Jewell Trail Bridge Status?

Can anyone tell me the current status of the bridge at the start of the Jewell Trail, please?

I have heard reports it may be out?

Thanks!
Sabrina

The bridge on the Jewell Trail proper has been replaced. The bridge for the Spur to the Cog base station has not been replaced. If you park at The Cog, there is a stream crossing just after you cross the tracks (I found it easier a bit upstream). I don't know if the USFS lot at the base of the Jewell Trail proper is open.

Not that I know this from experience or anything, but... If you park at the Cog, walk over to where the trains embark and you will see a unvarnished bridge just up the hill with a sign that says something like "Stay off." Walk over the rope with the sign that says "stay off" and just on the other side of that bridge, you will see a herd path heading left. Cross over the tracks, and the path leads to the stream, which is much easier to cross there.

The herd path continues up the hill, sloping up to the right, and it rejoins the trail all of 30 or 40 yards from the top of the hill. It's actually very easy to follow, and the stream crossing is much easier.

...So I've heard.

Cog parking lot was open last Wednesday.

Thanks for the info!

That herd path was the route during the post-Irene, pre-rebuilt-Bridge time.

Tim

bikehikeskifish said:

That herd path was the route during the post-Irene, pre-rebuilt-Bridge time.

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I think we're still in that time, unless you're talking about a different bridge? It's also the route described in the WMG.

The signage, however, is a bit of a deterrent.

We could be talking about different bridges. The one I thought we were talking about has been replaced, and the bypass blocked off with brush piles. For a time, you'd turn left (where you currently continue straight / drop down) and come out along the cog tracks, follow them down for a bit, and cross a substantial bridge.


Look on the brown hillside left and above the tracks and you can see the temp reroute marked with grade stakes.



Tim

bikehikeskifish said:

We could be talking about different bridges. The one I thought we were talking about has been replaced, and the bypass blocked off with brush piles. For a time, you'd turn left (where you currently continue straight / drop down) and come out along the cog tracks, follow them down for a bit, and cross a substantial bridge.

Look on the brown hillside left and above the tracks and you can see the temp reroute marked with grade stakes.

Tim

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The original/rebuilt section the arrow points to is a bit deceiving. Yes, the trail is open but all there is to cross is a bunch of boards to walk on. It can be dicey in high water.

Irene Reroute is basically roped off as you are coming down from Mt.W on Jewell. I hiked there yesterday.

RollingRock said:

The original/rebuilt section the arrow points to is a bit deceiving. Yes, the trail is open but all there is to cross is a bunch of boards to walk on. It can be dicey in high water.

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RollingRock said:

The original/rebuilt section the arrow points to is a bit deceiving. Yes, the trail is open but all there is to cross is a bunch of boards to walk on. It can be dicey in high water.

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I didn't even see boards. It really looked like a wet feet only sort of situation, maybe rock-hoppable if it weren't for the fact that everything was iced over. Which is why I was confused at the description of "rebuilt."

jniehof said:

I didn't even see boards. It really looked like a wet feet only sort of situation, maybe rock-hoppable if it weren't for the fact that everything was iced over. Which is why I was confused at the description of "rebuilt."

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I could have sworn I'd been over the "rebuilt" section post-Irene, and there was an actual bridge. Maybe I'm just hallucinating.

JCarter said:

I could have sworn I'd been over the "rebuilt" section post-Irene, and there was an actual bridge. Maybe I'm just hallucinating.

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I was going to take this route earlier in year (the "rebuilt" labeled one, not the Irene one) but wound up taking the official trail head because I had read bridge was out. The day I was going to take it I met up with several people walking back from crossing who said the water was running thigh deep so I backtracked down to the official trail head and lot. In a subsequent post on the subject (Facebook? VFTT?) I was pretty sure I had read that the bridge on the cut off had been replaced. That would have been late Summer roughly. I specifically asked in the post if they meant the bridge on the official trail or the one on the cut off from the Cog parking area and they indicated the cut off. I was not aware of the second "Irene" option. Was it a flimsy repair that has since fallen apart again? I've yet to take that cut off from Cog lot to Jewell so I don't know how hefty of a bridge it was or how bad the crossing is.

Does anyone have a photo of the actual crossing on the "rebuilt" labeled "official" cut off route to Jewell? The stream doesn't seem that formidable viewed form Google Maps.

The last time I did this crossing was August 29th and I did not see anything ''Rebuilt." There was not any bridge only some boards to walk across. Earlier this summer, July 4th to be exact, part of these boards were underwater making the crossing a bit tricky but it was still doable.

RollingRock said:

The last time I did this crossing was August 29th and I did not see anything ''Rebuilt." There was not any bridge only some boards to walk across. Earlier this summer, July 4th to be exact, part of these boards were underwater making the crossing a bit tricky but it was still doable.

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Is it a deep crossing or is it just that there is nothing to walk on and step across? How wide would you estimate it is? I assume it is not that large and will be snow bridged in Winter. Planning a few hikes leaving that way.

I would expect the issue could be that water and frost could build up on the planks making them quite icy. My group ran into on Garfield yesterday MA where the protruding rocks all had an imperceptible but very slick layer of wet ice. Traction and poles were the way to go.

DayTrip said:

Is it a deep crossing or is it just that there is nothing to walk on and step across? How wide would you estimate it is? I assume it is not that large and will be snow bridged in Winter. Planning a few hikes leaving that way.

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If my memory serves me well, I think there two boards, with the first one landing on a rock in the middle of the river and the next board starting from that same rock leading to shore. Each board was probably 6 feet wide so let's assume the crossing is 12 feet. So yes, there is nothing much to step across. I could see that crossing being snowbridged in winter.

jniehof said:

I didn't even see boards. It really looked like a wet feet only sort of situation, maybe rock-hoppable if it weren't for the fact that everything was iced over. Which is why I was confused at the description of "rebuilt."

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These boards did not seem to be well anchored so in the event of a heavy rainstorm, I could see them being washed away. Since I was there twice this summer, I was actually surprised to still see them there on August 29th. I was thinking the Forest Service or Cog Railway staff was checking on them and putting in a new set whenever they washed away but what do I know.

As adopter for Jewell Spur (see attached photo) discovered in May the bridge out..immediately notified FS...tricky crossing just a short distance upstream...Cog says FS needs to put in the bridge and they say they want no one going up across the bridge to get to the herd path...reminded FS about this problem again couple months ago and hope they are working something out..anyone got pull????

Lefty E said:

As adopter for Jewell Spur (see attached photo) discovered in May the bridge out..immediately notified FS...tricky crossing just a short distance upstream...Cog says FS needs to put in the bridge and they say they want no one going up across the bridge to get to the herd path...reminded FS about this problem again couple months ago and hope they are working something out..anyone got pull????View attachment 5425

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That does look like a tough crossing if the water is high. Thanks.