Voice of the Wapack – Spring 2025

President’s Note

With the snow mostly gone around our house, and a few signs of new growth, it seems like Spring. However, the warmth of the nearby wood stove reminds me that we are not quite done with cold weather. For those that were able, hiking on the Wapack was enjoyable this winter. Mike reports that so far, the trail is in good shape. There has not been much ice; that can be particularly damaging.

In late February I joined Matt Hillman from the US Fish and Wildlife Service and some of his staff at the Wapack National Wildlife Refuge on a climb up North Pack. Thanks to others who had preceded us on snowshoes, it was a relatively easy hike with microspikes. The contours of the snow can be less challenging than rocks, roots and steep inclines. New trail signs were added in October, and they all seem to be in good condition.

Through the winter there has been activity off the trail by members of the Friends board of directors. Donations and sales continue to keep us financially viable. This does take time and effort. Please see the separate article about assistance needed for this. Work on improved right-of-way and legal protections for the Wapack Trail continues. As with past efforts, these are slow processes, but the Right of Way committee is hopeful for results this year.

As the public representative of the Friends, and considering our goal of education about the trail, I’ve started an outreach effort. This started with a talk to the Grand Monadnock Rotary in January, including a PowerPoint presentation. With that initial success, I have ideas of improvements to the presentation. If other area organizations are interested, please contact me. Since becoming President, I’ve started getting some general emails from other groups, such as the Granite Outdoor Alliance, a statewide organization. This has me thinking about a network of like minded organizations and how we relate. As “members” of the Friends I hope readers of the Voice include the FOW in their network to expand awareness of the trail and the Friends.

Through the winter, George Kocur did a great job of digitizing much of the FOW archives at the Peterborough Library. We want to thank him for his time and thoughts on efficient scanning. Now I will be working with the library staff on the next steps for having the archives not take up as much physical space, and be accessible. At over 100 years old, the trail has great history, and we intend to record what is happening in the present, as well as memories from the past.

– Bruce Myrick, President

The Wapack Trail is Moving!

This Spring we will be re-routing a section of the Wapack Trail in New Ipswich. The new route will head north from the parking area across from the Windblown Camping driveway / Wapack Trail on NH Route 123/124 Turnpike Road. It will connect to the existing trail at a point before the trail crosses under the power lines. This will eliminate the trail following the busy highway and passing through a property owners yard. We’ll have more news on this new trail section later this year!

Are You Familiar with Salesforce Software?

The Friends of the Wapack board of directors would like to expand the group of Salesforce software users on the board, or on the “Ways and Means” committee. Mostly it is used to track sales and donations. If you are familiar with the interface and willing to put in time to assist, please contact me, Bruce Myrick email: president@wapack.org.

Wapack and Back Trail Race

The Trail Animals Running Club’s (TARC) annual Wapack and Back trail race will be on May 10th this year. TARC is a great supporter of the Friends of the Wapack. We appreciate their ongoing generosity and assistance along the trail. They also worked with us to design our popular Wapack end-to-end patch.
The race offers three distance options:

• 21.5 miles: South to north
• 43 miles: South to north, then back south again
• 50 miles: South to north, then south again, and finally turning north to end at Binney Hill Road in New Ipswich

Spectators are welcome and encouraged to cheer runners on along the trail or at the north-end finish line. TARC organizes many races throughout New England each year. You can learn more at trailanimals.com