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Pocumtuck-Catamount SF (Mass.) - 5/25/9 - Ice Storm Carnage

billski

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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:
0525091549.jpg


On the way up
0525091520.jpg


Chimney:

0525091435.jpg


The carnage. Every photo is on the trail facing the trail direction.
The pictures don't begin to tell how difficult the walking was.

0525091408a.jpg


0525091408.jpg


0525091400.jpg


this area had been heavily wooded:
0525091359.jpg


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.

0525091358a.jpg
 

Mildcat

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It is amazing to see some of the damage out there. A couple of weeks ago I hiked up Wachusetts and it looked like a bomb went off on the Pine Hill Trail. They did a really good job cleaning it though. I went down Old Indian Trail and that still had some trees to climb over but the smaller stuff was gone until I got to the intersection with the auto road. Old Indian was still a mess after the auto road so I ended up walking the road the rest of the way down.

That was a strange storm. I live right next to the northern part of Lake Quinsigamond and I had no damage here, didn't even lose power but if I drive up a couple miles to West Boylston St it looks like a war zone.

Nice report Bill.
 

billski

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Apparently Monadnock suffered too:

Monadnock State Park was severely damaged by the December 2008 ice storm. Park work crews continue to clear trails and public areas. All hiking trails are now open, except for the Birchtoft Trail and the Gilson Pond Area. The cross-country ski trails remain closed for all use at this time.

The Pumpelly Trail is now fully open.

source: http://www.nhstateparks.org/state-parks/alphabetical-order/monadnock-state-park/

Quite a few others noted here:

http://www.mass.gov/dcr/recreate/campInfo/spring2009.pdf


http://www.recorder.com/story.cfm?id_no=5613212



 
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Mildcat

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I was at Monadnock two weeks ago and I didn't think it looked that bad. There was visible damage but not to the extent of Central Mass. Of coarse that was my first time there so I don't know what it looked like before and I'm sure they did a great job of cleaning it up.
 

TheBEast

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Up in western MA through Hawley and Plainfield, the damage above the 1000 foot mark was devastating this past winter......although it did provide an opportunity for me to stock up on some good unseasoned wood from some folks I know who had way more than they needed from downed trees.

Real issue now is what all that deadfall on the forest floor will do to the fire danager for the forseeable future....
 

playoutside

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Thanks for the report. The damage from that storm will be felt for a very long time. It may be harder to see with the foliage in now, but a drive along route 2 shows total devastation to the tree tops The areas that were not within sight of roads, had to be ignored during the storm and now it's a forgotten problem.

The lands the DCR is responsible for will be further challenged with the current financial mess. Last month when DCR did their volunteer cleanups for Earth Day, Leominster State Forest made the list with trail cleanup from the ice storm. (I did a river cleanup instead, so didn't see the damage to LSF). LSF is a far more populated area than out by Mohawk, hard to imagine that area will ever make the DCR list for attention (not judging DCR, just a reality I fear). Hopefully other volunteer organizers will get good support to take on the cleanup of these trails that might otherwise end up lost. As you well know there is no way individuals doing what you did will be able to make enough progress.

If anyone hears about trail cleanups, please post it. I know I'd happily work at this and I'm sure others would too.
 

billski

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Hopefully other volunteer organizers will get good support to take on the cleanup of these trails that might otherwise end up lost. As you well know there is no way individuals doing what you did will be able to make enough progress.

If anyone hears about trail cleanups, please post it. I know I'd happily work at this and I'm sure others would too.

Only the remaining trees alongside Route 2 give a hint of lie upslope.
Yes, I brought my little pruning saw along to lop off what I thought would be a few annoyances along the trail, or recent fells. I never expected this. At first, I worked vigorously, doing a pretty good job. The further I proceeded It seemed interminable!

It would take a couple of crews with chainsaws maybe a week or more to get through that 2-mile trail.

I am fearful that governments being governments, that volunteer groups are going to have a red tape nightmare getting any approval to assist. I, too would be happy to assist.
 

threecy

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Thank you for the trip report. I do believe folks are still accessing Pocumtuck from Heath, however I'm not familiar with that trail/old road network. One of the appealing parts of hiking Pocumtuck from the south was the beautiful woods - unfortunately, it sounds like it may be decades before things recover.
 
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