Notes from the Chair ...................1 A Look Back: The Rise of Hiking Clubs in the White Mountains ..............................1 Hiking Close to Home in a Time of Social Distancing .......2 Local Hikes in the Seacoast Region .............................5 Notes from the Chair “Keep them interested,” they said .................................................6 Backcountry Alternate BY RICK SILVERBERG Water Sources ....................................7 CHAIR AMCNH CHAPTER As we all are aware, we have been living Take the Time to Check through unusual times. Many of the normal What’s In Your Pack .......................8 activities of the AMC and our Chapter have been postponed or even cancelled. Rather than explor- Where In the Whites? ...................9 ing the White Mountains and other wilderness areas, we have been urged to stay close to home. To Hike or Not to Hike? ...........10 AMC and the Randolph Mountain Club have decided to keep their high country huts closed AMC Reopening Preview ......11 during the 2020 hiking season. As you will read, for the first time in Chapter history we will be The Sun Will Come Up .............11 holding a virtual annual meeting in October. But, it isn’t all bad. As described in two New Hampshire Chapter articles in this issue of Mountain Passages, NOTES FROM THE CHAIR, TO PAGE 3 Annual Meeting .............................12 October 24, 2020 A Look Back: The Rise of Hiking OUR MISSION The Appalachian Mountain Club is Clubs in the White Mountains the nation’s oldest outdoor recreation began in the White Mountains in the 1870s. and conservation organization, and BY: BOB MCLAUGHLIN promotes the protection, enjoyment, By this time, artists had visited and painted the and understanding of the moun- Next year, 2021 marks the 100th anniversary White Mountains. Most notably, starting in the tains, forests, waters and trails of the of the creation of the New Hampshire Chapter 1820s, Thomas Cole, an established artist of the Appalachian region. AMC has more of the Appalachian Mountain Club. At the time Hudson River School, repeatedly travelled to the than 100,000 members, 16,000 vol- of the creation of our Chapter, the AMC was 45 White Mountains and returned to his studio in unteers, 450 full-time and seasonal years-old. This is the first in a series of articles to New York City to create paintings that featured staff. The New Hampshire Chapter is mark the centenary of our Chapter and traces the sweeping romantic vistas of the Whites. Cole was the second largest of the 12 Chapters development of the first hiking clubs, including followed by other artists and writers who contin- within the Club. the AMC. ued to enhance the romantic cachet of the wilder- As was described in the November-December ness in the Whites. These paintings and literary VOLUME 46, NUMBER 3 2019 edition of Mountain Passages, logging works enticed some of the first tourists to visit the SUMMER 2020 A LOOK BACK, TO PAGE 4 disappoint. In our travels this of elevation gain. Some lead to Hiking Close to Home in a spring, we have seen no less viewpoints, where on the many Time of Social Distancing than 12 different beaver dams clear days of the shutdown, we all within 10 miles of home. had great views of the snow- near the state capital in Con- Some of the dams were huge: covered Whites. We were able BY RICK SILVERBERG cord, and in the last two-and- One was 120-feet long, and to identify Washington, Moosi- AMC NH CHAPTER CHAIR half months, we've averaged 30 another seven-feet tall. While lauke and the Franconia Ridge: What is an avid hiker to do miles a week usually in chunks most were smaller – about 80 miles or more to the north. when retirement and the onset of seven or eight miles at a time two-feet tall and 20-feet wide These woods are also the of a pandemic with stay-at- on conservation lands, pieces – they all created ponds which habitat for many local mam- home orders converge? The NH of town forest, state forests and supported populations of fish, mals. We have seen fox, coyote, governor and AMC say stay at properties owned and managed amphibians and reptiles. by land trusts. We also found three heron What you find has always rookeries, all within 10 been there but overlooked and miles of the state capital. bypassed in our daily drives These beaver ponds were when we never stopped to no- only little dots on the map tice. Thousands and thousands or were not shown at all of acres of old farmland – once but were waiting to be pasture for cows and sheep, discovered. crisscrossed with stone walls and Some of our hikes old woods roads, and dotted were casual walks on old Signs of past occupation are wide- with cellar holes – have