic may also lead to less than quiet night.

I had just about perfect conditions today, no wind and hard crust so it was a micro spike day. The rain last week washed out the snow machine trails so rather than the constant drone of sleds it was quiet out in the woods. I did it in three hours round trip but in past years when I have had to break trail, it has been a 6 hours plus trip. Even when the snow is deep, its great hike as the slope is just about perfect for sliding.

There is also an official trail up Pine Mtn from Gorham that some use, it coincides with a major snow machine route for about 1/4 of its length so its of less interest to me. It is nice hike with varied terrain in the fall.

For those who want to do the hike or just visit Harriman Spring and the bottling plant, the spring is shown on most hiking maps. Harriman Spring road is primarily maintained as a driveway to a multi million dollar home with multimillion dollar view but its perfectly legal to drive right down to the power lines, park off to the side on the left and then head into the woods roughly south south east (stay to the left of the cleared area). You will soon see a metal gate and that is the continuation of the road. The road ends on a high bluff at the private campspot and then takes a sharp right slabbing down the slope to the spring pool. I am surprised in all my years that I have never seen fisherman working the pools along the Moose river.

 

[RoySwkr]

My normal access is via a town right of way that runs south from RT 2. This route runs right by the old spring pool and comes out on the old railroad track (now a rail trail) next to the old bottling plant.
...
Harriman Spring road is primarily maintained as a driveway to a multi million dollar home with multimillion dollar view but its perfectly legal to drive right down to the power lines, park off to the side on the left and then head into the woods roughly south south east (stay to the left of the cleared area).
...
I am surprised in all my years that I have never seen fisherman working the pools along the Moose river.

I tried to reach the spring that way a few years ago but was discouraged by all the nasty signs, finally went via RR tracks

I don't know about fishing that river, what about kayaking it?

 

[peakbagger]

The private property signs at the north side of the power lines were taken down sometimes prior to last winter. There are still private property signs at the end of the paved section where two driveways cut off to the right opposite the place to park. If you stick to the woods and skirt the clearing, you will be on the town right of way but a short distance away you will see another "entry by permission only sign ". I have verified that much as the landowner would like to keep it private, there is a well established right of way all the way to the spring and onto USFS land.

I expect someone with skills could paddle the route in spring runoff conditions but expect it would be pretty boney in other than melt conditions. Its the same river that runs under RT 2 near Pinkham B road in Randolph so I expect it would be easy to check.

 

[1HappyHiker]

Very nice report with loads of interesting info!

Regarding the Pine Mountain Trail that begins in Gorham, I hiked that trail a few summers ago. Interesting to see a few faded white blazes which I assume are leftovers from long-ago days when this was part of the AT corridor?

Got one other question about this general area. A couple of winters ago, I bushwhacked to the little ponds that are circled in red on the following map. Are these just "stand-alone" ponds, or are they associated with Harriman Spring?

 

[peakbagger]

I dont think the Ponds on your map are related but I havent visited them, I expect they are more related to surface water run off from Randolph hill and the inclination of Beavers to find places to dam. The general soil conditions of the area is glacial till on top of bedrock with shallow layer (2 to 3) feet of loose drainable soil on top. Both my development, the Raycrest development and the homes along Randolph hill road have a tough time with septic systems and basements as the seasonal high water line is quite shallow corresponding with the top of the glacial till. This is almost perfect conditions for surface water drainage to lead to surface streams and accompanied by beaver activity and I expect those ponds may be related to this.

I have spent some time roaming the woods and the terrain around the spring when the area was owned by John Doherty (author of a Smoke from a Thousand Campfires). He had at least one backcountry cabin and maintained a fairly large cross country ski network in the area. Harriman spring appears to be a true deep spring that is fed from an underground "crack" in the granite.While doing some research on the well permits for the gorham hill area which include well depth there is rough correlation with the depth of the wells drilled to the north of the site, including mine, and the elevation of Harriman spring house. Whenever I visit the spring it has very slow yield , but reportedly when Harriman Spring bottling was operational. it had a significantly larger flow. Given that the area up slope from the spring was mostly undeveloped or farmland until recently, I would speculate that the two are connected, Given the large number of deep wells installed in the last 25 years, it may be that this source is somewhat limited and the extraction by the homes and the Town of Gorham well (actually located in Randoph) has led to the reduced yield. I havent done a lot of research of well depth along Randolph hill road, but reportedly some of those wells are in excess of 900 feet so this underground source may cover quite a large area. I expect a hydro geologist would be far better qualified to comment

 

[1HappyHiker]

Thanks Peakbagger. Your response makes sense to me. You confirmed my gut instinct that even though the ponds and the spring just so happen to be in close proximity to each other, most likely they are separate entities with no direct connection. I suppose it could be argued that in a system as complex as "Nature", everything is connected in one way or another. But, as you suggested, it would probably require the skills of someone like a hydro-geologist to explain whatever connections (if any) there might be between the ponds and the spring.

 

[RoySwkr]

I have spent some time roaming the woods and the terrain around the spring when the area was owned by John Dougherty (author of a Smoke from a Thousand Campfires). He had at least one backcountry cabin and maintained a fairly large cross country ski network in the area.

I think that's Paul Doherty, his book sounds like he preferred sleeping out to sleeping in the main house

In addition to the below, he also served briefly as a state legislator - wonder how he'd vote on current SAR bill


http://books.google.com/books?id=_b...a=X&ei=bB4hUdKzPLO80QGk9oDwAw&ved=0CEsQ6AEwBQ