Thru hikers this year

[pedxing]

Have their been many people thru-hiking the CT this year? How are things out on the trail?

(I've got a sudden temptation to head out onto the CT soon.)

[percypeaks]

Yes, there have been a number of thru-hikers on the Cohos Trail this year. July has been quite dry much of the month, with considerable fair weather.

The trail is in good shape and getting better. The Col. Whipple Trail segment in Pondicherry gets new puncheon spans and a lot of weedwhacking in a week or so.

Blowdowns will be removed from the Old Summer Club Trail soon. Gadwah gets are being going over shortly, as do the 5-loop around Dixville Notch. The connector between the ski area (Balsams Wilderness) and Dixville Peak old service lane will get some attention finally.

The 4.4 mile Mt. Covell Trail is open, so there is only the one gap in the trail that requires a road walk for two miles above Second Connecticut Lake Dam. All the rest of the route from Lake Francis to the border is complete. Most all highway walking has been eliminated.

Other trails that have got a lot of maintenance attention of late are the East Side Trail around Nash Bog, the Rowell's Link, the Bald Mt. Notch stretch west of the notch, Percy Loop, the Percy Peaks Trail, and the Moose Alley and Falls in the River Trails. The Lake Francis Trail and Minnon Trail up to Young's Store have been mowed.

In mid-August, we should be able to open the Black Cat Trail, completely eliminating the road walk in the far north.

Later July and August are the driest periods of each year in the north. Good time to get out there on the Cohos Trail!

percy peaks

[pedxing]

Thanks much for that info. I had a two week lull in work and ended up going to Maine and backpacking Monson to Pinkham notch. I'm still hoping to get some time in on the Cohos in August as it looks like work will slow again in the second half of the month.

The work being done on the Cohos is really inspiring - it is great to see how the trail continues to evolve.