1984 Osseo Route?
- Thread starter dokipen
- Start date
Help Support vftt.org:
The Belcher book is based on series of articles in Appalachia and used AMC maps for background and thus to a known scale. The Gove books I have seen appear to use hand drawn maps/sketches (not sure what was used as a base), that are frustratingly not to any scale. They are helpful when using the publicly available LIDAR data but I expect would be even more valuable to someone with ArcGIS background that could transfer the LIDAR into ArcGIS file where the Gove info could be corrected to scale based on the actual LIDAR data from the ground.
I love these old maps. Looks like the Kanc just ends at Camp 3? Is that accurate? When was it finished?
JoshandBaron
Well-known member
It opened as a dirt road in 1959, paved in 1964, plowed in 1968. Boston Globe page from Sept 1959 about the Kanc with an adjacent article about North Country game that may be of some interest.
Some more history How the Kancamagus Highway Got Its Name and How to Pronounce It Not behind a paywall.
I do remember folks talking it being closed in winter. It was only open during daylight hours in the winter until 1970.
I do remember folks talking it being closed in winter. It was only open during daylight hours in the winter until 1970.
Last edited:
As I remember, there was a set of red/green lights at the Conway entrance to indicate open/closed status.
You should hear how my Garmin pronounces Kancamagus...hilarious, but not much worse than some people I have met. I watched a show on TV concerning the refurbishing of the Madison Springs Hut and they were interviewing an AMC employee who was I think in charge of the huts. He pronounced it the very familiar way...Kank a mang us...
Last edited:
That predates my experience in North Conway
TroutBumNH
Member
Looking at the OP’s map, it is interesting that it would connect at the col between Osseo/Whaleback and Potash Knob.
Perhaps it was a “considered alternative” to the eventual re-route when moving the trail… Maybe there is an old logging road in there?
Just adding to the conversation….
Perhaps it was a “considered alternative” to the eventual re-route when moving the trail… Maybe there is an old logging road in there?
Just adding to the conversation….
Heck, I remember when the Bear Notch Road was unpavedThat predates my experience in North Conway
This was also my theory, that it was a considered route but ultimately the current route was built. I'd like to try hiking it to see why it wasn't choosen. There must have been a good reason because building all those ladders on the current route must have been a huge endeavor. Would have been neat to go over whaleback.
My First encounters with the Franc/Pemi back in the 60's The Condos were not there and the old Osseo Trail still existed. There was no Pemi Loop. Our group called it the "Horseshoe". Of course in those days hitch hiking was still part of the adventure. Going between the Osseo and The Lincoln Woods trail was actually an easy thumb as we also did much longer road connections on other hikes. The Suspension Bridge was also not there. The remnants of the old parking lot still exist albeit blocked by boulders now.
Yeah, that parking lot held about 6 cars IIRC! Early 70s, on a weekend, the cars would be parked on the Kanc about a mile in either direction. When we moved to ME from CA I was flabbergasted at the size of the new parking lot on my first trip up there.
No doubt. A lot of the time if you were parked on The Kanc on the Lincoln side you were well on the way to The Osseo Trailhead from The Wilderness Trail. Net gain and loss to make a loop.
If I remeber correctly, the original "new" lot was half the size it is now and was rapidly doubled in size.
Just be careful especially if you are there in Winter to properly relieve oneself with the given facilities. Doing it in an adjacent snowbank is frowned upon and could result in a stiff fine.
Last edited:
TroutBumNH
Member
OK, so I'm still digging around, and I found an old map that showed a border between "areas cut" by year that kinda/sorta approximates the "wrong" route on the OP's original map.
The border of the 1892-95 cut is not entirely dissimilar from the "wrong" route, except that it appears to have started on the west side of the river, across from Camp 4, and continued to he col just below Whaleback.
The border of the 1892-95 cut is not entirely dissimilar from the "wrong" route, except that it appears to have started on the west side of the river, across from Camp 4, and continued to he col just below Whaleback.
I haven't seen this map, pretty cool. Interesting that they mixed up zeacliff and zealand mts.
