Galehead Bonds Traverse and reflections on the State of Pemigiwaset Wilderness, NH   Raymond Caron   Sep 02, 2006 09:21 PDT  8/28 to 9/1/06 Lincoln Woods Trail, Franconia Brook Trail, Twin Brook Trail, Twinway, Bond Cliff Trail, Wilderness Trail, Lincoln Woods, 3-day tramp, 30.1 miles RT, Elevation Gain???? Try to keep this brief, but how does one abbreviate 30 mile 3-day tramp that rates as one's personal best trip for hiking year? I did a 3-day tramp similar to this over 20 years ago. I’m working on 4K list and could only speculate as to what summits I visited then so I wanted to do this loop to re-bag certain peaks with greater certainty and just because it’s so darn nice. Lady luck favored me with near perfect conditions for such an outing. This was a solo outing, but never lacked for companionship. Day-1 consisted of an uneventful but pleasant 11.9 mile tramp up Franconia Brook to 13 Falls and up to Galehead Hut taking care to note Hellgate, RedRock, Twin Brooks along the way. I encountered number of college age groups out for a lark. Midweek trail traffic was light, just enough to make it nice to see people, but not so much as make it depressing. On the ridgeline I doffed my pack and jogged up to visit Galehead. After 11 miles with full pack I felt like I might float to the top. I wandered in the spruce in hopes of getting a view to south and west that I knew Galehead could offer if only given the chance. I encountered something that puzzled me. I came across a string running through the scrub and followed it for a ways as it was heading in the direction I was heading. I abandoned the effort when it passed through thick blow down patch. Being late in the day and didn’t want to get lost in scrub at such a late hour without my compass. I think I was heading towards an area that might have presented one with the desired views to the south and west. When queried the hut people had no idea what this might have been. Spent an enjoyable night at the hut where we were treated to turkey dinner, although we joked it might have been Spruce Grouse. Winds kicked up to 40-50 mph during the evening and moderated somewhat by morning bringing scenic billowy white clouds animating the landscape. After a hearty breakfast I started up South Twin amid extremely clear air and billowing snowy white clouds. Parties ahead of me had gone on probably on account of the winds, but I layered up and lingered on South Twin to watch the show. It puzzles me how the majority of hikers work so hard to get to a summit and if it’s least bit windy they want go back down after 2 minutes to get out of the wind. I don’t understand that at all. I don't care to hike with folks like that. I headed towards Guyot Camp taking side trip to Zealand another summit in need of a view ledge. I’m sure Zealand has some viewing ledges that would offer interesting prospects north and west that would enhance to map-reading hiker’s understanding of the terrain. I ventured through the scrub a bit, but had to leave to this for another day. I ventured back to Guyot summit arriving at Guyot Camp around 4:00. Being midweek I had my pick of tent sites. One lucky fellow had Guyot shelter all to himself. There were a number of unoccupied platforms, but I opted to share a platform with a fellow who generously invited me to share his platform. He turns out to be VFTT member Hillwalker (Tom) who I really enjoyed meeting with whom I shared an interest in trailwork. I truly hope he follows up on his intention to attend upcoming AMC trail work weekend weekend Sept 9 at Cardigan Lodge. This is great opportunity to meet NH Chapter Trail Crew and get introduced to principals and practice of trail work. Carl who I’d met at Galehead Hut had a neighboring site and contributed to a congenial evening of good conversation. Next morning I bid goodbye to Hillwalker and Carl and started off at 9:30 to hike the Bonds and head back to Lincoln Woods. Weather continued to be favorable, but high clouds were moving in muting the early fall colors, but views were still easily 100 miles. I had the time so I again lingered on West Bond, Bond, and Bond Cliffs. Most of my hiking has been in eastern Whites so Bonds were special on account I could see all the summits I’ve hiked over the last few years each one symbolizing some particular day or time. Views were very fine. In contraast to the previous day the air was dead calm and the silence deafening. The ravines and terrain really came alive for me thanks to NHMtnHiker’s excellent trip reports on his explorations of the surrounding ravines. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank him for sharing his adventures with us. I remember looking at the route his intrepid group took up Lincoln slide from various angles and thinking how cool that was. I’ve been reading the early trail blazing trip reports of Charles Fay and AE Scott in Appalachia’s from 1880’s and 1890’s housed the library at Cardigan Lodge. I think NHMtnHiker and Dr Wu and others truly capture the spirit of those early trampers. We should tap into that spirit and nominate some of these people to the AMC Council of Improvements. I think every generation needs to add a new trail to keep that spirit alive. I’ll close with some observations made while descending Bond Cliff Trail. People need to hear the GOOD NEWS!!! The forests of Pemigiwasett Wilderness are coming back. I’ve been studying Bove’s books on logging railroads. Bove’s book on JE Henry’s logging operations provides maps of various sub-regions and dates when they were logged. This and other expanses of the Pemigiwastt are passing the 100-year mark since being logged and are beginning to develop characteristics of an old growth forest. Bottomlands are particularly interesting forest environment as it is the natural habitat of the white pine on account of the protection that’s offered from the worst winds. White pine is the height champion of eastern North America. When left alone the white pine grows quickly in fertile bottomland areas. I’ve read reports of white pines adding 12”+ height