Serendipity is a funny thing.
Last month, I grabbed the Appalachian Mountain Club’s White Mountain Guide as my wife, Jan, and I hurried to tend to some tasks in Lincoln, N.H. The plan was to work in an easy hike if time allowed.
It did, and Jan perused the trusty guide. She found the Pine Island Trail along the East Branch of the Pemigewasset River from the popular Lincoln-Woods trailhead on the Kancamagus Highway.
Coupled with the Pemi East Side Trail, it was a genial 3.1-mile jaunt with splendid river and mountain views, while Tropical Storm Irene’s sinister scars were seen in jumbled river trees and eroded sandy banks.
Turns out that book was the 28th edition. So I consulted the current 29th edition when we got home. It said: “Parts of this trail along the east side of the East Branch were completely washed out by the 2011 storm, and it was closed by the USFS (U.S. Forest Service). The USFS plans to reopen the trail once work has been completed to remove flood debris and relocate the severely damaged sections.”
I know it’s best to hike with current guide books, but if I hadn’t brought the 28th edition, it’s likely Jan wouldn’t have found the hike.
For more information, I contacted the USFS and Tom Giles, assistant district ranger for the White Mountain National Forest’s Pemigewasset Ranger District. He pointed me to iconic White Mountain hiker Steve Smith, of Lincoln, a man I’ve respected for years since getting his excellent Ponds and Lakes of the White Mountains in the early 1990s. Writer, author, Mountain Wanderer book store owner and co-editor of AMC’s White Mountain Guide, he and his wife, Carol, plus friend Dave Stinson, of Newmarket, N.H., adopted and maintain the trail.
About five miles from the Smith home, they took on the trail just months before Irene hit.
“Irene really did a number in there,” said Smith by phone.
Before the trail was reopened, the USFS and volunteers took two weeks to reclaim it.
“Pine Island Trail was heavily damaged by flooding of the Pemigewasset River and required work throughout its length,” emailed Giles. “Most of this work required reshaping of drainage features, treadway hardening — step stones and/or turn piking — in poorly drained areas, and removal of flood debris.”
By the southern end of the trail, six to eight stones were needed to cross Pine Island Brook. Two short relocations (75 to 150 feet) were necessary about 0.3 miles from its beginning, where the trail was adjacent to the river and was washed away.
“North of these relocations a longer relocation — 0.2 miles — was needed to move the trail back away from the bank that was heavily eroded and then covered with tons of flood debris,” he wrote.
Smith enjoys moderately used Pine Island Trail for a number of reasons. Not only is it close by, it’s got soft footing, which he appreciates along its narrow, winding way. He also enjoys the lady slippers in spring.
“I like that it’s on the quiet side of the river,” Smith said. “Lincoln-Woods is obviously busy, but Pine Island is a nice, easy, mellow footpath along the river. It’s quite different from Lincoln-Woods, which is a rail bed, and from the East Side Trail, which is a gravel road.”
There are pleasant hardwoods and a nice red pine grove to explore. The middle part of the trail is on an island, bordered by the Pemi and Pine Island Brook which experiences high water at times.
From the Pemi’s banks, it’s possible to see infamous Owl’s Head upstream. Across the stream is Whaleback Mountain, and downstream is Scar Ridge.
Maintaining Pine Island is relatively easy for the Smiths and Stinson. They do some brushing and clean the three drainages, but sometimes there are blowdowns. One day Smith and Stinson, a man in his late 70s, cleared 12 fallen trees in less than a mile.
“You can see Pine Island as a loop with the East Side Trail, but I like to see it twice so I walk it both ways when I maintain it,” he said.
The wide Pemi East Side Trail — popular for both hikers and runners — has some nice bridges with built-in benches.
Smith says a new Pine Island description will be in the 30th edition of AMC White Mountain Guide when it’s published later this summer.
I’ll be sure to pack it before hitting the trails.
Marty Basch can be reached at marty.basch@gmail.com.