KEENE — The state Department of Environmental Conservation on Thursday released its draft work plan to repair the segment of the Avalanche Pass that was wrecked last summer by major mudslides.
The plan proposes reestablishing the trail with a partial reroute, as well as the addition of bog bridging and the replacement and installation of other bridges.
Upstream from Avalanche Lake, the DEC notes that the entire width of the pass was buried under landslide debris. Another landslide washed out the Avalanche Pass Ski Trail Bridge and widened the stream crossing closer to Lake Colden.
Cherished route
In the first paragraph of its 24-page document, the DEC notes how important and cherished a route this is, creating a compelling reason for its restoration.
“Avalanche Pass is one of the most iconic destinations in the High Peaks, offering dramatic scenery and a year-round hiking and skiing experience that attracts volumes of users annually,” the plan states. “In addition to being a destination in its own right, the trail serves as a primary northern access route to camping opportunities at Lake Colden and Flowed Lands.”
But at the same time, the trail’s age — long predating today’s best practices for sustainable trail construction, especially for routes that see high volumes of user traffic — and the gnarly terrain it crosses don’t exactly make it a straightforward case when it comes to repairs.
“This is one of the oldest trails in the area, shaped over time by historical travel routes, landslides, flooding and severe terrain constraints,” the plan states. “These factors have necessitated the use of unique structures to provide sustainable and safe access for users. Existing conditions range from well-developed, durable tread to rocky, muddy sections with exposed roots and drainage limitations, and areas requiring extensive bog bridging and span bridges. Along Avalanche Lake, a concentration of ladders and walkways provides safe passage while minimizing impacts to sensitive shoreline resources.”
The DEC’s proposed plan would cut 56 trees. Of those 42 have a diameter greater than three inches at breast height — or 4.5 feet off the ground, a common standard for measuring tree size — and 16 have a diameter between one and three inches, according to the document. The tree cutting would take place at two sites between Lake Colden and Avalanche Lake, the trail’s southern portion.
The plan details trail tread development and calls for a variety of construction techniques, depending on the trail’s surroundings. These include rock crush and capping, for added stability along sections of trail that do not require side slope construction or elevated tread; sidehill retention using larger rocks for support on the downhill slope side of the trail with smaller rocks on top to create a uniform surface; leveled and carefully placed perpendicular stone steps — with rises between six and eight inches — in areas where the trail has a sharp and immediate incline; and a variety of drainages where excessive and persistent moisture accumulation has been observed along the trail.
The proposed work is broken up between four project sites, with numerical labels increasing from north to south. Site one, the northernmost, closest to Marcy Dam and the Adirondack Loj Road, is commonly known as Avalanche Camps. This portion of the trail didn’t see excessive debris, but rather erosion from runoff that was part of the same heavy rain event that spawned the mudslides.
There’s no reroute needed for this site. Rather, the work plan proposes bolstering trail drainage features and hardening the tread with crushed stone to protect against future heavy rain events, which the report also notes are observed to be occurring in the High Peaks region with increasing frequency.
Project site two is the big kahuna, so to speak, where the most substantial debris pile from July’s mudslide is situated. The 700-foot stretch of trail juts across the debris pile and slide area. The DEC said work here was designed with consideration for the “anticipated long-term settling of the debris pile” as well as water movement through Avalanche Pass during heavy rain events and winter usage and safety, when unstable snow or ice could potentially obscure terrain dangers.
With user safety in mind as the trail crosses the debris area, the DEC is proposing an elaborate system of bridges here, including 58- and 12-foot span bridges, and about 230 feet of bog bridges, supported in parts by cribbing and modular sills. There’s also extensive tread development and drainage features proposed here.
Project site three is located at Caribou Junction — where the Avalanche Pass Trail, Lake Colden Trail and Avalanche Pass Ski Trail all converge. The DEC states that a second landslide off Mount Colden destroyed a bridge that spanned a sizable brook along the Avalanche Pass Ski Trail, making it difficult and more dangerous to use.
