billski
Active member
It was supposed to be a nice walk in the woods through closed forest roads, to summit two peaks in a little-known region of Massachusetts. It turned out to be much different than that.
The ice storm that decimated Central Mass., with some folks losing power for more than a week, left its mark on the mountains and forests in a severe way. I've not seen much written about this, so I'll start the discussion here.
I began with the expectation of following some trails that Jeremy described at
http://www.franklinsites.com/hikephotos/Massachusetts/pocumtuck-2006-1021.php
These lands are in the Catamount State Forest, an area which while owned by the DCR is pretty much unmapped and not publicized at all.
To clarify J's directions a bit, follow the South Catamount in about 1/2 mile, up a moderately pitched dirt road, park at the gate.
The trail begins on the forest road from the gate. The road appears to be maintained and given some TLC by the snowmobilers in the area. Hike about 1/2 mile to a forest road on the left. This trail takes you to the first unnamed summit, perhaps 1/2 mile.
Immediately I was confronted by what appeared to be blowdowns. Large trees, medium sized branches. I took out my hand saw to carve a path through. About 100 feet later another, then another, then another. Many of the blowdowns were multiples and finding a way around them was often the only way. It took me three times as long as it should have to reach the first marker, electric power lines.
My first thought was that perhaps they were taken down in an attempt to discourage ATVs and 4WD which at one time roamed these lands. Local upcry caused the roads to be closed due to the significant damage they causes. But within moments, my hypothesis changed to wind damage.
As I ascended, it just kept getting worse. I began to survey the trees above and saw hundreds of snapped treetops. Last winter's ice storm. I tried to take some photos, but my digital camera died. So out came the cell phone camera, and all I have is these few crappy photos.
As I progressed, I cut, and sawed, pushed and moved branches off the trail. The hike began its transformation into a work project. As I moved along, I was able to find the old road and continue upward. I circled around the south of the summit and had a little respite from all the branches and trees in the trail. Perhaps several hundred feet with only small branches. I reached the first summit in about 2:00 which probably should have taken me 00:45. On the summit, a grassy knoll, is treeless, but the surrounding tree growth made vistas pretty much impossible. Just short of the summit was an old Fireplace/chimney, remnants of an old cabin.
After pausing for lunch, I continued on toward Pocumtuck. Within a hundred feet, what I can only characterize as carnage of a grand scale. There were downed trees everywhere you looked, in every direction. Small, large, trunks, branches, so much so, that the trail was completely obfuscated in many places. There was no way around this mess. I sawed my way through it, but even with two hours of sawing, it looked like I nary made a dent. Looking upwards, there wasn’t a treetop that had been spared. It reminds me of wartime photos after artillery shelling. Trees snapped halfway up by the hundreds. Sun shining into dozens of acres that should have had dense forest cover.
Even with two topo maps, a compass and GPS I became disoriented. I began to mark the road, when I found it with red flags, simply to find my way back. Without exaggeration, there are thousands of downed trees. The idea of bushwhacking through this stuff was discouraging. Finally, I had had enough. I had been out for about five hours and had only made it halfway to Pocumtuck from the first peak. It appeared that I had overshot the uphill ascent slightly, but I was tired of sawing and decided to turn back. Even on the way back to the first peak, there were “lost” moments. I have never seen such a mess.
It’s my understanding that this is a Massachusetts “secondary forest” , which means it doesn’t really get any TLC other than boundary markers. It is highly doubtful that the state will clean up the mess. Within a couple of years, these roads could completely vanish. Mohawk SF has jurisdiction over this Forest. I was in Mohawk last week and the trails there were in pretty good shape.
I would like to try and get back there to make it the rest of the way. Jeremy said he would try to get back and at least try to flag the trail from memory. I spoke with a local and it seemed apparent that nobody had been up there this year. He was not surprised with the news, indicating the storm was very much elevation dependent.
I would like to hear any stories about damage that the ice storm did to other trails in the area.
Forest Road from the gate:
On the way up
Chimney:
The carnage. Every photo is on the trail facing the trail direction.
The pictures don't begin to tell how difficult the walking was.
this area had been heavily wooded:
A sharp observer will notice how much sunshine is pouring into the forest floor. It would not be exaggerating to say there are thousands of downed trees in this area. Every few steps met with another sight that looked identical to the last.
