Reopen the Osgood Trail from the Glen?

(More blog entries from howie)

West Branch crossing

Daydreaming when there's no snow to ski on...

So on a couple of days off this week we decided to try the cross country skiing at a large area to the north of us. We had a less than desirable experience and felt that maybe we should just stick closer to home the next day and go for a little hike. Too bad it’s so easy to go hiking this winter but that’s the situation so why not enjoy it!

This past summer Sue had “discovered” the old abutments from the bridge that used to go across the West Branch of the Peabody River up in the Great Gulf where the Osgood Trail used to connect up with the Great Gulf Trail. I’d been casually looking for the abutments for a few years with the wild and improbable idea of some day getting permission to reopen the Osgood Trail from the Glen as it was originally laid out. Years ago “at the request of the land owner” the trail had been re-routed and now starts at the Great Gulf Trailhead a mile north of the Glen and wholly on National Forest land. The re-routing request is an interesting tale for another time!

We had a wonderful little afternoon hike, just right to get me out of the house and on the snow even if it was without skis on. It’s always a treat to get out in the woods and see the seasonal changes that even a winter like this one brings. Several chickadees, woodpeckers and crows joined us as we meandered up…no wait, Sue was in the lead, we weren’t meandering we were headed up hill with purpose! Thanks, Sue, I needed that.

Rather than bushwack from the Glen, we had headed up the Great Gulf Trail and looked for the super secret landmark that signals where the old trail joins in. After poking through the woods for a few minutes we arrived at the river. We spent some time at the river crossing looking over the ancient abutments and I renewed my thoughts of going after a special use permit or whatever permission will be needed to reopen the Osgood Trail from the Glen. Since we’re now an all season recreation facility and not just an Auto Road up Mt Washington, this seems logical to me.

Howie

Comments

Re: Reopen the Osgood Trail from the Glen?
by Pete B on Jan 8th 2007, 1:17 pm

Howie, maybe you've already got some old maps, but here is link to a 1942 USGS topo map:http://docs.unh.edu/NH/grhm42sw.jpg- It shows the location of the connector to the Gulf Trail

Re: Reopen the Osgood Trail from the Glen?
by Sue W, the trail hunter on Jan 8th 2007, 5:03 pm

To Pete B who supplied the web page for 1942 map--that's totally cool! Thanks! Any chance you can steer us to old maps showing the north side of Presidentials and Jefferson Notch area? As event director for GG to BW Nordic Adventure, I am constantly on the lookout for a new route to China. No, not really China . . . Bretton Woods. (And actually I'm looking for old routes.) I keep wondering/thinking that perhaps years ago, there might have been some logging roads or even old trails that could get us from Pinkham B Road over to Base Road area at BW. You could email me at sue@greatglentrails.com. Thanks for any help.

Re: Reopen the Osgood Trail from the Glen?
by Howie on Jan 8th 2007, 8:27 pm

Nice map, Pete, thanks! Also reminds me of my thought to find the trail back to Wildcat that was called the Pinkham Notch Ski Trail - I suspect it may be where the power line now runs which would have been a pretty rugged ski trail.

Re: Reopen the Osgood Trail from the Glen?
by Nate-tron on Jan 9th 2007, 1:27 pm

The picture of Sue near the river reminds me of the first time I paddled the West Branch. Water was at a medium flow, kind of late in the afternoon (after work), and the excitement was great. I ended up taking out at the Pinkham B bridge. Maybe 4 miles or so total. Access to the river was easy and all but one drop was runnable. I imagine with the right safety and the perfect amount of water, that drop would be runnable. Some day I hope to paddle to this bridge abutment via the West Branch with access from the Auto Road. We'll see!

Re: Reopen the Osgood Trail from the Glen?
by Pete B on Jan 9th 2007, 1:50 pm

Nate, there's a culvert just past the 4 mile marker at about 4100' in elevation-This stream feeds Chandler Brook Which feeds the W Branch of the Peabody! it is do-able! If you ride it all the way to the Andro you'll have about a 3300' drop. Might get you into the Guiness book...

Great Glen Tidbits
Check out the tree that was too big for the beavers just south of Intersection 23.