February 2008

THE COHOS TREKKER

The electronic newsletter of The Cohos Trail Association

FIRST HUT ON THE MOUNTAIN?
There is the possibility that an experiment will get underway along the Cohos Trail this spring in the mountains of the Great North Woods. Peter and Lainie Castine have proposed that they convert part of an existing cabin/workshop on their property high on Prospect Mountain in Pittsburg into a rustic hostel for hikers and other outdoor recreation buffs.

According to the Castines, Mountain Bungalow, as they call the building, would have space for overnighters on two floors. On the main floor, there would be a bunkroom that could hold up to twelve snoozers on double bunks. On the upper floor there is already a small kitchen, a little living area and room for three more people to sleep in comfort. The structure is insulated and can be heated with a large wood stove.

From the grounds outside the building there is a panoramic view of the Connecticut River Valley and a wall of mountains, from Mt. Monadnock (Vermont's peak of that name) in the west to Mt. Pisgah in the east. The east arm of Lake Francis is visible from the property, as well. Behind the building there is a pathway directly to the summit of Prospect Mountain. After a short hike, the view opens wide to the international boundary peaks in the north, to summits in Maine in the east, to the high country in Dixville and the Nash Stream Forest in the south. Almost all of nearly 3,000-acre First Connecticut Lake is visible below. In my experience, this view is one of the grandest in New Hampshire.

Should the Castines complete their effort, the Cohos Trail Association may use the facility to test the concept of a hiker hut there to learn some of the pitfalls and pleasures of working with trekkers who want to lose the tent for a night and sleep in a bunk.

For some time, the association has been kicking around the thought of developing a rustic point-to-point hut system designed to draw hikers, bird and moose watchers, trail and road bicyclists, lake and river paddlers, cross-country skiers and snowshoers, anglers, rock and ice climbers and others to the forests and mountains of the Great North Woods. Now, we are beginning to think seriously about the concept, and a test facility would help us make sense of the idea.

Although by no means thought through, a hostel hut system along the CT would have to do a number of things, not only to benefit the association, but to benefit the region and existing area businesses. People have said that we would be competing with local motels and B&Bs. But in reality, the hut system we envision would not be a full-service overnight facility. We would provide a bunk with a sleeping pad, make available to trampers a counter gas burner on which to cook food, open a composting toilet to take care of the call of nature, and supply a pitcher of water to facilitate washing the face and hands. That would be that. Most bunkhouses would not be heated. If there was a heat source, it would be in a tiny cookhouse/dining structure away from the bunkhouse. There would be no way to take a shower, and there would be no food served.

Such an arrangement would be very simple and the overnight fee would be quite low, allowing anyone to budget a few bucks to get a bunk for the night. Those who want more typical accommodations could move on to local motels and inns. Those who seek a hot meal could walk off to find a restaurant. In our experience, almost everyone who has hiked the Cohos Trail winds up partaking of local establishments to obtain a hot shower, a warm soft bed, and a meal and a beer. We do not see that as changing.

In order to create a system that has enough guests to make the idea financially feasible, it is thought the association would have to attract the whole universe of non-motorized recreation buffs. By appealing to people with all sorts of interests, perhaps we'd get a critical mass of overnighters, enough so that we could continue to manage and maintain the huts.

By appealing to different groups, not just hikers, the hut system might be quite different than those operated by the Appalachian Mountain Club or the Randolph Mountain Club. Those venerable organizations maintain, by and large, mountain huts high on ridgelines. A Cohos Trail hut system might have a few high-elevation huts, but many would be situated on valley floors near secondary roads and be accessible by car, bicycle, xc-ski and watercraft.

The structures, too, might be quite different. Many AMC huts boast stone masonry and heavy timbered frames to withstand the rigors of vicious winter weather. Huts on the CT might be glorified wall tents with floors and metal roofs or stick-built buildings with rough-sawn board-and-batten siding. They would be utilitarian in the extreme, yet afford good protection from the elements and enough space for camaraderie. Where other organizations have single buildings at sites, we might have two or three, each having a different function and providing an expanded sense of space.

We can envision a string of huts starting somewhere in the south near Route 115 or Route 115A, where visitors could take advantage of trails on Cherry Mountain and the extensive pathways in the Pondicherry Wildlife Refuge, and paddlers could slip along the Israel River.

