Corps Members Bridge Gaps in the Whites

The forecast called for showers and intermittent thunder storms with the possibility of a few sunspots throughout the week. A group of six SCA NHCC members armed with rock bars, shovels, buckets, hazel hoes and lots of rain gear, loaded up a very full van and headed north to the Stinson Mountain area of the White Mountains. New Hampshire weather, as anyone who has lived in the state for a period of time will tell you, is never predictable and thus to the crew’s surprise and glee they found themselves in the nape of sun filled mountains and an ever receding blue ceiling of an untouched open sky. The work promised to be difficult but rewarding and with the sun on their shoulders and dreams as big as the blue sky, they ventured into the Stinson Mountain area.

Their contact and liaison, Jenny Burnett, led them up a trail which showed the marks of showers and thunderstorms. The social trail hardly looked like a trail at all; it was very wide and braided. The crew put their heads together and pulling ideas from each other as well as from Lightly On The Land, they decided to put in a check dam, several reinforced rock water bars and some check steps. The crew worked tirelessly, harvesting rock and constructing the rock structures as well as revegetating the side trails. True to form, the weather changed again and the crew found themselves working for days in constant downpours. However, they took the rain in stride and where able to see how effective their structures were in diverting the water off the trail.

The next task proved to be even muddier than the first. The crew built several bridges to span large drainage ditches cut by an excavator and constructing bog bridges to get hikers out off the muck which had a habit of swallowing footwear. The continuous rainfall made it difficult to work on the trail as the tread surface quickly became more bog-like. However, to the crew’s delight, each bridge they set made the trail more and more passable. They were happy to see some distraught hikers’ faces light up when seeing the bridges. They were like an oasis in a desert, or perhaps an island in a mucky sea.

Having completed the Kenio trail project, the crew began work on the beginning of the Stinson Mountain trail. Similar to the social trail they worked on in the beginning of the hitch, the Stinson Mountain trail was very wide, with water running down the tread surface, cutting canals and creating large muddy areas. Consequently hikers were avoiding these mud pits by making their own trails further and further into the woods. The crew decided that rock stepping stones would be the most appropriate structure in these muddy areas. The crew set out harvesting large rocks to use as stepping stones and did a massive amount of re-vegetation work to narrow the trail.

Finally, the crew began work on the most troublesome area of the trail. In this particular area the water had been flowing on the tread surface for some time and therefore had cut deep channels in the trail. Furthermore, the area was low-laying and flat with several seeps that were infiltrating the trail. The crew came to the conclusion that a turnpike, or the elevation of the tread surface above it’s original placement, would be the best solution since getting the water off the trail would be extremely difficult. The crew also decided that a drainage system would be important and thus a French drain was constructed adjacent to the rock retaining wall of the turnpike. The French drain utilized lots of small rocks or crush that slowed the flow of the water by having it percolate through the gaps between the rocks. When the turnpike was completed, the trail was dry, the drain was collecting and channeling the water off the trail, and hikers were smiling and thanking the crew as they strolled by.

The hitch was a great success with the Forest Service, hikers and the crew feeling pleased with the work. In an illustration of great beauty and to further emphasize the special nature of the project the crew left the White Mountains, the way they came into it, big open blue sky with a glorious sun and a Moose sighting near their work site. With hands waving at the mountains, the members thanked New Hampshire and promised to return.