Trail Construction, White Mountains - In 2011, Tropical Storm Irene caused massive destruction along the East coast of the United States. The White Mountain National Forest was officially closed during the storm. Many trails in the White Mountains were damaged. And this series of photos shows how one trail that suffered storm damaged has changed since Tropical Storm Irene....[Continue reading] ...

Trail Blazing, Trail Stewardship - Painted trail blazing (paint marks on trees that mark the path of a trail) along the White Mountains trail system is an endless complaint among outdoor enthusiasts. Either the trail is excessively blazed or not blazed enough. I don’t mind the trails that have little trail blazing, but I'm not a fan of the excessive trail blazing...[Continue reading] ...

Trail Ladders & Stairs, Trail Stewardship - Today’s blog article focuses on a keyword search term. I chose one search term, trail ladder, and searched my image archive to see what imagery I have available that represents this area of trail stewardship. And because staircases and ladders are often considered to be one and the same among some hikers, I have included...[Continue reading] ...

Mt. Tecumseh Trail, New Hampshire - This photography focuses on trail work. Since 2011, there has been an excessive amount of stonework done on the Mt. Tecumseh Trail. Sections of trail where four or five stone steps would have done the job have been transformed into one hundred foot long elaborate, unnatural looking, staircases. Trail stewardship groups preach that low-impact trail work entails building stonework in such a way that it looks natural and blends into nature, and man’s impact ...

Scree Walls, Trail Stewardship - Today’s blog article focuses on a keyword search term. I chose one search term in this case “scree wall” and searched my image archive to see what imagery I have available that represents this area of trail stewardship. As photographer, these keyword searches help me determine what subject matter I need more coverage of. The below imagery showcases this search term....[Continue reading] ...

Thoreau Falls Trail Bridge, My Viewpoint - Like many in the New England outdoor community, I have been closely following the Thoreau Falls Trail bridge removal project. I have had interesting conversations as to why the bridge should be replaced, but nothing yet has changed my position, I fully support removing this bridge from the Pemigewasset Wilderness. I wrote about this proposed bridge removal....[Continue reading] ...

Sustainable Trail Work, White Mountains - Here in New Hampshire, all we hear about is environmental friendly and sustainable trail work. And how important it is to conserve the trails for future generations. As an environmental photographer, I support this approach to preserving the trail system. And up until a few years ago, I have always believed that the organizations maintaining our trails practiced what they preached...[Continue reading] ...

Thoreau Falls Trail, Bridge Removal - In August of 2011, Tropical Storm Irene caused massive erosion damage to the White Mountains trail system in New Hampshire. Some trails were damaged so badly that they have been permanently closed. And to this day trail crews are still repairing Irene damaged trails...[Continue reading] ...

Trail Work, Poor Trail Blaze Removal Practices - In October 2011, Erin Paul photographed newly painted trail blazing along the Mt. Tecumseh Trail in Waterville Valley, New Hampshire. And sometime in the spring 2012, poor trail stewardship practices were used to remove one of the trail blazes. The bark where the blaze was had been cut and peeled away from the tree, and a large wound where rot, fungus, and insects could enter the tree was visible. Most trail maintenance ...

Trail Work Erosion, White Mountains - The included images show how a section of the Mt Tecumseh Trail in Waterville Valley, New Hampshire has elapsed over time. The first two images are from October of 2011 and the last image is from August of 2014. The intent of this visual journal is to record the progression of hillside erosion on the left side of the trail and to document how this section of trail holds up to...[Continue reading] ...