AMC: Trails - Trail history in the Whites

Retrace the AMC's trail history in the White Mountains

A casual hiker in the White Mountains of New Hampshire might mistake them for a rowdy gang forced into a muddy community service project. But artisans are frequently misunderstood. Driven by their love of the mountains, these AMC trail crews arm themselves with axes, shovels, pruners, and pry bars every year to build and maintain an intricate system of about 350 miles of AMC trails in the Whites alone. (The AMC maintains 1,400 miles of trails throughout the Northeast.) They also carry with them tried and true techniques and a history of trail construction that spans more than 125 years.

Broken down roughly by quarter centuries, the following is a brief tour of the events and ideas that helped to shape today's AMC trail stewards in the White Mountains of New Hampshire.

1876 to 1900

When the AMC was established in 1876, there were fewer than a dozen paths to major summits in the White Mountains — and most were intended for hooves not feet.
The AMC's first Councilor of Improvements William G. Nowell hired Charles E. Lowe to blaze a path toward the summit of Mount Adams — the first trail to be cut to a summit in the Northern Presidentials.
Lowe's Path was completed in 1876.
By 1900, the AMC was responsible for multiple shelters and more than 100 miles of trails — most of which were isolated from other trails and led only to one summit, much like Lowe's Path.
The few exceptions included the remote 1880s path that ran from the village of Twin Mountain, climbed the summits for which the town was named, traversed Mount Guyot and the Bonds, and eventually descended to the Pemigewasset River more than 15 miles later.

1901 to 1925

Each local trail system remained separate from others until 1903 when the AMC first connected the trail network at Waterville Valley to the eastern side of the Whites via Kancamagus Pass and later to the Pemigewasset Wilderness via the Carrigain Notch Trail in 1906.
Nearly all trails constructed during this era were to unite various small networks. Most were designed by four successive Councilors of Improvements — sometimes as an all-star unit.
Three successive Councilors of Improvements joined to complete the aesthetic Webster Cliff Trail over a four-day period in 1914, linking the Presidentials' Crawford Path to the trails of the Pemigewasset Valley.
Volunteers were plentiful for forging new trails, but not for general trail maintenance. While "old masters" cut new trails, half a dozen young men were employed as the first professional trail crew in 1919 to regularly maintain trails.
By 1925 the AMC was maintaining 300 miles of trail and 14 shelters.

1926 to 1950

The legendary Joe Dodge opened the Pinkham Notch Camp for good in 1926 and was hired as the full-time permanent hut manager in 1928.
These were quiet years compared to the AMC's first 50 years. The Depression, World War II and a serious hurricane slowed construction down to a near halt.
Many trails were handed over to local clubs or the U.S. Forest Service. Many were left to be reclaimed by the forest.
Despite a declining number of trampers, the AMC trail crew continued to patrol its 365-plus miles of trail and even began to work in other locales, such as Katahdin in Maine.
When the Appalachian Trail was completed in 1937, New Hampshire needed only an 18-mile link to complete its statewide segment.

1951 to 1975

In the decades leading up to the AMC's centennial, the Club's focus dramatically shifted from improvements to protection — and thus trail crews moved from basic maintenance toward reconstruction projects. Volunteers again stepped in to fill the maintenance void.
The backpacking boom of the '60s decimated many areas and new techniques such as the creation of switchbacks and drainages now kept the hills from being loved to death. Well over 400 split-log bog bridges were installed protecting the delicate ecosystem of the Mahoosucs in the early '70s. To combat erosion, a "Staircase to the Stars" was constructed of rock leading to the popular summit of Mount Monroe.
Education became a focal point and caretakers explained to guests the merits of tents and stoves rather than the higher-impact shelters and fires of the past.

1976 to 2000

The last 25 years have been mainly focused on maintenance and heavy reconstruction of existing trails, scaled back to 324.1 miles of trail in the White and Mahoosuc Mountains.
When alpine scree walls were first introduced in 1977 on Franconia Ridge, reactions were mixed about the "unnatural" appearance of the low rock walls bordering the trail. But the progressive technique achieved the goal of allowing the unique ecosystem to rejuvenate. Such acts continue to define the AMC as a pioneer in the trail world.
The AMC's Complete Guide to Trail Building and Maintenance has become widely heralded as the resource for trail work and is now in its third edition.
Today volunteerism has once again become the foundation of the Trails Department, with more than 200 people donating at least a week every year to a formal volunteer program run from the AMC's Camp Dodge. More than 150 other volunteers are "Trail Adopters" who take care of the basic maintenance on their trail season after season. Still others lend a hand for Annual Trails Day projects or participate in one of several single-day workshops.
Professional crew members now number more than 20 and are assisted by about a dozen backcountry campsite caretakers who perform work around their individual sites.
All in all, somewhere around 500 stewards get out, get dirty, and give back on the trails every summer under the auspices of the AMC.