Trip report

Mt. Osceola Trail Maintenance Day

Volunteering DATE: 05/18/2013 - 05/18/2013

Trip/Event Location: Waterville Valley, NH
US

Trip Leader(s): Gandalf , JDNnh

Max # People: 15

Trip Guiding / Event Fee: No, I will not be asking participants for money

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Jon and I will be hosting part 1 of our annual trail maintenance day to GayOutdoors' newly adopted trail, Mt. Osceola. We are hopeful that GayOutdoors has enough energetic, ambitious members to keep

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Driving directions to the location and spot to meet at:

Please meet at our house for 8:00 am so we can make introductions, distribute tools, and arrange carpooling to the trailhead. We are meeting at our house: 676 Upper Mad River Road, Thornton, NH. 

Directions:

Take I-93 and use Exit 28. At the end of the ramp take right onto Rte 49 East for 3.5 miles and take a left on Burbank Hill Road.

During this 3.5 miles, you'll pass a traffic light where there is a dam on your right, then pass a White Mountain National Forest campground and then see the William Tell Restaurant on your left. About a mile after the restaurant, you'll see Burbank Hill Road on the left (Goose Hollow Campground sign). If you cross the Mad River on the bridge, you just missed the left turn.

Take a left onto steep Burbank Hill Road and you’ll quickly reach the top of the hill where you take your first right onto Upper Mad River Road (Hiking Sign). The road will soon turn into gravel, you'll pass two apartments on your right and then a house. Our property begins right after this house and after about 200 yards you’ll see a mailbox with "676" which is our house. The house is not very visible from the road.

Please park your car in the upper lot at my house and walk down the driveway.


Trip Report/Photos
Featured Photo

We performed part 1 of our trail work on our newly adopted trail [Mt. Osceola Trail] from Tripoli Road to the summit of Mt. Osceola. This is a very popular trail from all the traffic we saw on this day so it requires a lot of attention to protect them from all that loving they get :-)

With an agreement made with the Forest Service, GayOutdoors adopted Mt. Osceola Trail this year; it's 5.7 miles long, it has two 4,000 footers [Mt. Osceola at 4,340 ft and East Peak at 4,156 ft.] and can be reached either from Tripoli Road or the Kancamagus Highway. We maintained the Drakes/Smarts Brook trail for many years and decided it was time to switch to a more popular trail. Jon and I have purchased tools for trail maintenance over the years just because we think it's the right thing to do and happy to share them with all the GO members that help us out each year. You can learn a lot about trail maintenance by working with us!

The weekend started with hanging around the campfire Friday night and gazing at all the stars; there is no light pollution where we live. On Saturday nine of us worked to get the trail in shape for the hiking season by cleaning waters, creating a few 'makeshift' waterbars, doing lots of brushing and removing three blowdowns. We encountered many people who thanked us for our work as they made their way to the summit. This was an added reward since we rarely saw anyone when we worked on the Drakes/Smarts Brook trails. We had lunch on the trail and finally reached the summit around 2:00pm. We hung out on the summit enjoying its spectacular views. On the descent we saw some wildflowers near the end including painted trillium, hobblebush, trout lily and red trillium. All told, we hiked 6.4 miles and climbed 2,025 feet. 

After trail work we took showers back at the house, relaxed on the deck, entertained  Sunshine, enjoyed cold beer and munched on snacks. Then we had our traditional hungry hiker BBQ feast cooked by Jon that included Feta Broccoli Salad, Potato Salad, hand cut sirloin steaks, italian marinaded chicken, vegetable lasagna and hot italian bread from the oven. We all saved room for dessert: chocolate hazelnut caramel bread pudding with whipped cream. After dinner we sat around the living room, went outside to enjoy fireworks put on by Jon/Mike and went into the loft to see pictures taken during the day. The next morning we cooked up pancakes [with maple syrup contributed by Bruce], pan fries, sausage. strawberries, orange juice,  and of course, coffee! 

GayOutdoors provided free lodging and meals for the weekend. Many GO members who helped us out this year earned a free White Mountain National Forest parking pass. GO is listed at all the trailheads as being a trail adopter that provides us with goodwill among the greater hiking community. 

Quite a productive day on our adopted trail! What a great crew! THANK YOU!!! 

  There are 59 photos in Album (Note: Move mouse pointer over larger pic and click on NEXT for better viewing)

What Members Are Saying About This Trip/Event

  • Thanks to helpful Gay Outdoors members the Osceola Trail was improved. It was a positive and rewarding experience to "give back" to nature. - JDNnh

Members That Participated

Gandalf

Outdoor Fitness Level: Very Strenuous


Thornton, NH


United States

Attended
JDNnh

Outdoor Fitness Level: Very Strenuous


Thornton, NH


United States

Attended
WalkaboutBrian

Outdoor Fitness Level: Moderate to Strenuous


Gilmanton IW, NH


United States

Attended
markus24

Outdoor Fitness Level: Moderate to Strenuous


Gilmanton IW, NH


United States

Attended
HikerBiker

Outdoor Fitness Level: Moderate to Strenuous


Londonderry, NH


United States

Attended
guest member
bigmoosehill

Outdoor Fitness Level: Moderate


londonderry, NH


United States

Attended
DaveSchumaker

Outdoor Fitness Level: Moderate to Strenuous


Manchester, NH


United States

Attended
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Hiking, backpacking, camping or vacation adventures, GayOutdoors [GO] has been the LGBTQ outdoorzy community leader for the last 22 years. We are an informal group of diverse hiking enthusiasts in the United States with a shared love of the mountains who prefer hiking with friends. We invite you to join us on our hikes, to post hikes for other members to join you and to share your hiking photos, stories and advice.

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