every year. I observed a very diverse hardwood forest that included many white pines I’m guessing surpassed 100’ and will attain 150-160’ and diameters in 24-30” diameter range in 30-50 years that by most standards is majestic and would be considered beginning stages of old growth. I believe these fertile moist sheltered bottomlands will some day be home to a superb and unique expanse of old growth forest and will become a tourist destinations in its own right. I’ve seen old growth sites in western Massachusetts that are truly awe-inspiring. These groves are generally confined to narrow river valleys of western Massachusetts and number in the 100’s of acres. The old growth regions of the Pemigiwasett Wilderness will number in 10’s of square miles. There’s a good opportunities here for someone to do historical research to more accurately date when areas were cut. Bove’s book on logging railroads reports white pines taken in the Pine Bend Brook valley 6 feet diameter at the butt end and single white pines logs taken from Swift River bottomlands that had to be notched to fit on to rail cars. These were 200+ year old pines. This requires a long-range view but I'm reaching an age when enables me to do that. Wilderness protection has made this uniquely possible. Ray Caron Waltham MA Good news!!! Old Growth Forest of the near future in NH   Raymond Caron   Sep 02, 2006 12:46 PDT  This is edit of previous post that focuses on some observations made while descending Bond Cliff Trail in the Pemigiwasett Wilderness in New Hampshire. People need to hear the GOOD NEWS!!! The forests of Pemigiwasett Wilderness are coming back. I’ve been studying Bill Gove’s books on logging railroads of the White Mountains. Gove’s book provides detailed survey of JE Henry’s logging operations in the East Branch of the Pemigiwasett provides maps of various sub-regions and dates when they were logged. Mr. Gove is a retired Vermont forester and RR buff. His books provide an excellent window into the past logging practices of an exciting era. According to his maps, this and other expanses of the Pemigiwastt are passing the 100-year mark since being logged and are beginning to develop characteristics of an old growth forest. Bottomlands are particularly interesting forest environment as it is the natural habitat of the white pine on account of the protection that’s offered from the worst winds. As every ENTS knows white pine is the height champion of northeastern North America. When left alone the white pine grows quickly in fertile bottomlands such as this. I’ve read reports in ENTS of white pines adding 12”+ height every year. I observed a very diverse hardwood forest containing many white pines I’m guessing surpassed 100’ and will attain 150-160’ and diameters in 24-30” diameter range in 30-50 years that by most standards is majestic and would be considered beginning stages of old growth. I can see these white pines are already beginning to overtop the surrounding hardwoods who are also pretty good specimens in their own right. I believe these fertile moist sheltered bottomlands will some day be home to a superb and unique expanse of old growth forest and will become a tourist destinations in its own right. Thanks to ENTS I’ve been able to visit some of the old growth sites in western Massachusetts that are truly awe-inspiring. These groves are generally confined to narrow sheltered river valleys of western Massachusetts and number in the 100’s of acres. The old pros are welcome to correct me here, but barring any unfortunate disturbances like hurricanes etc, I think old growth regions of the Pemigiwasett Wilderness will number in square miles - not acres. Much of this is high altitude environment, but there's also quite a bit of prime bottomland. This area wll begin looking more and more like historic Maine and New Hamphire woodlands of the past - minus the native americans of course. There’s a good opportunities here for someone to do historical research to more accurately date when areas were cut and so on. Gove’s book on logging railroads reports white pines being taken in the Pine Bend Brook Valley of the Swift River 6 feet diameter at the butt end and single white pines logs taken from Swift River bottomlands that had to be notched to fit on to rail cars. These must have been 200+ year old pines. This requires a long-range view but I'm reaching an age when enables me to do that. Wilderness protection has made this uniquely possible. I'd love to draw ENTS's attention to this area. A new area in Wild River Basin is also being added to Wilderness designation that was last logged in 1900 followed by ferocious slash fires. Ray Caron Waltham MA Re: Good news!!! Old Growth Forest of the near future in NH   Don Bertolette   Sep 02, 2006 13:37 PDT  Raymond- It's all in the definitiion... Oliver and Larson's "Forest Stand Dynamics" takes a conservative stance, and sets a high standard. True old-growth in their view is that cohort that follows the first generation after the disturbance...depending on the species in Pemigiwasett Wilderness, and their "typical" generation length (time from seedling to snag...;>), multiply by two, and barring cyclic or other disturbances, and the Pemigiwasett Wilderness would be on it's way to old-growth status, Oliver and Larson-style. Getting reference conditions, a la "historical research" is another step in the right direction...you can get a sense of generation length, albeit one influenced by man's perturbations. -DonB RE: Good news!!! Old Growth Forest of the near future in NH   Raymond Caron   Sep 05, 2006 17:16 PDT  I came across the attached trip report on a hiker's web site I subscribe to about Tripyramid Hike. Near end of report is photo of a woman hugging large pine. I queried the writer about it and he says there's 4 or 5 of them on "Big Pines Trail" in Waterville Valley NH on approaches to Tripyramid Mountains. She looks like she barely reaches 1/2 way around the trunk at chest height. http://www.viewsfromthetop.com/forums/showthread.php?t=13252&referrerid=1583   Home