Upon reading the title of this report, you might ask
yourself what could possibly be "historic" about doing a short hike
to the little 2K peaks named Middle and North Sugarloaf that are located off
Zealand Road!?
Perhaps I should begin by describing my route which is
shown in purple on the map below. This
was a loop hike on public land that was done in a clockwise direction. It began and ended at the Twin Mountain
Recreation Area. The beginning part of
the hike involves a combination of abandoned and current-day snowmobile trails,
and then progresses to hiking trails named Trestle Trail, and Sugarloaf Trail. It ends by using a faint corridor which generally
follows the route of an abandoned hiking trail that was known as Baby Twins
Trail.
Now that I've described the route, here are the
"historic" components to it.
Once upon a time (about a hundred years ago), there was a road that ran in
close proximity to the current-day Rt. 302, but it did not share the same corridor. In very general terms, this roadway
ran from a point near the junction of Rt. 302 and Rt. 3 and proceeded eastward
to a point approximately near the current-day Fabyan retail establishment in
Bretton Woods.
To get precise details about the location of this old
road, I would encourage you to read an excellent article written by Joanne P. Jones
that appears on the WhiteMountainHistory.org website (click HERE for the link
to the article).
By reading this article, you will also learn why this old
road is often referred to as the "Glacial Ridge Road".
As you will read in Joanne's article, a segment of this
old roadway ran on the south side of the Ammonoosuc River, whereas Rt. 302 runs
on the north side. The abandoned
snowmobile trail that I used for a portion of my hike follows the corridor of
the old Glacial Ridge Road. Shown below
are some composite photos that blend old images of the road with images that I
took during my trek.
Both photos are
looking eastward (note Ammonoosuc River on left side of each photo)
Perhaps the current-day
photo was taken at (or near) same spot as old photo?
Just as a sidelight, the next photo shows a major reason
why this segment of the old Glacial Ridge Road is no longer used as a
snowmobile trail. There is one spot
along the route where erosion has taken its toll!
One spot where erosion
has taken its toll on the old Glacial Ridge Road corridor
The old Glacial Ridge Road was just one component of my
"historic" hike to Middle and North Sugarloaf. If you refer back to the map shown at the
beginning of this report, then you'll see that I eventually headed southward
along the west bank of the Zealand River.
(At this point, the old Glacial
Ridge Road would have continued eastward across the Zealand River and then
followed the corridor that is used by the current-day Flat Iron XC Trail.) My course of travel along the Zealand River
brought me to the next historic component of my hike. It relates to the charcoal industry of the late 19th century.
Charcoal had a
ready market in the iron industry, and also was used as a cooking fuel for the
numerous tourist hotels in the region. There are several books that contain a
lot of interesting information about the charcoal kilns, along with copyrighted
maps and photos. Two particularly outstanding books are written by Bill Gove,
as follows: 1) "Logging Railroads of New Hampshire's North Country"; 2)
"J.E. Henry's Logging Railroads".
From descriptions contained in
those books, it's my understanding that kilns were built against a hillside
which facilitated the loading of hardwood logs through an opening in the top portion
of the kiln. To produce the charcoal, combustion within the kiln was controlled
so that the wood was thoroughly charred, but not burned. Adjacent to the bottom portion of the kilns
was a railroad which made it convenient to load the charcoal onto railcars and
transport it to markets.
There is at least one photo of
the kilns at Zealand which is not copyrighted and is available on the Internet. This old photo is used in the composite photo
shown below which provides a comparison of how the old site once looked, and how
it appears today. The structures shown
in the old photo are no longer present.
However, there are still some recognizable landscape features upon which
they were built.
I've visited the Zealand kilns sites on other occasions,
and each time I find something different in the way of artifacts. Of course, no artifacts are ever removed or
disturbed since it is unlawful to do so.
The next photo shows some of the artifacts seen during this particular
hike. They include items such as a
segment of railroad track, brick from the kilns, and metal strapping (perhaps
used to bind barrel staves).
After visiting the kiln site, I continued to meander for
a short distance along the bank of the Zealand River. I find it to be very picturesque. Shown below is a snapshot taken during my
wandering.
Following my brief stroll along the Zealand River, I made
my way back to the snowmobile trail and soon picked up the Trestle Trail, which
led to the Sugarloaf Trail. This was the
"non-historic" part of my adventure!
