Temporary Closure of Lincoln Woods trail

[skiguy]

Thanx for all the updates!

 

[Mark]

Just wondering ...

If one was doing a midweek traverse from, say Zealand Road to the Kanc intending to exit via LWT, would one be stranded at the Osseo trail junction? Has the forest service posted these trail closure bulletins at all the trail heads?

I am not planning such a hike, but it would be a nasty surprise at the end of a long day to find I could not get to my exit point.

 

[Kevin Rooney]

Just wondering ...

If one was doing a midweek traverse from, say Zealand Road to the Kanc intending to exit via LWT, would one be stranded at the Osseo trail junction? Has the forest service posted these trail closure bulletins at all the trail heads?

I am not planning such a hike, but it would be a nasty surprise at the end of a long day to find I could not get to my exit point.

On a hike this past weekend in the Franconia Notch SP area , the USFS had posted a notice that the LWT would be closed, and the verbiage said something like "don't go within 200' of the closed work area" or words to that effect. I took that to mean that if you choose to hike up along the bank (or thru the water, for that matter) so long as you stayed 200' or more away you were not in violation.

 

[KRobi]

Mark,
We did the Bonds and Zealand yesterday (8/12) from Zealand Trail and out. Our plan was to go out to Bondcliff turn around and go back, which we did. To answer your question we NEVER saw any postings at any of the trail heads. I will say I did not check the kiosk at the Zealand Trail parking lot real well but it would seem like this information would be important enough to make readily visible. At the trail junctions (Zealand-Twinway, and Twinway-Bondcliff) there were no signs or other warnings saying LW was closed.
Begs the question, after doing a Zealand-Bonds traverse and coming out at LW would they make you go back, cross a high river or charge you and let you through.

 

[Lava Lamp]

A friend and I had longstanding plans to do the Bonds and South Twin and then to spend the night at the Galehead Hut on Thursday, August 15, 2013. We responded to the trail closure by taking the Pemi East Side Trail from the Lincoln Woods trailhead to the Franconia Brook Tentsite, about 2.9 miles, and fording the river. When you're heading north on the trail and just passing the tentsite, there's a very distinct, sandy break on your left that heads maybe 50 yards to the river. We reached the river bank there, turned right (north) and walked along the rocks maybe another 50 yards and crossed there. I'm 5 feet 11 inches and the water came up to the middle of my thigh at the highest. Coming back the next day (having returned via the Franconia Brook Trail), we both noticed the water was a little lower and we saw several other people fording. A practice pointer: once you've crossed, don't put away your sandals and put your socks and boots back on until you're CERTAIN there's no more river between you and your destination. When we reached dry land on our first crossing, Thursday morning, we were so busy high-fiving each other we didn't realize we'd only made it to an island. After wasting time with more footwear changes, we finally scrambled up the bank on the northeast side of the Franconia Brook bridge just southwest of the start of the Wilderness Trail.

Though more time consuming than it should have been because of our rookie mistake, the fording process was fun, really a high point of the trip. That said, I'd urge caution. The water felt much more powerful than it looked and it was difficult to determine depth from a distance. Hiking poles are a must for balance.

 

[bikehikeskifish]

Don't forget to unbuckle those pack straps when fording.

Tim

 

[TJsName]

And face upstream whenever possible.

 

[DougPaul]

And face upstream whenever possible.

Unless you get swept downstream...

If you do get swept away, dump your pack and face downstream on your back with your feet straight downstream, keeping your feet near the surface. (Thus you hit rocks feet first.) Angle slightly to the side and row with your arms to get out of the current. Make absolutely sure that you can stand up safely before trying to stand up. (Otherwise, your foot can catch in the rocks and you can be held under by the current.) Also watch out for fallen trees--you can get caught in the branches and held under. (Such trees are known as strainers...)

The above is standard technique for white water boaters, except that boaters wear life preservers.

Doug

 

[bobandgeri]

Updated status from the Forest Service:

The Lincoln Woods Trail will close at 7 a.m. each Monday and reopen on each Friday at 5:30 p.m. As per Forest Order 2013-07, and the area indicated on Exhibit A, access and use of the the trail is prohibited.

 

[madmattd]

The trail was open for business Sunday, no problem. A few pieces of equipment parked alongside the trail near the washout, and a ditch with landscape cloth covering rocks under it (that was fun crossing), but otherwise no obstacles. I must say, the "paving" they are doing by burying the railroad ties made the walk out a lot nicer. Nothing to trip over! The work on the reroute is underway, and it looks like they are trying to maintain the level grade vs adding a minor PUD. I'm glad they were at least able to open the trail for the weekend traffic, though it seemed to me that wasn't originally the plan...

 

[Lefty E]

Trail listed as open as of Friday, 9-6-13, as of 5 PM.....this was on the WMNF website...

 

[peakbagger]

Hmm, I guess that lines up with no apparent work being done on it on Thursday 9/5.

 

[madmattd]

From http://www.fs.usda.gov/alerts/whitemountain/alerts-notices/?aid=19097:

On Friday, September 6, the Lincoln Woods Trail will open at approximately 5 p.m. for the remainder of the season. While all of the work is not yet complete, after Friday the trail crew will be able to finish the remainder without a closure. Hikers can expect the trail to remain a worksite for the next few weeks. During this time, please be prepared to wait for a short period while the crew finishes the immediate task at hand and creates a safer site to pass through.

Until Friday late afternoon, the trail is still closed; access and use of the trail is prohibited as per Forest Order 2013-07, and the area indicated on Exhibit A,