Took a long walk up the Rocky Branch Trail from the southern trailhead to check out the status of washouts and relocations for the next edition of the AMC White Mountain Guide. This trail is one of three riverside trails that have seen major impacts from the big storms of August 2011 (Tropical Storm Irene), October 2017 (the "Halloween Storm) and December 2023; the others are Dry River Trail and Highwater Trail (along the Wild River). The current version of Rocky Branch Trail is, in places, a real wilderness adventure with some head-scratching moments of route finding and a few sketchy washout traverses. It is not a recommended route for inexperienced hikers. The destruction seen along this trail is mind-boggling.
The upper section of Jericho Road is closed to vehicle travel, so the hike into the valley starts with a 1.8 mile road walk.
Partway along the road walk, a short side path offers a first look at the new state of the Rocky Branch of the Saco River - much wider than before the storms, with gravelly slides lining its steep banks.
The former trailhead at the end of Jericho Road.
The former road bridge over the Rocky Branch has been removed, so the river must be crossed. The steep drop to river level can be negotiated on these boulders or on the steep bank just to the north - not easy either way.
The current very low water level made the rock-hop crossing very easy.
Looking back from the far side of the crossing.
After 0.4 mile on an overgrown extension of the gravel road, the trail joins the gentle grade of the Rocky Branch Railroad, a logging line operated by the Conway Lumber Company from 1906-1916.
Sad to see some trailside trees showing the whitish marks of emerald ash borer.
Railroad grade walking is the best.
Lower Stairs Brook.
Approaching Rocky Branch Shelter #1 (there no longer is a #2).
The shelter is in pretty good shape. There was no one here, and, in fact, I saw no one on the entire 15-mile round trip hike.
51 years old.
The first damaged area on the trail is not far beyond the shelter.
Looking downstream along the widened river.
View upstream at the next washout.
Stay back from the edge!
Upper Stairs Brook.
Into the Wilderness.
The longest of numerous relocations cut by the USFS Saco District trail crew after Irene ascends to the top of a steep bank overlooking the river.
Here there's a view across the valley to the southern extension of Rocky Branch Ridge.
The view downstream from this lofty perch.
Maple Mountain, directly across.
Fine cribbing work where the trail makes a steep sidehill descent back down to the river.
The trail crosses the river here, with a view downstream to spurs of Mount Resolution.
Upstream there's a view of the largest and most impressive gravel slides in the valley. More on these later.
Signs of high water damage everywhere you look.
This traverse of a washout is sketchy, with a very tenuous foothold in the middle.
Looking back up the traverse.
This spot provides another view of the big slides.
A glimpse of the peak known as East Stairs.
Flood debris and blowdown have obscured the next crossing of the river. I couldn't follow the trail here and made my own crossing.
I hopped rocks upstream and spotted the rock steps that marked the trail entrance into the woods on the far side.
A bit farther upstream are two crossings of a dry, sandy, stony brookbed that was the main channel of the river until the 2017 storm carved out a new channel to the east.
In between these two crossings the trail weaves through a rough area obstructed by blowdown and flood damage.
The destruction in this area is amazing.
Where's the trail? Beyond those tree trunks.
There it is!
Yikes!
Another gravel slide by the second crossing of the dry channel.
A helpful cairn.
In contrast to the flood devastation is this lovely stretch of railroad grade walking.
A beautiful maple glade.
A small washout, but stay back from the edge.
I missed a turn onto a very steep relocation and ended up boulder-hopping along the base of a wide washout. Oops.
Back on the trail, there is this rather sketchy traverse across yet another washout.
There is a short section where the trail actually does hop rocks along the edge of a streambed, then it climbs this precarious steep bank.
Shortly after that, the trail drops down again and follows the edge of the main river, with more boulder-hopping.
You climb this ledge face to get back into the woods.
After several more relocations mixed with railroad grade, plus crossings of several dry tributary streams, I reached my turnaround point, the last washout along the trail. This is 0.5 mile south of the junction with the Isolation Trail.
A nice view down to the river here.
I took a nice break here before starting the 7.5 mile hike back down the valley.
Lots of step-over blowdowns along the old railroad grade.
I followed the relocation that I had missed on the way in. At its lower end I found a fallen post with arrow hidden in the brush and propped it back up, pointing the way to the very steep pitch up the slope. On the way in I had seen that pitch and thought it was a herd path used by a few hikers avoiding a river-edge traverse.
Portrait of destruction.
Yup, that's the trail.
These rock steps and this old blaze are the keys to finding the trail on the east side of the first southbound crossing of the river itself, after the two crossings of the dry channel.
At the second river crossing I took advantage of the low water conditions to hop rocks over to the base of the big slides.
From a lower section that spans 450 feet across, this slide complex displays three prongs that rise up a very steep slope. The middle prong is 285 ft. long, rising from the riverbed at 1,750 ft. to its apex at 1,975 ft., with an average slope of 38 degrees. The slide has been present for many years, but the wide lower swath was apparently opened or refreshed during Tropical Storm Irene in 2011.
Side view.
From here I hustled out the last five miles, doing the final 20 minutes by headlamp.
