Vibe Spring2025 - Flipbook - Page 42
Russ Lanoie photo
Finn the mud-loving dog
ABOVE LEFT: Appropriately named road near Squam Lake. ABOVE: Finn the dog, doesnt seem to mind the mud ... as long as it comes with a view.
RIGHT: Various casualties of muddy situations around the Valley and national forest trials.
Boots on the Ground … and in the Mud
The arrival of warm weather spawns mud
season off-road, too, including hiking trails,
which become wet, muddy, and at times,
impassable. Those conditions not only
make for unpleasant outings for hikers
rather than run down it.
Philip Werner has spent a lot of time
on the region’s trails, and he’s all too familiar with mud. The editor of the popular
SectionHiker.com website and author of
a book on hiking over age 60, Werner has
as Vermud, asks hikers to stay off the Long
Trail, as well.
The Forest Service does not close trails
during mud season, but it does encourage
people to hike where it dries out faster,
like south-facing slopes; to wear good
Werner has come up with three classifications of mud on the trails: sucking mud
that slows you down; slick or cake frosting mud that makes you slip; and mystery
mud, submerged under a puddle, in which you don’t know what you’re getting into.
and others who use the trails, but they
set the stage for damaging them, and the
surrounding ecosystem, if people don’t stay
off when they are at their most fragile.
Dylan Alden, a staffer at Saco station
of the U.S. Forest Service, says the biggest
problem hikers create in mud season is
walking around puddles trying to keep
their feet dry. This widens the trails and
tramples surrounding vegetation.
“Waterproof your boots and walk
straight through puddles,” Alden said. “I give
you permission to be a kid again! The more
you try to keep your feet dry, the more
damage it’s causing. If you can hop on a
resilient surface, such as rocks, that will help
lessen the damage to the trail edges.”
Besides educating hikers and other
trail users, the Forest Service tries to
mitigate damage through maintenance,
including diverting runoff from trails to
minimize erosion, rerouting sections, and,
where possible, building new trails that
follow a side hill, so water will cross a trail
42
hiked all of the trails in the White Mountain
Guide—twice—and there are more than
650 of them. He’s also completed the Grid,
which involves hiking each of New Hampshire’s 48 official 4,000-foot mountains in
each month of the year, which totals 576
summits.
Werner has come up with three classifications of mud on the trails: sucking mud
that slows you down; slick or cake frosting
mud that makes you slip; and mystery
mud, submerged under a puddle, in which
you don’t know what you’re getting into.
Werner notes that the trails in the
White Mountains are very rocky, affording
the opportunity to stay on durable surfaces during mud season. He says the bigger
issue is high water from snowmelt in
streams and rivers, which makes crossings
dangerous.
The Appalachian Trail Conservancy
recommends letting trails “rest” in April
and May, and the Green Mountain Club, in
Vermont, a state known among AT hikers
boots, stick to the center of trails and step
on rocks, if possible; and to turn around if
conditions are too wet and muddy.
Werner says hiking mountains on the
52 With A View list, all under 4,000 feet, are
good choices in spring. Mount Israel, in the
Sandwich Range, is one of his favorites.
And Alden suggests hiking dirt roads as an
alternative to trails, including Rob Brook
Road, off Bear Notch Road; Deer Hill Road
in Chatham; Rocky Branch off Jericho Road
to the river crossing; and roads in the Moat
Mountain area.
While climate change has made
the beginning and end of mud season
unpredictable, sooner or later it will end.
Alas, then another unwelcome time of the
year will be upon us, as Lanoie notes at the
end of his ditty ...
“So just keep on looking for some drier
ground. But be warned by this song ...
That soon those dreaded black
flies come along.”
MWVvibe.com / @mwvvibe
