ALTERNATE FOR OWLS HEAD

[percypeaks]

There is a way around the problem of the land closure of the Owls Head Trail up from Route 115 to the WMNF boundary. It is not an ideal solution, but it will get us where we need to go, and not necessarily eliminate the peak. Here's what we'd have to do.

Move along the Cherry Mountain Trail from the South three miles and approach the summit of Mt. Martha. Just before the summit the Cherry Mountain Trail cuts west downhill, fairly steeply in one or two sections. Hikers could go to the summit and even pick up Martha's Mile to the Owls Head ledges 4/5ths of a mile away.

But in order to move north, the tramper would have to dodge down the Cherry Mountain Trail to the west and descend down to Route 115 in Twin Mountain. At the parking area, move to the highway and cross it directly to Lennon Road. Move down Lennon Road for about a quarter mile to a junction. Turn right on that little used rural road (don't know the name of it right this minute) and walk about two miles until the road ends at a long abandoned railroad bed. Turn right (northeast) and walk about a mile on the railbed to Airport Road. Cross directly over Airport Road and into the parking lot for the Pondicherry Wildlife Refuge. Make the trek from the lot out to Cherry Pond (about a mile) and you are back on the route of the Cohos Trail in the vicinity of Waumbek Junction (the observation deck in the area is to the right about 300 feet).

The trek out to Owls Head, then, becomes a spur trail off the Cherry Mountain Trail. The trek between Mt. Martha and Owls Head is delightful and, on a good day, the views from Owls Head are the very best that can be had of the western wall of the Presidential Range. So an hour side trip is very much worth the effort, and the Cohos Trail retains the Mt. Martha and Owls Head summits in its inventory.

This sets up a bit more road walk, but we have a road walk now bypassing the closed Slide Brook Trail. That trail has no connector potential any longer, so opening it with a big puncheon bridge span makes little sense now.

This spring, I'll walk the route and get more particulars. I haven't been up the Cherry Mountain Trail from the west in 30 years. And I have no idea what is down that little backcountry road. But I have walked down the old railbed in the area. It is used a lot in the winter by snowmobilers, of course. Like most all old railbeds, they are usually quite pleasant to walk. In remote areas, animals use them quite a bit to get around, and I have seen moose and black bear on them often enough, fox too.

So, this spring, a few signs and a few yellow topped posts, and we are back in business, I think. We'll post the info on the web and caution people to download the material for their maps and guidebooks so they get make the trek.

percy peaks

[1happyhiker]

Excellent idea which seems like it should work!

The only other possibility that I thought of is not nearly as good, especially since it would entail bypassing Cherry Mountain. However, just as with your idea, the trek to Mt. Martha and Owls Head could become a spur trail off the Cohos Trail (but admittedly, my idea would involve a vastly longer spur as compared to your proposed route).

So, here's my "not so good" thought!

In order to access the Cherry Mountain Trail's eastern trailhead, the Cohos Trail already takes hikers for 3.2 miles on the Cherry Mountain Road (from Rt 302 near Zealand). The trail could be rerouted to continue on the Cherry Mountain Road for another 3.7 miles where hikers could immediately pick up the existing Cohos Trail corridor at the intersection of NH 115 and 115A. This alternative would be a long road walk along Cherry Mountain Rd, but perhaps it would have the advantage of being a very direct and easy route to follow.

As already mentioned, this re-route would involve bypassing Cherry Mountain. The Mt. Martha and Owl's Head peaks would then become a long spur off the main trail. However, thru-hikers on the Cohos Trail might not find this to be too much of an inconvenience. There are Forest Service campsites on the Cherry Mountain Road which could be used for an overnight stay in conjunction with hiking this long, but worthwhile spur off the main Cohos Trail.

[jrichard]

Kudos to PercyPeaks. If that reroute works, it will be almost as nice.

[sugarloaf]

There are perhaps other options that would change the Cohos Trail considerably and would bypass Cherry Mountain, Ponidicherry Wildlife Refuge and the Pliny Range in the Kilkenny.

The CT could run all the way up the Davis Path to the Crawford Path to the summit of Mt. Washington and run the northern Presidential peaks before dropping down onto Route 2 at Lowe's Store. Then the pathway could utilize the Vernon Lowe Trail and Pond of Safety trails to reach Bog Dam Road (fish hatchery road) deep in the low country of the Kilkenny. There would have to be quite a long backcountry road trek to get over to the trailheads south of the fish hatchery. From that parking lot, the trail could go in one of three directions. One would be south to Bunnell or Willard Notch and then run up Mt. Cabot to the cabin. Or the trail could slip up the Unknown Pond Trail to Unknown Pond (bypassing Mt. Cabot and super summit of The Horn). Or it could run up to the junction under Roger's Ledge and head north to South Pond in Stark.

Such alternatives would be possible, but the road walk in the backcountry would be something like seven or eight miles...less than fun. Also, some of the trails in the low country are not particularly enticing and add to the long pull on low ground.

Eliminating the Pondicherry Wildlife Refuge would be a shame, I think, because it is such a unique environment.

sugarloaf