Rt 115 Trailhead Parking Lot Is Plowed for Cherry Mountain Trail (10-Feb-2009)

In my short 4 year experience living here in the Whites, I’ve never seen the Route 115 trailhead parking lot plowed for the Cherry Mountain Trail. However, today (10-Feb) when driving past the trailhead, I was pleasantly surprised to see that the lot had been plowed.

For the past 4 winters, I’ve always had to park in a small plowed-out area on Lennon Rd where it intersects Route 115. So, kudos to the Forest Service or whomever! If it was some local person who plowed the lot out of kindness, then a special thank you is in order!

(Side Note: As I went further along Route 115, I was very curious to see if the trailhead lot for the Owl’s Head Trail had also been plowed. It had NOT!)

Below are a couple of photos of the plowed Cherry Mountain lot that I took as the sun was setting.

Did you happen to notice if the start of the trail was broken out?

1HappyHiker said:

(Side Note: As I went further along Route 115, I was very curious to see if the trailhead lot for the Owl’s Head Trail had also been plowed. It had NOT!)

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I'm expecting a follow up post in which you, being the nice guy you are, shovelled out the Owl's Head parking lot by hand for us?

Tobit said:

Did you happen to notice if the start of the trail was broken out?

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rocket21 said:

I'm expecting a follow up post in which you, being the nice guy you are, shovelled out the Owl's Head parking lot by hand for us?

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OK guys . . . which do you want done first . . . the Cherry Mountain Trail broken out, or the Owl’s Head parking lot shoveled?!

But seriously folks, I was in a bit of a rush and it was getting dark, however it looked like there might have been a set of recent human footprints leading from the parking lot and going up the Cherry Mountain Trail.

The lot was plowed and the trail broken out a month ago. There's been some snow since then.

Waumbek said:

The lot was plowed and the trail broken out a month ago. There's been some snow since then.

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Thanks Waumbek for your reply! My powers of observation are sometimes lacking. I’ve driven by that lot a few times this winter, but today was the first time I noticed that it had been plowed.

So for this year, has this lot been kept plowed pretty much all winter?

I remember heading up with a group a few years ago. We just parked on the side of the rod next to the entrance and had no problem, though Ginny (MtnMama) had to show us all up by driving her full size pickup right into the middle of the shin deep snow . Good to see the lot is plowed though. I have been up there twice, once in winter. She is a steep mofo in some spots, and those snowmobiles can be killer if you ain't careful, but the views from the summit area are quite pleasant!

Brian

Thanks for the info! Geri has always wanted to do that hike in the Winter, so perhaps we will this weekend.

I never thought about hiking that in winter. Usually, the first mile of that trail is under ankle-deep water, but you wouldnt have that problem in February. And those close-up views of the Presis from the summits would be beautiful this time of year. Hmm.... think it just made my short list.

dentonfabrics said:

I never thought about hiking that in winter. Usually, the first mile of that trail is under ankle-deep water, but you wouldnt have that problem in February. And those close-up views of the Presis from the summits would be beautiful this time of year. Hmm.... think it just made my short list.

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Maybe you’re thinking about the approach from the Owl’s Head Trail? Just as you say, the first part of that particular trail is quite wet.
However, the Cherry Mountain Trail from the Route 115 trailhead is generally pretty dry for the entire route up to Mt. Martha.

1HappyHiker said:

Thanks Waumbek for your reply! My powers of observation are sometimes lacking. I’ve driven by that lot a few times this winter, but today was the first time I noticed that it had been plowed.

So for this year, has this lot been kept plowed pretty much all winter?

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I drove by just a bit over a month ago and noted that it had NOT been plowed yet and had been judging on previous passes whether the snow was deep enough yet to swallow a vehicle. I've always thought it would be nice to see it plowed.

Andrew said:

I drove by just a bit over a month ago and noted that it had NOT been plowed yet and had been judging on previous passes whether the snow was deep enough yet to swallow a vehicle. I've always thought it would be nice to see it plowed.