now woods roads which allowed spread like this cellar hole. While they are not The Flume, grown up with dense woodland. us to refocus on the little Photo by: Rick Silverberg. your local fast running streams On close exploration we things underfoot and the remains of past inhabitants, deer, beaver, weasel, bear and are worth a stop. Photo by: found streams running into such as cellar holes, old flower moose signs (mostly their scat) Rick Silverberg. ponds created by beaver. Beaver are nature’s engineers and never beds, stone walls and patches and of course many squirrels home, but make an excep- of open pasture in the dense and chipmunks. tion for outdoor exercise woodlands. Others are moder- These close-to-home hikes provided it is close to ate hikes with lots of ups and were also interesting for what we home and can be done downs, little clefts and rocky did not see: people! On with social distancing. trails, which in the course of a The answer is to find 7-mile hike, give you 1,700-feet HIKING CLOSE TO HOME, new places close to home TO PAGE 5 to explore on foot. Who would have ever MOUNTAIN PASSAGES thought so many fascinat- Volume 46, No. 3 Summer 2020 ing places to hike would One of the Beaver Dams we discov- Mountain Passages is published four times Please note: Member address updates be so easy to find and so ered near Concord. Photo by: Rick a year by the New Hampshire Chapter of cannot be handled by AMC-NH officers, close to home! We live Silverberg. the Appalachian Mountain Club. committee chairs, or the newsletter editor. Submissions. Members may submit Mountain Passages Online. If you’re articles or photos (hi-res jpegs) to newslet- receiving Mountain Passages through the [email protected]. Articles may be edited at mail, please consider signing up to get the Advertise Here to Reach Almost 15,000 the discretion of the editor to meet space electronic version instead. Environmentally Active Outdoor Enthusiasts and style requirements. Publication is on You’ll get added resources not available a space-available basis. While Mountain to print subscribers: direct links to emails, Passages does not pay for submissions; forms and online information, color photos, ISSUE DEADLINE AD SIZE PRICE (per issue) a byline or photo credit is given. Contact online registration forms. 1/8 page 3.5”w x 2.5”h $100 Mountain Passages for reprint permission. Spring March 15 To sign up, go to www.outdoors.org/mem- 1/4 page 3.5”w x 5”h $160 Advertising. The AMC NH Chapter Summer May 15 bercenter and set your AMC-NH Chapter 1/2 page 7.5”w x 5”h $250 members enjoy the outdoors year-round newsletter preference to online. by hiking, paddling, skiing, backpacking, Fall August 15 20% Discount for advertising in six climbing and biking and more. © 2020 by New Hampshire Chapter, Winter November 15 consecutive issues, with prepayment For information and the Ad Rate Sheet, Appalachian Mountain Club. send an email to [email protected]. For questions, or to submit ad: [email protected] We reserve the right to refuse any submis- Editors: Robert S. McLaughlin Please send ads as color PDF or jpeg high-resolution files, at correct sion, photo or advertising that is not & Brett Billings size. Ads will appear in color in the on-line and print versions. consistent with the mission of the AMC. [email protected] Address Changes. Address changes or We reserve the right to refuse ads that are not related to the mission of AMC. We other changes to your membership must Graphic Design: Jessica Clifford, do not provide proofs and accept no liability for errors beyond the cost of the ad. be made through AMC Member Services Graphic Designer, Artist & at 10 City Square. Boston, MA 02129; 800- Photographer. 372-1758; outdoors.org/membercenter [email protected] 2 NOTES FROM THE CHAIR, the following areas: 100th Anniversary Committee for over 40 years and made sure FROM PAGE 1 • Chapter Treasurer; Finally, while we have to give us the freedom to do • Chapter Webmaster; a few volunteers, we are still what we do, to run large train- explorations close to home have • Cochair Online Presence; looking for individuals to join ing sessions and to host family revealed treasures that we had • Cochair Programs; and a planning committee that will groups and trail-clearing events. overlooked. Another article • Cochair Membership. organize activities to recognize Thanks to the efforts of Tom describes how one family used Programs the 100th anniversary of the and his crew, these events have the time at home to teach their Debbie Marcus, who Chapter. We want to make sure been huge successes year after children basic outdoor skills formerly chaired the Programs that this important milestone year.