“Work at this location will realign the approach to the Caribou Junction bridge and establish a wider section of the Avalanche Pass Trail to accommodate skiing until Project Site (Four), where skiers can be safely routed onto the backwaters of Lake Colden.
It also includes tread development here and drainage features here.
Project site four, the southernmost and closest to Lake Colden, is essentially a paralleling reroute of the existing trail further uphill and away from a marshy area currently “supported by deteriorating bog bridging,” according to the report.
It states that at its furthest, the proposed new trail would be 80 feet away from the current route. Approximately 75 feet beyond the start of the new alignment, the old trail lies adjacent to an area suitable for creating a new transition point for the Avalanche Pass Ski Trail to access the backwaters of Lake Colden. Similar tread and drainage enhancement features are also proposed here.
Work plans are used to guide specific projects on Forest Preserve Land. Given the constitutional protections afforded to these lands, the work plans are meant to show that the work is of justifiable importance, minimally invasive and well-defined in its scope.
The Avalanche Pass trail is in the High Peaks Wilderness Complex. Wilderness-zoned land is the most stringently protected state land classification. Only minimal human improvements that are “substantially unnoticeable” are generally permitted. The work plan states that its proposals were designed with these in mind.
“The primary strategy for impact reduction is thoughtful trail alignment that avoids fall-line routing, steers the trail away from brooks and drainage features and relocates the trail out of wet areas or areas prone to high water events,” it states. “These alignment decisions reduce erosion potential at the source and limit the need for future structural interventions. The project also seeks to minimize user-created impacts, particularly trail widening and formation of avoidance routes, by establishing a durable, clearly defined trail tread. A hardened tread surface, combined with integrated drainage structures, reduces soil loss from the trail and encourages users to remain on the designated corridor.”
It adds that even though some tree cutting would be needed to realign the trail, this allows for a more efficient route that will ultimately return more of the old trail to the terrain’s natural state.
“Completion of this project will eliminate approximately 2,500 feet of trail corridor within the High Peaks Wilderness,” the report states. “By consolidating the Avalanche Pass Trail with associated ski trail bypasses, older redundant corridors can be allowed to rewild, restoring natural vegetation and reducing long-term maintenance needs.”
The work at project site one also “intentionally avoids” interfering with beaver activity, according to the report.
“Rather than attempting to mitigate beaver impacts on the recreational experience, the trail is being routed away from recurring problem areas to provide a long-term sustainable solution that allows natural processes to continue without repeated disturbance,” it states.
The DEC notes that each of the four project sites has a potential “no-action alternative.” But it adds that doing nothing will come with its own slate of “predictable” adverse environmental impacts, especially considering the high likelihood that people will keep using this trail route — as evidenced by its well-documented use this winter even as it was and continues to be officially closed.
“The soils and drainage patterns in Avalanche Pass indicate that untreated sections would continue to experience soil loss from water displacement and user traffic,” the report states. “Standing water, deep mud and unstable tread created by highwater events would prompt users to walk around problem areas, widening the trail corridor and increasing natural resource impacts.”
The proposal calls for helicopter delivery of pressure-treated materials and fasteners to the project sites, noting that it’s the only practical and safe transportation method given how deep in the backcountry the worksite is.
The proposal also calls for chainsaw use to be permitted in the spring or fall permissible windows of use, along with battery-powered drills and saws, to expedite the bridge building, noting that traditional hand tools dull rapidly in these backcountry settings where soil and rock are often enmeshed with wood cutting.
The work plan declares permission to waive standards for accessibility by people with disabilities, given the trail’s existing, rugged location.
“The Avalanche Pass Trail is an existing backcountry trail and is not an accessible facility,” it states. “Due to the steep terrain, remote location, and natural constraints of the surrounding landscape, it is not practical or feasible to bring this trail into compliance with accessible trail standards.”
The full proposed work plan is available at tinyurl.com/4mwvx3jh.
Comments can be sent to DEC forester Tate Connor via email at tate.connor@dec.ny.gov, mailed to PO Box 296, Ray Brook, NY 12977 or dropped off at DEC’s Region 5 headquarters located at 1115 state Route 86, Ray Brook. Comments are accepted until May 6.