Late last November, my wife and I hiked Edmand's Path up to ike. It was a bluebird day with fresh fallen snow, and very lovely indeed.
One thing caught my attention at the time. At almost exactly 4,000', where the trail turns to the left, there were some fresh tracks continuing ahead. My wife wasn't in the mood for one of my adventures, so I dropped a pin in it and hadn't thought about it since.
Not too long ago, Steve Smith wrote a post about a trip up Abenaki Ravine on an abandoned trail that he thought might have been a rerouted part of Edmand's path, that continued up Abenaki brook, instead of cutting N. I couldn't find anything about it and just assumed it to be correct. Steve has access to old maps and books that I simply do not.
That brings us to this week. I found a copy of the First Edition 1907 WMNF AMC guide and started reading it every night at bedtime, to help me unwind from some stressful work and get some rest. When I got the "The Southern Peaks", I was surprised to see, on page 93, a section on Mount Pleasant Path. A little more research revealed that this trail was rerouted by Edmand and became Edmand's path, and I believe what Steve found was the old Mt. Pleasant Path.
Here are some interesting facts about the old path:
- It joined what is now the Mt. Eisenhower Loop about half way between the southern junction with Crawford Path and the summit.
- In the lower section, it went through Barron's camp and an abandoned lumber camp.
- It went by Lucky Strike Spring
- It joined the Twin Rivers Trail
I woke up early the next day with it still on my mind. I was also curious about the Mt. Washiongton RR, and if there's any trail where Twin Rivers Trail once was. Was there any information at all about Lucky Strike Spring?
After a little research I found this map from 1940. The jackpot!
It's not geographically accurate, so overlaying in caltopo is mere guess work, but I did my best and came up with this:
It seems that Edmand's Path coincided with the Twin Rivers Trail (also called the AMC trail) for it's middle section. I think what I have labelled is Barron is actually wrong, and that's just a nameless abandoned logging camp.
Has anyone ever explored these old trails?
One thing caught my attention at the time. At almost exactly 4,000', where the trail turns to the left, there were some fresh tracks continuing ahead. My wife wasn't in the mood for one of my adventures, so I dropped a pin in it and hadn't thought about it since.
Not too long ago, Steve Smith wrote a post about a trip up Abenaki Ravine on an abandoned trail that he thought might have been a rerouted part of Edmand's path, that continued up Abenaki brook, instead of cutting N. I couldn't find anything about it and just assumed it to be correct. Steve has access to old maps and books that I simply do not.
That brings us to this week. I found a copy of the First Edition 1907 WMNF AMC guide and started reading it every night at bedtime, to help me unwind from some stressful work and get some rest. When I got the "The Southern Peaks", I was surprised to see, on page 93, a section on Mount Pleasant Path. A little more research revealed that this trail was rerouted by Edmand and became Edmand's path, and I believe what Steve found was the old Mt. Pleasant Path.
Here are some interesting facts about the old path:
- It joined what is now the Mt. Eisenhower Loop about half way between the southern junction with Crawford Path and the summit.
- In the lower section, it went through Barron's camp and an abandoned lumber camp.
- It went by Lucky Strike Spring
- It joined the Twin Rivers Trail
I woke up early the next day with it still on my mind. I was also curious about the Mt. Washiongton RR, and if there's any trail where Twin Rivers Trail once was. Was there any information at all about Lucky Strike Spring?
After a little research I found this map from 1940. The jackpot!
It's not geographically accurate, so overlaying in caltopo is mere guess work, but I did my best and came up with this:
It seems that Edmand's Path coincided with the Twin Rivers Trail (also called the AMC trail) for it's middle section. I think what I have labelled is Barron is actually wrong, and that's just a nameless abandoned logging camp.
Has anyone ever explored these old trails?