To the north now, on the far side of the Kilkenny region of the White Mountain National Forest, folks could walk, ski, paddle or bike up to a hut compound somewhere near Bell Hill Road or Percy Road in Stark township not far from the Upper Ammonoosuc River and the eastern trail entrance to the Nash Stream Forest.

In the State's largest public forest tract, we could conceivably convert an old historic camp just off the Nash Stream Road and not too far from the site of the old Nash Bog dam or the Sugarloaf Mt. trailhead into a free-to-the-public bunkhouse, provided, of course, that such a use would be permissible within the state forest.

Farther north still, on the summit of Baldhead Mountain where we maintain a lean-to, we could increase capacity a little by adding a covered wall tent at the lean-to site. Right now the lean-to sleeps five comfortably, six in a pinch. A little more capacity would make the site more useful to small groups from schools and summer camps.

In Dixville, our ideas are unsettled, but it makes some sense to contemplate two hut compounds in the region a comfortable day-hike apart, one south of Dixville Notch and one north of that great wound in the earth. Something tells me that situating one hut near the top of the Balsams Wilderness Ski Area makes sense, so trekkers could easily reach the summit of Dixville Peak nearby, take in the fine view from the crest of the ski area itself, or enjoy a leisurely forest stroll over to and clamor out on the edge of the 700-foot vertical cliff face that is Table Rock high over the notch.

Three miles north of the chasm we maintain the Panorama shelter. The site would be ideal for a hut compound, one with glass in the west wall so people could sit at a modest expanse of windows and look off dozens of miles into the distance to the Green Mountains of Vermont, where the sun goes down in a blaze of glory each clear evening.

A logical site for yet another Cohos Trail hut would be on the top of the Stewartstown plateau in the vicinity of Coleman State Park. There are several old structures nearby that could be restored for the purpose of housing recreation buffs overnight. Or a land lease arrangement might be worked out in the area to put a footing under a simple building or two.

In the vicinity of Clarksville Pond and Ben Young Hill, a hostel would bridge the large gap between Coleman State Park and the Connecticut Lakes Region. The Clarksville Pond country is very accessible by car and bicycle and would be ideal for those who would love an outdoors experience in rolling hill terrain that is covered with hardwood forest and old farm fields.

The last hut in the string could be that Mountain Bungalow, as spelled out in the earliest paragraphs above, high on Prospect Mountain in Pittsburg. That would be just the place to give those blistered feet a rest. From Prospect, Deer Mountain Campground near the border is a good day-hike away, but manageable by most people on foot.

All this is pie in the sky right now. Studying all the variables of such an idea is all we can do and should do at this time. Getting feedback from members, past hikers, and outdoors enthusiasts of many stripes, and local, county and state officials is just as important as pricing how much a 24x16-foot metal roof would cost or how many board feet of lumber a local sawyer could rip on his Coos-based mill.

If you have an opinion or an idea regarding a point-to-point hut system in Coos County, please email TCTA at cohos@cohostrail.org and let us know what you think, pro or con.

STICKING IT TO YOU IN 2008
For the first time in the decade-long history of The Cohos Trail Association, we now have an honest to goodness Cohos Trail window sticker for your car or office window (or tv screen). You may have one for a nominal fee. Or you can get one in your membership packet if you become a member of TCTA. Or you can plead for a freebie if you hike (or have hiked) all 162-plus miles of the Cohos Trail. Now, at least, we have something to give you in honor of your taking the 445,500 steps necessary to complete the trail.

Also, for the first time, we have a membership drive underway. To become a member of TCTA in 2008, go on line and click on Membership on the home page index. We have made it simple. All you have to part with is your hard earned cash. But we can say that you do get some real benefits in return, such as discounts for rooms at participating motels and inns, discounts on some products and services, a free map set and sticker, and a place to call when you have lost the trail somewhere in an unincorporated township (provided you can get cell tower service).

THE WEB OF LIFE
If you have not clicked on www.cohostrail.org in a while you are in for a surprise. Peter Castine is in the process of completely revamping the site, brightening it up, making it easier to navigate, adding scores of new photos, consolidating material, and giving the whole thing and a can-do look.

