Where would you build a trail in WMNF?

[bikehikeskifish]

And then there are the Hancocks, above either side of the Y junction ...

Kindly explain this. Yes, they are above either side of the Y junction. I'm guessing they are badly eroded under the snow?

Tim

 

[NewHampshire]

Kindly explain this. Yes, they are above either side of the Y junction. I'm guessing they are badly eroded under the snow?

Tim

A'yup, though some work was done on the South side fairly recently IIRC.

Brian

 

[Waumbek]

Wouldn't want the Passaconaway Slide Trail looking like the northern/Cannon end of the Kinsman Ridge Trail, with its over-my-head washed out gullies. (Was that section ever rerouted??)

That's a luge run, not a hiking trail.

Actually, I think the lower part of that trail has been in the same place ever since the Profile House days. It always had the reputation of being a "rude" path, steep, rough, not recommended for "ladies," who were directed across the way to the bridle path up Lafayette. The erosion is stunning.

 

[Kevin Rooney]

Kindly explain this. Yes, they are above either side of the Y junction. I'm guessing they are badly eroded under the snow?

Tim

Tim - Brian got it right. They're badly eroded, in need of working waterbars and the like. I think they'd be tough to re-route, however, but I'm no expert of trailbuilding.

 

[jniehof]

I would vote for a new trail up the SE side of OH perhaps starting near the Franconia Brook crossing on Lincoln Brook Trail. This would allow the permanent closure of the steep slide route and make the Lincoln Brook valley a wilder place closer to what true wilderness is.

I still love the slide route, but abandoning the Lincoln Brook trail and making the slide access via a bushwhack up the brook valley may allow more solitude on the slide.

I like Steve Smith's idea of a trail to the top of the Owl's Head itself; maybe a SE route up the ridge could incorporate this.

 

[Stan]

I don't have a specific location in mind since I'm happy with a little bushwhacking if it'll make for an interesting loop, though I'd usually take a trail if it were available, but I'd like to comment on the trail building and maintenance limitations.

Locations of new trails could consider multiple uses when possible. For example, xc and bc ski trails could be used for hiking in the other seasons. At the risk of committing a sacrilege, snowmobile trails might likewise be used. Some hikers already avail themselves of these routes.

Finding common interests among recreational stakeholders can lead to constructive cooperation in building and maintaining trails.

 

[bikehikeskifish]

It can, but it can be like mixing oil and water, or worse -- fuel oil and fertilizer. Think mountain bikes on trails. I used to get so much crap from on-foot users about wear and tear... but yet they think nothing of strolling with their kids and dogs on a "bike path" and complaining if one rides by too fast. The rail trails aren't really practical for cycling yet their presence fuels cries of "Get of the road, get on the bike path" from car drivers, who form another co-interested group (with cyclists) over shared usage of the road. Luckily, while skiing on snowmobile trails, one can hear them coming for quite a ways and get out of the way in plenty of time. I know at Waterville, the skiers get mad at the hikers on Livermore and Drakes Brook for postholing the trails. They are posted as "Please wear snowshoes, no bare-booting". So... the primary user of a facility often comes to resent the secondary users.

This might explain why there isn't more cooperation.

Tim

 

[Stan]

True, so be cautious about "shared" use as opposed to complementary uses ... though I have snowshoed and xc skied on snowmobile trails without any problems other than the brief annoyance of smell and noise, a small price to pay for the use of trails that others build and maintain.

 

[SilentCal]

1. Edmands Path / Crawford Path Junction to the Jewell Trail/Ammo Lot. Would make a nice loop.

2. Mt. Pemigewasset Summit to the Kinsman Ridge Trail near Harrington Pond. Open up some long loop oppurtunities.

3. Welch-Dickey Loop to Tecumseh. Looks like it would be interesting walking.

 

[erugs]

Isn't there an old trail that runs from Welsh-Dickey to Tecumseh?

I, too, have wondered why there isn't a ridge trail that runs along the top of the pass on the Kanc., say from the Livermore Trail over to Hancock Notch Trail and include Mt. Kancamagus and Mt. Huntington Peaks.

How about a trail off Kearsarge North down to the trail on Hurricane?