Passaconaway Cutoff Spring Maintenance: 5/20/25

I chose a cool, cloudy (and bug-free!) day for the spring maintenance trip on the Passaconaway Cutoff, the adopted trail of the AMC Four Thousand Footer Committee, which I have been working on since 2006. We maintain this trail under the White Mountain National Forest Adopt-a-Trail program, which enlists volunteers to perform the basic maintenance tasks - brushing, blazing (outside Wilderness), removing blowdowns and cleaning drainages (55 of them on the Cutoff) - for many of the trails across the region. For information visit https://www.fs.usda.gov/r09/whitemountain/volunteers. (Similar programs are offered by the Appalachian Mountain Club, Wonalancet Out Door Club and Dartmouth Outing Club.) Adopting a trail is a great way of "giving back" to the mountains that give us so much pleasure. The work can be tiring, but also very satisfying!

The approach to the Cutoff is an easy 1.9 miles on the Oliverian Brook Trail, which passes this beaver pond at 0.7 mile. The water level was up.

For half a mile Oliverian Brook Trail follows the grade of the Swift River logging railroad, operated by the Conway Lumber Company from 1906-1916. According to Bill Gove's excellent book, "Logging Railroads of the Saco River Valley," (out of print) this was an especially busy branch of the railroad, serving seven logging camps in the broad Oliverian Brook basin.

A bouldery section of Oliverian Brook.

Into the Wilderness at 1.7 miles.

Just beyond the Wilderness boundary the trail makes a pesky crossing of a rocky, steeply side-sloping brook.

 

Here we go.

This muddy section would benefit from a short relocation.

I refer to this hemlock stand as the "cathedral forest."

The past winter wreaked havoc with these small conifers.

Cleared.

The water level on the west branch of Oliverian Brook was elevated, but I didn't need to resort to the Crocs.

In my favorite hardwood section of the Cutoff there are several large "stepovers," the type of blowdown that is generally left in place in Wilderness areas if they do not require a detour around. These are a bit oversized for my Silky saw anyway.

Fresh spring greens in the hardwood section.

This recent blowdown was more like knee-high.

I cut it and dropped it to stepover status. The two ends were too big and heavy to move solo. I decided to forego a second cut as many drainages still remained to be cleaned.

Scraping drainages at a spot where water flows across the trail.

A nice spot on the west branch of Oilverian Brook, reached by a short diversion where the trail turns left and up the slope.

A steep, rooty pitch in spruce forest above the left turn.

This snapped-off spruce I left for the pro crew - too tricky to tackle by myself.

I sawed off the stubs to make easier passage underneath.

Drainage, drainage, drainage (to quote the late Hal Graham, for many years one of New Hampshire's most dedicated trail maintainers) - cleaning these is the most important task of the adopter.

This standing leaner was tricky. I ended up climbing the bank above and pushing it with my hoe from a safe distance to make it come down.

Done.

On the upper part of the Cutoff there are many white birches reaching the end of their lifespan.

Cleared.

I'm always happy to reach the junction with Square Ledge Trail, which means the 1.7 miles of trail work has been completed.

I didn't have time for my favorite reward of a climb up to the Nanamocomuck Slide along the Square Ledge Trail, and the peaks were socked in anyway. My backup was a short bushwhack to a hidden wooded cliff with a close-up look at looming Mount Passaconaway, whose head was smothered in fog.

A good look at Hedgehog Mountain to the north.

On the way up I'd done a fair amount of hobblebush brushing, and I was pleased to follow a clear corridor heading back down.

 

On the ascent I had missed this little maple leaner, which looked like it would soon fall onto the trail.

This was a quick one. Time to hustle down, making it out just before dark.