The ice storm that decimated Central Mass., with some folks losing power for more than a week, left its mark on the mountains and forests in a severe way. I've not seen much written about this, so I'll start the discussion here.
I began with the expectation of following some trails that Jeremy described at
http://www.franklinsites.com/hikephotos/Massachusetts/pocumtuck-2006-1021.php
These lands are in the Catamount State Forest, an area which while owned by the DCR is pretty much unmapped and not publicized at all.
To clarify J's directions a bit, follow the South Catamount in about 1/2 mile, up a moderately pitched dirt road, park at the gate.
The trail begins on the forest road from the gate. The road appears to be maintained and given some TLC by the snowmobilers in the area. Hike about 1/2 mile to a forest road on the left. This trail takes you to the first unnamed summit, perhaps 1/2 mile.
Immediately I was confronted by what appeared to be blowdowns. Large trees, medium sized branches. I took out my hand saw to carve a path through. About 100 feet later another, then another, then another. Many of the blowdowns were multiples and finding a way around them was often the only way. It took me three times as long as it should have to reach the first marker, electric power lines.
My first thought was that perhaps they were taken down in an attempt to discourage ATVs and 4WD which at one time roamed these lands. Local upcry caused the roads to be closed due to the significant damage they causes. But within moments, my hypothesis changed to wind damage.
As I ascended, it just kept getting worse. I began to survey the trees above and saw hundreds of snapped treetops. Last winter's ice storm. I tried to take some photos, but my digital camera died. So out came the cell phone camera, and all I have is these few crappy photos.
As I progressed, I cut, and sawed, pushed and moved branches off the trail. The hike began its transformation into a work project. As I moved along, I was able to find the old road and continue upward. I circled around the south of the summit and had a little respite from all the branches and trees in the trail. Perhaps several hundred feet with only small branches. I reached the first summit in about 2:00 which probably should have taken me 00:45. On the summit, a grassy knoll, is treeless, but the surrounding tree growth made vistas pretty much impossible. Just short of the summit was an old Fireplace/chimney, remnants of an old cabin.
After pausing for lunch, I continued on toward Pocumtuck. Within a hundred feet, what I can only characterize as carnage of a grand scale. There were downed trees everywhere you looked, in every direction. Small, large, trunks, branches, so much so, that the trail was completely obfuscated in many places. There was no way around this mess. I sawed my way through it, but even with two hours of sawing, it looked like I nary made a dent. Looking upwards, there wasn’t a treetop that had been spared. It reminds me of wartime photos after artillery shelling. Trees snapped halfway up by the hundreds. Sun shining into dozens of acres that should have had dense forest cover.
Even with two topo maps, a compass and GPS I became disoriented. I began to mark the road, when I found it with red flags, simply to find my way back. Without exaggeration, there are thousands of downed trees. The idea of bushwhacking through this stuff was discouraging. Finally, I had had enough. I had been out for about five hours and had only made it halfway to Pocumtuck from the first peak. It appeared that I had overshot the uphill ascent slightly, but I was tired of sawing and decided to turn back. Even on the way back to the first peak, there were “lost” moments. I have never seen such a mess.
It’s my understanding that this is a Massachusetts “secondary forest” , which means it doesn’t really get any TLC other than boundary markers. It is highly doubtful that the state will clean up the mess. Within a couple of years, these roads could completely vanish. Mohawk SF has jurisdiction over this Forest. I was in Mohawk last week and the trails there were in pretty good shape.
I would like to try and get back there to make it the rest of the way. Jeremy said he would try to get back and at least try to flag the trail from memory. I spoke with a local and it seemed apparent that nobody had been up there this year. He was not surprised with the news, indicating the storm was very much elevation dependent.
I would like to hear any stories about damage that the ice storm did to other trails in the area.
Forest Road from the gate:
On the way up
Chimney:
The carnage. Every photo is on the trail facing the trail direction.
The pictures don't begin to tell how difficult the walking was.
this area had been heavily wooded:
A sharp observer will notice how much sunshine is pouring into the forest floor. It would not be exaggerating to say there are thousands of downed trees in this area. Every few steps met with another sight that looked identical to the last.