ON OUR LAND
From severely eroded (left) to graded and equipped with trailside drainages (right), the bottom part of Mount Major’s Main Trail was reconstructed in October by professional trail builder Erin Amadon (pictured) of Town 4 Trail Services, LLC.
Tending to Mount Major’s Trails First phase of trail work completed at Lakes Region property By Wendy Weisiger
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n 2013, the Forest Society launched the “Everybody Hikes Mount Major” campaign to protect the trails and land surrounding Mount Major Reservation in Alton. The campaign raised $1.8 million that supported the acquisition and stewardship of 950 acres and since then, the Forest Society has purchased an additional 265 acres on the mountain. But our work on Mount Major is only beginning. The trails on the mountain are being “loved to death” by the 100,000-plus hikers who visit this special place each year. As visitation increases, so do the erosion and degradation of the trails. To remedy these issues, the Forest Society began a long-term stewardship project this fall that includes the rehabilitation of the reservation’s trails to make them safer and more welcoming to hikers. In 2019, the Forest Society contracted professional trail builder Erin Amadon, owner of Town 4 Trail Services, LLC, to provide a trail assessment and rehabilitation plan for the Main and Brook trails. 14 | FOREST NOTES Autumn 2020
In September 2020, the first phase of the project began with Forest Society staff and volunteers developing a temporary re-route around the bottom 500 feet of the Main Trail and coordinating with NHDOT to close Mount Major’s parking lot during the project. Construction began after Labor Day, when most families were back in school, and finished before Columbus Day weekend, the mountain’s busiest weekend of the year. The three-phase project is estimated to take several years to complete and cost about $1 million. The bottom section of the Main Trail as you begin your hike from the parking lot was eroded, wet, and slippery. Over the years, and in the absence of any trail maintenance, water runoff and millions of boots trampling the soil contributed to the erosion of the treadway. Water seeps into the middle of the trail even during droughts like this summer. During each rain storm, sediments were pulled off the trail and into an adjacent stream, which eventually drains into Alton Bay. In winter,
the trail was icy or muddy, making it hazardous to walk on and causing many hikers to slip and fall. In an effort to avoid these hazards, hikers braided new trails adjacent to the Main Trail, causing more erosion and greater impact. To remedy these many issues, the first phase of trail improvement involved building up the trail bed with stone and gravel and developing a drain alongside the trail for water to move into. Although hikers won’t see the excavation work done to pitch the groundwater off to the drain under the stone, they will certainly appreciate having drier feet the next time they walk on this section. Next, crushed stone was laid over the washed-out trail bed and covered with geotextile fabric. Then crushed gravel was laid over the fabric and compacted into the new tread surface. The fabric helps to keep the layers of gravel materials from combining, which in turn keeps the hardened trail bed high and dry. Upslope from the project site, Amadon made humps in the trail, called grade
