Trip/Event Location: Waterville Valley, NHUS
Trip Leader(s): Gandalf , JDNnh
Max # People: 15
Trip Guiding / Event Fee: No, I will not be asking participants for money
Difficulty Level: Easy to Moderate
Come join us for our fun 20th Anniversary Trail Maintenance on our adopted trail...twenty years of stewardship and giving back to the mountains! It’s the all-boys sleep-away weekend you
If you are spending Friday night with us, we cannot let you in until 7pm since we both work. Otherwise, on Saturday, 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.
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 the Irish Pub 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.
We now have parking for a number of cars in a gravel lot at the end of the driveway to the right. Be mindful when you park that we are trying to fit a lot of cars so be considerate of other members. If the lot is full when you arrive, please unload your gear and drive back up to the upper parking lot.
Seven GO members’ cleaned 73 waterbars, remove 5 blowdowns, and cut back encroaching vegetation on our adopted trail! Thank you all so much!!!
It’s an overcast spring morning on National Trails Day, and seven GayOutdoors.org members are performing trail maintenance on its’ adopted trail, the Mt. Osceola Trail in Waterville Valley, NH. We are preparing the trail for the summer season!
It’s the perfect wooded scene with a canopy of towering trees, white trillium, hobblebush, and a choir of birds.
Mike Boisvert and Jon Normand were the crew leaders. We had assistance from Rick, Brian, Steve, Rob and Dave.
We cleaned 73 waterbars on this day, making sure hikers have clear, dry paths to hike through.
Many were hidden because they filled up with dirt since the last time we did trail maintenance.
“This is the most important job of a spring patrol,” Mike says. “We rake the drains and re-dig the drains to carry away the water.”
It’s hard, physical work – raking, clipping, sawing the trunks of fallen trees, and then lifting those trunks to clear the paths. And then there are other challenges to deal with.
“The black fly regards you as their personal smorgasbord,” Mike says. “And here we are looking rather tasty to them.”
These annoying, small flies swarm all around.
But we were prepared, as all of us applied insect repellent.
Everyone who joined us, plans on returning next year.
It gives us an opportunity to be out in the beautiful New Hampshire forest, which is always a great excuse.
Many of our volunteers are not necessarily avid hikers who spend countless days on trails throughout the state. Our volunteers do this because it's an opportunity to keep them well maintained.
We credit the trails for maintaining our physical and mental health. So being able to give back is just part of it, because it is fun. It’s getting to work out here with people who have similar values around the trails and how important it is.
There are some paid trail crews, but there are very, very few.
It’s difficult to find people who are willing to help out. For the amount of people using the trails, not enough of them are pitching in.
If everyone that hikes would put in one day of trail work a year, the trails would be beautiful. But that’s not happening. We at GayOutdoors are finding fewer members helping out each year.
It’s really rewarding to be able to look back and see the work we do together. And throughout the day, we received a multitude of thanks. It’s a great feeling of accomplishment.
Really lovely hike. All of us reached the summit. Fantastic views from the top of Osceola!
Afterwards, we all gathered back at Mike and Jon’s house [Mad River Lodge] for some appetizers/beverages on the deck and a hiker BBQ feast prepared by Jon:
This is a free meal paid for by GO for our volunteers. Additionally, we provide lodging for the weekend!
We finished the evening with a massive bonfire followed by fireworks.
Jon and I want to thank everyone who helped out. We cannot even begin to say how much fun we had working with you all. Thank you all so much, for everything.
We will be returning in a couple weeks to continue Trail Maintenance on the East Peak side. We have four signed up and we could use more help. Join Us!
Mike and Jon
Outdoor Fitness Level: Very Strenuous
Outdoor Fitness Level: Moderate to Strenuous
Outdoor Fitness Level: Strenuous