NH Cohos Trail: Cherry Mountain

Cherry Mountain from Cherry Mtn Road

Let the slackpacking begin! What luxury. Sleeping in on a cushy bed, and no heavy backpack to haul. The goal for the day was simply getting up and over Cherry Mountain, which has two trail summits referred to as Mt. Martha (elev. 3563 ft) and Owl's Head (elev. 3248 ft). We spotted my car at a nice little trailhead parking area on Rt 115 in Jefferson and drove down Cherry Mountain Road back to the trailhead where I was picked up the previous day.

Old road to a former fire tower

The Cohos Trail follows Cherry Mountain Trail up the east side of the mountain for 3.5 miles. It's an old fire tower road that now serves as a snowmobile trail, so the grade is super gentle. It was a steady but very easy climb, gaining maybe 1300 feet in elevation, with great footing. And it was so quiet and peaceful after having been on the highway that is the Appalachian Trail.

There were no trail markings other than the entrance sign and some snowmobile signs. No blazes. The Cohos Trail is said to be "post-graduate" trail for backpackers in part because sections have no markings and people need to be able to figure out which way to go with their map and a compass. I can do that.

Maps.ME screenshot. Yes, I'm on the correct trail.

But I'm not too proud to also use a cell phone and/or gps unit. Last winter I scanned in the Cohos trail map, pulled the images into Google Earth, and digitized the route. Then I exported the route as kml and gpx files, which can be imported into map programs like Google's Maps and Maps.Me. The latter is very handy because it works on your phone when you have no cell phone service. The app also shows a lot of local trails, which can be surprisingly helpful. My digitized route is not very precise, but it's very accurate. In other words, the trail is definitely near where I have it on the map. It may be  a few hundred feet off, but it's not half a mile off. It's good enough to check your progress and to verify that you're on the correct trail, especially when the trail isn't marked for miles.  

Easiest possible way to climb a mountain

I don't think many hikers come this way up the mountain because it's pretty long, so I kept my eyes open for wildlife, scanning the surrounding woods for moose or bear or whatever. I'd stop and just look and listen from time to time.

Twisted Stalk berries

Eventually the trail came to a well-marked junction, with Cherry Mountain Trail continuing left to descend the steeper west side of the mountain and a spur heading on up to the summit. Most people who climb up to Mt. Martha are coming up that steeper route.

Trail junction for hikers and snowmobilers

The spur was moderately steep but lead quickly to the open summit where there used to be a fire tower.

Fireweed and Goldenrod

There were great views south towards the Twins, Garfield and Lafayette. But the higher peaks were all obscured with low clouds, which was disappointing. I hung out a bit hoping for the clouds to lift, but they were not moving one bit. Eventually I heard yahoo voices from down below, heading up towards me. They were coming up the more popular and steeper route. Time to exit.

Mt. Martha summit, looking south towards the Franconia Range

A trail sign pointed the way onward along "Martha's Mile." I saw my first yellow Cohos blazes here. The Connecticut NET was light blue, while most trails after that have been blazed white.

Martha's Mile begins

This section was well blazed and clearly not used much. Seems like a lot of people hike up to Mt. Martha but do not continue to Owls Head. I got the sense that pre-existing trail are not blazed yellow, but any connecting segments specially created for the Cohos Trail have the yellow blazing and maybe some signage.

Martha's Mile, blazed yellow

Approaching the second summit, the trail became very steep with a slick rock scramble. I was glad I didn't have my full pack on.

Rock scramble up to Owl's Head

The views were better on the rocky Owls Head, although Mt. Washington was hidden by clouds.

Owl's Head

Looking down Crawford Notch

There was a mini-scramble up from the Owls Head view point and I managed pulled something in my leg. I suddenly couldn't walk. In these situations I prefer to go into denial and so I took a break and snapped a bunch of photos of lichens and moss. Stepping on a damp rock, I slipped and plopped right on to my butt. Really??  But after a rest, the worst of it passed and I was able to continue downhill. See? Denial works sometimes.

Owls Head Trail begins

Owl's Head Trail descended very steeply down from Owls Head and it was damp and slick. I slipped more times in twenty minutes on Owls Head Trail than I had in four days on the Appalachian Trail, including the rain walk down shear rock.  Apparently the lack of foot traffic is what keeps the rock and roots covered in slime and moss.  My trekking pole (I only had one, but wished for two now) had a rubber tip that did not help much, but I had glued the tip on and couldn't remove it. The rubber tip kept slipping off the slime. Clearly I would need to go back to my metal tips for the rest of the Cohos. I would also switch to my new hiking boots, which have newer treads and more waterproofing.

Cherry Mountain Slide of 1885 started near the top

After the initial steep descent, the grade moderated for the rest of the way and I began looking for signs of the great Cherry Mountain Slide of 1885. The slide started near the top of Owls Head and continued down the mountain for two miles, wiping out Oscar Stanley's new home, just rebuilt after a fire, along with his cattle, barn and crops.  "Oscar Stanley and the two McDonalds were working in the new house and the hired man, Walker, was milking in the barn when they heard a large noise which, at first was mistaken for thunder or a train on the railroad tracks. Oscar, however, ran to the door and saw the mass of dirt coming down the mountain and yelled to his companions and they all ran and barely escaped being swept away by the landslide."  The hired hand was pulled from the rubble but died four days later. 

A 2-mile long landslide came through here

About half way down the mountain, a ravine opened up on the right and I guessed that might be the slide route. I was right. The trail followed the top of the ravine then turned and crossed it before continuing downhill. Apparently the slide was some kind of tourist attraction for awhile. People would take the train and then hike up the Owls Head Trail to see the slide. Down at the trailhead, a history plaque commemorates the event.

Trailhead plaque

By the time I got back to the motel in Twin Mountain, the clouds had lifted from the higher peaks, and Lafayette was visible. The view from the motel was close to the view from Mt. Martha, but from a lower elevation.

Motel view of the Twin Mountain range, Garfield, and Lafayette

My husband came back from his golf game and we relaxed at the motel until we decided to go for a drive. Sadly, all the shops closed up by 6:00 pm. This northwestern part of the White Mountains is interesting. Touristy, but less so. Doesn't seem as prosperous as other parts. There were a surprising number of abandoned buildings and closed up gift shops. We liked it.

But since everything was closed, we headed south on I-93 to North Woodstock, where my daughter and I had had such a good time after climbing Moosilauke. All the delightful shops were open, and after making some purchases and we had a great meal at the Pemi Public House. I've eaten there three times now, and every meal was absolutely delicious.  That one-block area just north of Rt 112 on Route 3 is definitely my favorite touristy spot for all of the western White Mountains.