You will notice that we now make it easier than ever for you to donate to TCTA. We have a Paypal account, and you can now waste all your wallet plastic on us. What is a little more debt in our hyperventilating society, eh?

SPEAKING OF LOOT
Like a used car salesman, you knew I was going to get around to the subject of money, sooner or later.

In 10 days or so, we will send you our annual appeal for donations of funds or materials to The Cohos Trail Association so that we may do the work of many on the backs of the few. This year, we hope to help fund the following new projects:


No one is recession-proof. It's tough enough to gas up the car, pay the 30-percent increase in the price of milk, eggs and bread over the last year, and afford the gastric bypass plus send the kids to Harvard Law School. But, hey, we are The Cohos Trail Association and we are the one good thing in your life. Hopefully. Won't you make a donation to help us keep boot leather on trails?

THE LAST WORD
The city of Berlin, NH, the only city in Coos County (population about 10,000), was the home of the very first extreme sport on this continent's shores -- sailing off a manmade cliff on a pair of boards and landing safely (much of the time) on an outrun steep enough to make the nose bleed. The ski jump north of town was founded by the Nansen Ski Club nearly a century before the term extreme sports was coined. Where Berlin sits today on the right hip of Coos County, without its once massive Burgess sulfite papermill atop the once thunderous Berlin Falls, the mountainous terrain screams extreme sports.

How loud is that scream? Here are a few shouts:
Hikers on the Appalachian Trail agree that the section of trail in the Mahoosuc Range to the east of town is the toughest stretch of that Maine to Georgia pathway. In the midst of the range there is an ice gulch so tight that you have to take a pack off to get through it, and all around the gorge are cliffs that would be an ice climbers dream if they were easier to access in winter. And there are other cliffs and frozen waterfalls aplenty to clamor on in the area, if you count that little upstart Presidential Range nearby, Mt. Jasper in Berlin's backyard, the Devil's Slide in Stark, Rogers Ledge in the Kilkenny, Diamond Ledge on Long Mountain, Dixville Notch, Mt. Magalloway's eastern-facing cliffs and more. Backcountry extreme snowboarders would like a crack at a few of them, I would imagine.

Winter hiking and camping in the Whites, particularly on the north slope above Route 2, has mushroomed up into a sizable business in less than a generation , and Berlin, now that the mill is gone, has a chance to lure some of that cold mountain foot traffic a few miles further north.

Berlin Falls, if restored, could be a kayaker's fantasy or nightmare. There is already a thriving whitewater paddling business to the north, from Errol down the Androscoggin. But put a hell-raising falls in the mix right in town, and Berlin could get its share of paddle people who just have to make the trip to try it out.

Mountain biking is a mammoth sport out west and not without its own big northeastern organization in Nemba, the New England Mountain Bike Association. While local entrepreneurs and state officials concentrate on motorized ATV trail development, no one has scratched the surface of the potential to create a truly extensive biking system in Coos with a central spoke in a full-service community like a Berlin or a Lancaster or a Colebrook. But there is one individual who already has a working model in place to light the way forward for folks on skinny wheels, or on foot or boards, for that matter.

Among the trees of Millsfield, Dixville and Errol, Bill Altenburg of Conway is cleaning up old skidways and erecting yurts in the backcountry to attract XC-skiers, snowshoers, sled dog mushers and summer recreation buffs who want a succinct system of trails and nicely spaced, rustic accommodations tied together into a cohesive whole. He is pointing the way toward a new vision in non-motorized recreation for Coos County. His model worked for five years in Phillips Brook before International Paper terminated his lease in the forests there. Undaunted, he pushed north and east and duplicated what he'd done. He told me in passing once he had 5,000 visitors to the original Phillips Brook complex one year. I would imagine some of them had a few dollars in their pockets.

No need to belabor this, but there are a whole array of new activities evolving that might need a watering hole, a good meal, and a warm bed in the future, things like winter survivalism, geo-caching , orienteering over vast distances, and knee sledding. There are those who have climbed all the 4,000-footers in New England and who are now out there tackling all the 3,000-footers. There are 100 of them right outside our Coos door, by god.

A whole solar system of non-motorized sport is revolving around out there without a big sunny center to hold it all together. Coos could be at the center of that universe some day, I can imagine.

See you on the trail, where tramping in the wilderness is a blessing, not a curse.

--K.R. Nilsen, editor