Recent content by Creag Nan Drochaid

Washouts do happen. What is best fix? Each site is different. Traffic is different, so if USFS wants to drive pickup trucks along this RR roadbed, then their plan seems most cost-effective and sustainable of the three Peakbagger lists. Of course, people will, and should, walk the railbed...

Well, here we are riding on this merry-go-round, again. This issue of who should pay for what never goes away, but it does die down for several years until a new cohort of people seizes it and trots out the same old proposals. It was old when I first encountered it, and that was almost 40...

I did not think up this reading of the ugly new AMC logo, and I do not have their permission to write the name of the person who did, who does not AFAIK post here. Howsomever, I cannot not share their wit either, so here goes: That Tinkertoy-looking logo just spells "COMA." I recall that...

I agree with sierra's point: warning signs at trailheads and before you reach the dangerous places seem to get the attention of your target audience better than broadcast appeals (not that they should be abandoned). Look at the alpine zone signs in the WMNF and other places. They are part of a...

My report is limited to the Old Bridle Path downhill of Greenleaf Hut: "As is the case everywhere, the steeper the grade, the more problems to fix. This crowded trail is often steep and has dozens of rock steps and about 90 drains from the trailhead up to a curve at the top of a flight of rock...

I am glad the situation has improved over last year, which was rather frantic. Question is, by what measurement can one say the trails are in better shape?

Of course, I do support the proposal that hikers should have to pay a fee to park at the lots in question, and that the money it raises beyond the cost of admin. should go to maintaining/rebuilding these very used/under-maintained trails. Go to netc.com and search for Old Bridle Path for Sep...

This thread is about Franconia Notch State Park. There are but two questions: 1) Should hikers have to pay a parking fee at the OBP/FW and Lafayette Place lots? 2) If they should, what portion of the fee beyond the costs of its administration should be spent on trail repairs, especially for...

I am not sure of the right answer either. However, anyone who can afford to drive their car to a trailhead can also afford a 5$ parking fee. Pay-to-play does mean that trail users (of these optional trails ie not needed for survival any more than we 'need' liquor) can contribute towards upkeep...

I am in favor of parking fees at the most popular trailheads. That will somewhat deter the long-standing high traffic on these trails, which are being trampled into muddy chaos. As someone who has worked on the Old Bridle Path since 1982, I have seen the erosion accelerate over a few decades...

From Peakbagger: "Blazes if they exist are not reflective..." FWIW, trails we tend are blazed with latex gloss enamel paint from the hardware store. Dries fast, easy clean-up, but the gloss means they reflect flashlight beams rather well. cardiganhighlanders.com

A logging railroad ran beside the Wild River, building them means moving a lot of soil and gravel from cuts and borrow pits to build up embankments to carry them at an easy enough grade and curvature, and a one-horse scraper seems a very efficient way to move some of it. We use ATVs and tracked...

Helicopters to lift these bags of rocks to trails so as to use local rocks in trail fixtures seems to be more common in treeless hills elsewhere than it is here. For one thing, the northeast USA is mostly trees, alpine zones are rare. In Scotland, by contrast, "treeline" is sea level, and there...

I appreciate the mention, and would like to straighten the record. I had the privilege of leading the AMC Cardigan Volunteer Trail Crew until we all quit on 6 August 2014 after two years of trying to communicate with certain AMC staff. Two trail programs cannot share the same trails, we gave...

What you write is true. A good discussion of the differences between trails in New England and trails elsewhere is to be found in the Student Conservation Association manual Lightly on the Land, chapter 1.