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Yeah, maybe someone is plowing it on a sporadic basis this winter!? As reported by Waumbek, the lot was plowed about a month ago. However, similar to your experience, I drove by that lot less than 2 weeks ago with a group of 4 other folks and we all noticed and remarked about its unplowed condition.

Anyway, if the currently plowed lot happens to encourage anyone to hike up the Cherry Mountain Trail, then I have a small request if you happen to go on over to Owl’s Head via the Martha’s Mile trail. Would you mind letting me know (by PM or Trip Report) if you encounter any humungous blowdowns on that particular trail?
(Martha’s Mile is one of my adopted trails and it would be nice to know if I need to be heading up there sooner rather than later.)

How is this trail for novice winter hikers? I've only read a couple trail descriptions, all non-winter, and they all make it sound like a very easy hike.

Tobit said:

How is this trail for novice winter hikers? I've only read a couple trail descriptions, all non-winter, and they all make it sound like a very easy hike.

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It's a steady but not steep grade on an old woods road, somewhat rocky in low snow, joins trail from Cherry Mtn Rd near top which is usually snowmobiled. The only deficiency for novice hikers is if you get there before B&G and have to break it out

Have been up twice in winter (once in dark with no lights) but never in summer so can't say how swampy it gets.

Tobit said:

How is this trail for novice winter hikers? I've only read a couple trail descriptions, all non-winter, and they all make it sound like a very easy hike.

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Hmmm! Not to sound flippant or corny, but I guess it depends on how “novice” the “novice hiker” is.

There are no brook crossings on the Cherry Mountain Trail to contend with, and so that is a “plus”. For about the first 1.25 miles, the trail climbs steadily but is never overly steep. However, the climb to the ridge crest (which lasts just a few tenths of a mile) is steep, but not what I’d consider to be overly steep. Once you reach the crest of the ridge, then it’s an easy 0.2 mile up to Mt. Martha on a trail segment shared with snowmobilers.

If you were to opt to go on over to Owl’s Head via Martha’s Mile, then once again there are no brook crossings. And, there is nothing overly steep on Martha’s Mile until you get to the very end where you need to do a scramble to get up on the summit cone of the Owl’s Head peak. That final scramble might challenge the capabilities of a “novice” winter hiker.

1HappyHiker said:

Hmmm! Not to sound flippant or corny, but I guess it depends on how “novice” the “novice hiker” is.

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Going out to do my first winter hike tomorrow in the Ossipees, that's how "novice" but this past summer I've done two 4K's (Osceola and Moosilauke) and a few 3K's and 2K's. Both you and Roy have pretty much answered my questions though, thanks.

Owl's Head is definitely out for me and I am only interested in Martha's at this time.

We have a profile of the hike on a trip report we posted previously:

http://rbhayes.net/cherry.html

As others have said - not overly steep, but very steady. The hike over to Owl's Head is rather easy compared to the hike to the first summit. Great views from both peaks!

Roy - it does look like a nice long sled run! :>

B&G are you still thinking of doing this this weekend?

Tobit said:

B&G are you still thinking of doing this this weekend?

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We probably won't be making a decission until Friday night when we get the 24 hour forecast for the higher summits.

The 'G' half typing (as usual, late to the thread).

I had only wanted to comment that perhaps the parking lot was plowed by someone testing/practicing their snow plowing skills? However, after closer inspection of 1HappyHiker's photos, it looks rather professionally done.

New to my assorted repertoire of skills, is my experience snow plowing. Yes, plowing. Evidently I was openly admiring the tractor at our campground as a few weeks ago the owner knocked on our trailer and asked me if I wanted to try it out. I learned how to operate the shovel, scoop and dump snow.

Given the size of the tractor and my skill set, I probably would have needed 4+ hours to do that parking lot and it would be rather lumpy. So sadly I don't think I am quite ready to quit my day job... but it was fun!

Geri in Action