I ascended the Sugarloaf Trail to the sag between Middle and North Sugarloaf. At the "T" junction, I headed for
the summit of Middle Sugarloaf.
I had a minor concern about there being ice on the ladder
used for the final push to the summit.
As it turned out, there was only an inconsequential skiff of snow and wee
bit of ice.
The conditions atop Middle Sugarloaf were ideal for just simply
hanging out. There was no wind, the
temperature was mild, the rock was dry, and the views were terrific! I took full advantage of the situation and
lingered for nearly an hour.
After a marvelous "linger" on Middle Sugarloaf,
I headed over to North Sugarloaf where I enjoyed views similar to those as seen
from Middle. However, unlike my long
stay atop Middle Sugarloaf, my visit to North Sugarloaf was brief. It was now late afternoon, and I was eager to make my descent on the old
Baby Twin Trail before sunset.
To sum it up, it's a treat for me when I can incorporate some
"historic" aspect into a hike.
This was one of those hikes! And
to top it off, there were near perfect conditions atop the Sugarloaf mountains
that were conducive to spending quality time just lingering and reaping the
rewards of a wonderful day in late Autumn.
13 comments:
Hi John ... Thanks for the interesting report on this old road. Earlier this year I explored the trail that runs along the top of the glacial ridge i.e. esker and followed the trail up Zealand River to very open field (log landing). It was late afternoon explaration after a hike to Mt Oskar so I didn't have time to do it justice. I did look for signs of the old round house etc but didn't turn up anything. I'd never heard of this old road so thanks for filling in some of the holes in my knowledge of this fascinating area.
neat. i ran across that old trail the last time i was up on the sugarloaves - nice to hear more about it and the area.
Ray, thank you for posting your comments! I remember reading your terrific report about your Mt. Oscar trek.
Regarding the old road that is mentioned in my report, I must admit that until Joanne Jones made me aware of this old roadway, I had never heard of it either.
As you state in your remarks, this is truly a fascinating area!
John
It’s terrific to read that you enjoyed reading the report, and I’m most appreciative of you taking the time to post your thoughts!
John
Wow, John, what an interesting trip - great report and history lesson! I lived in Twin for a number of years and never knew some of this was at my doorstep. Thanks for sharing!
Steve
Steve . . . thank you for such generous comments!
I’m very grateful to folks like you and Joanne Jones who are so willing to share knowledge about the Whites. You have introduced me to countless hidden treasures over the years. And, Joanne is the one who first made me aware of the old Glacial Ridge Road. I had read about the charcoal kilns along the Zealand River, but David Govatski further enhanced my knowledge about them.
John
This hike sounds like a win/win—interesting history combined with great scenery and weather.
I certainly prefer the look of the trail today compared with the road and kilns of 100 years ago!
Another fun report John!
Hi Rita!
Well, I must say that you brilliantly summed up this hike, i.e. “a win/win—interesting history combined with great scenery and weather”.
Thanks as always for posting your comments.
John
Very cool hike. I did not know about the charcoal kilns at all. I knew there were a few abandoned trails in the area leading to surrounding peaks, but did not know about the "Baby Twin Trail", although it makes sense. I've been reading a book about the logging railroads, and your post has quite a few valuable resources and information. Thanks!
That was a great read, John! I love to see historic nuggets dug up and explained in such smooth prose. And I enjoy greatly the knowledge that each small mystery of history that finds it's way into print will be there for others to find and remember. Your blog is becoming quite the goldmine of local knowledge - thank you for sharing it!
Hi Summerset,
It’s very rewarding to read that my report provided some information and resources that were of value to you. So many folks in the hiking community (such as Steve Smith, David Govatski, Ben English, Joanne Jones, Chris Whiton, and many others) have willingly shared information with me. It’s gratifying to know that I can “give back” something now and then.
John
Chris . . . your accolades are very flattering! Thank you!
As indicated in my reply to Summerset, I’m indebted to you and others in the hiking community who are so willing to share information. It’s doubtful that I could “connect the dots” on my own. Wasn’t there a Beatles song entitled “With a Little Help from my Friends”? :-)
John
AMC's 22d ed. Refers to this as an 'abandoned ' extension of the Sugarloaf Trail
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