Just don't drink from the streams below the snow machine trail crossings.
Just don't drink from the streams below the snow machine trail crossings.
Yes. True. I now see that.Originally Posted by Lefty E
What we need to clarify this issue is the definitive road condx report from TwinMom+1.
What was the road REALLY like TwinMom???
Nobody told me there'd be days like these
Strange days indeed -- most peculiar, mama
.
Coincidentally, I hiked Success and Sugarloaf on back to back days in August 2019 and the difference in the approach roads was striking. Though certainly not perfectly smooth, Nash Stream Rd was about as level of an unpaved road as you are going to see while Success Pond Rd leading up to the Success trailhead looked like it had been the subject of a sustained mortar attack the night before. It was rutted and cratered and in spots you had to be very careful but it wasn't so bad as to make it unusable.
Last edited by Grey J; 10-30-2020 at 11:34 AM. Reason: typo
"I am a pilgrim and a stranger"
Although you might attribute the better condition of Nash Stream Rd. to the skill of Albert Cloutier and his nephew David, who happen to do the most work on the road, and are the most skilled heavy equipment operators that I ever worked with in the North Country; it has more to do with the better funding opportunities the managers can access there.
The road for the most part can only improve over the years as it is largely in good stable condition, and often repairs have to happen at the places where drainages cross the road from the more often strong freshets that hit. A couple of more recent freshets travelled great lengths of the road beyond the crossings and forced major reconstruction, so you might find the best maintained sections in areas where the road is most at risk.
Albert the last I knew is the president of the Groveton Trailblazers snowmachine club, and chair of the Nash Stream Citizens Committee, so has a vested interest in the integrity of the road and trails in the forest, and is a working man of great integrity himself (so does good honest work). One of his aggregate pits id adjacent to the forest on the SE corner. So being a wholly state owned road and a snowmachine trail, they can access quite a few grants for snowmachine trail maintenance to maximize any additional funding. NH Forest & Lands also invests funds into the road often in cooperation with a grant request- but there is often also non-grant immediate repair $ floating around between club/Trails Bureau/F&L to respond to emergency repair. Since the road is such a major north-south corridor for snowmachine season- problems are not left for long.
You know you can just call the NHF&L office in Lancaster to ask questions about the status of the road. 788-4157 and Maggie is the State Forester and Todd the assistant, although they put in an automated answering system that is a bit tedious. If you were wondering about my water comment- I unfortunately had to help out a broken down snow tractor right over that stream crossing closest to the hiking trail. I was radioed over as I was grooming the Nash Stream Rd. way up past the bog to the north, when I got there my heart sank when I saw all the pink snow. Many hours later I was shocked by how much hydraulic fluid we were returning to the reservoir from multiple gas cans in order to get the tractor to go after finger numbing repairs (sorry I like reading stories of people working in the woods- so naturally enjoy writing them).
Wow Andrew you're my go-to the next time I have a question anything North Country roads. :-) thanks for the detail.
And thanks to everyone else, too.
After some older parent health issue-delays we finally got to do Sugarloaf/Groveton yesterday Sun 11/8 for #52 of 52WAV.
The road was fine - some bumps after the Percy's but totally fine for even the family minivan. And far better than Magalloway, or Success Pond Rd.
Although I did worry on the ride down that we didn't buy that tire repair kit someone mentioned.
I'm still on that post-hike nirvana where the views and the journey it took to get you there lift you higher. Leave you dreaming of the next peak. Focus you on what's important. Make you hold your family closer, and despite the madness around us, feel the mountains wrap you in their arms and say "We're always with you." I suspect many here feel the same. Thanks again.
......Oh no! please don't. I retired from my (public) rec. management gig in Coos- so my awareness is receding to my own mere 14 acres behind my house.
As far as I'm concerned Nash Stream Forest is one of the most interesting pieces of public land in northern NH, and I was very fortunate to be able to explore a lot of it in winter from the comfort of a trail grooming tractor for a few years, and dive deep into awareness of the property as one of the master plan tech team members for the last re-write.
That beautiful feeling you describe is like the feeling I always got when cruising through Cranberry Bog Notch (in Nash Stream), extreme subtle beauty and enveloped deep in the forest. Always wanted to go back on a sunny summer day and spend a few hours observing the sunlight changes on the landscape and the critters going about their business whilst swatting mosquitos.
Last edited by Andrew; 11-10-2020 at 08:03 AM. Reason: add
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote