A Trip to Pittsburg

PHOTO: From the lower slopes of Diamond Ridge, looking over my snowshoe tracks at Mount Magalloway and its snow covered talus field where snowmobilers play. I had a wonderful winter adventure in Pittsburg, in New Hampshire’s Great North Woods, where snow lasts well into Spring.

by Amy Patenaude
Outdoor/Ski Writer

Magalloway Road intersects Route 3 in Pittsburg, just about ten miles south of the Pittsburg/Chartierville border between the US and Canada. It took me a good two and a half hours drive from Franconia to get there.
Natural snow is pretty much gone south of Pittsburg (with the exception of the ski slopes that are still covered with a combination of manmade and natural snow). I had looked at a webcam in Lopstick the day before and that is how I knew that there was still snow in the North Country. I was happy to see some snow banks as I went by Lake Francis.
It is spring and the sun was hot and the mud was getting deep. Magalloway Road was plowed and a big logging truck and a log trailer were parked next to the No Parking Signs at the entrance. I parked on the shoulder of Route 3 in the wet deep mud right behind a couple of pickup trucks unloading their snowmobile trailers.
I took out my skis, snowshoes and backpack from the hatchback of my car and I carefully and gently set them on the hood to keep them out of the mud. I chatted with the fellows from Southern New Hampshire that had driven all this way in hopes of getting one more day of snowmobiling. It was obvious I didn’t have a snowmobile as I stood there with my skis. We were all looking for snow.

I don’t think many people ski or snowshoe on snowmobile trails because, well, there are lots of snowmobiles and it is the same reason we don’t play in the street. I guessed that snowmobile traffic would be light because this time of year most have traded their machines in for wheeled vehicles and garden tools.
The snowmobile trail was on the south side of the muddy road and the snow was dirty and thin. I hoped the snow would be better the further west I skied. From Route 3 to the crossing of the Connecticut River between the First and Second Connecticut Lakes it is mostly downhill. My skis moved slowly in the sticky snow and hitting rocks didn’t help my speed.

I had to take my skis off to walk across the bridge. The plowed road turned left and the snow ahead on Magalloway Road now looked much better. With a mile behind me now I would be skiing uphill the next five miles climbing about a 1000 vf.
My backpack felt heavy with my snowshoes, two liters of water and plenty of food and extra clothes. It wasn’t fast skiing like at a touring center. Snowmobiles don’t leave smooth tracks and they make the top layer extra mushy. I was happy to ski, it was certainly faster than and more fun than snowshoeing the whole way.
The sun was bright. I wore a ballcap and wished I had put sunscreen on my face and bare hands. Every mile there is a yellow mileage marker. When I passed by the number 4, I was extra happy because mile marker 3 was missing and I knew I wasn’t going that slow.
I was out here on this second to last full day of winter to climb Diamond Ridge. Diamond Ridge, elevation 3,230 feet is a mountain on the New Hampshire Highest 200 list. It is Magalloway Mountain’s neighbor to the north. I completed this list years ago but this time I am working to do it in calendar winter. Yah, winter lists are a “thing.”
In the summer it is easy to drive your car to the base of many of these trailless peaks. In winter often the biggest challenge is getting to the start of the bushwhack.
Just as I did summers ago I started my bushwhack at about 6 miles at a logging road spur just south of the highpoint of the ridge. I skied up for a few minutes and removed my skis and put on my snowshoes. As soon as I stepped off from where the snowmobiles had traveled my snowshoes sunk deep into the soft snow. Each step I didn’t know whether I’d sink down 6 inches or a foot plus. From here I had a mile and a thousand feet to climb to get to the top. I caught myself wishing I was here on a cold day when my snowshoes would have floated on top of the snow.
I wove my way through hobble bush and young brushy hardwoods through a section of an old timber cut. As I climbed higher I passed through mostly open hardwoods. I had some nice views of Mount Magalloway and its snow covered scree field where snowmobiles now rode on its slopes.
I saw three deer staring at me and I think they were convinced that I didn’t know they were there. I was surprised how close they allowed me to get to them before they dashed off.
Once on top, I enjoyed a nice peanut butter and honey sandwich and guzzled more of my water. I had some obstructed views to the east and south that I made an effort to enjoy on the heavily wooded summit. There were moose tracks on top too.
I followed my snowshoe tracks back down and in the soft snow it felt like I was breaking trail all over again sinking down even more.

By the time I got back to my skis a big dark cloud had rolled in and I worried it might rain.
Back on my skis I really enjoyed gravity between mile markers 5 and 2. It was the steepest section of Magalloway Road I had skied. It almost felt like cheating. Somewhere between miles 2 and the river I found a Leatherman Tool in a case and tossed it in my pack. I didn’t see any other lost items nor any trash.
By the time I returned to the bridge over the Connecticut River the snow had melted to the point it was now not ski-able. I couldn’t walk on the muddy road so I had to walk in the slushy dirty snow and half frozen mud of the snowmobile trail uphill out of the river drainage.
I was able to ski the last half mile back to Route 3.
I had skied and snowshoed a little over 14 miles in just under 5 hours. The funny thing was as I was walking up to my car and the guys parked in front of me had just finished their ride. One took off his helmet and said to me, “Good timing.”
What were the odds that we’d all start and finish our day in Pittsburg at the same time.
Have fun.