For many years, Holderness School has been the adopter of the Upper Nanamocomuck Ski Trail, which parallels the Kancamagus and Swift River for 10 miles from Lily Pond to Bear Notch Road. This spring, the school added portions of the Sawyer Pond Trail, Livermore Trail, and Hancock Notch Trail to the list of adopted trails.

All four of these trails are in a quiet corner of the White Mountains that sees comparatively little use, but are heavily used by our Out Back groups. These trails are adopted through the White Mountain National Forests Adopt-A-Trail program, which facilitates volunteers doing light trail maintenance, freeing up rangers to focus on bigger and more complex tasks. Maintenance of trails is a never ending, from cleaning water bars to prevent erosion, to cutting back brush or clearing blowdowns across the trail. It’s amazing how quickly the forest reclaims a trail if it’s not maintained.

Quiet Trails, Vital Connections

To do the work, volunteers are required to attend a training day that covers trail work hazards and mitigation, corridor size requirements, and trail work skills. As an organization, we stay up to date with any changes by having at least one member of our team attend the Level 1 Trail Adopter training every 3 years.

The forest and the rangers who take care of it are stretched thinner than ever. The district that largely covers where Out Back happens is down to one solo ranger doing trail work this season, where there are usually two full-time rangers and a trail crew brought on for the season. In addition, they can’t purchase anything right now and are already almost out of chainsaw fuel for the season.

The Holderness School community sponsored a Mother's Day Walk-a-Thon on Sunday, May 11, 2025 to benefit the White Mountain National Forest Stewardship Fund via the National Forest Foundation. After our teachers and coaches, the White Mountains are the school’s greatest resource and are vital for our Out Back program.

These funds support trail maintenance efforts through a volunteer-powered initiative that ensures these trails remain accessible and safe. Maintenance means everything from cleaning water bars to prevent erosion to cutting back brush and clearing blowdowns—often with hand tools like vintage felling axes that crews restore and use with pride.

Just because the Walk-a-Thon has passed, doesn't mean you can't make an impact! Make a donation to the White Mountain National Forest Stewardship Fund via the National Forest Foundation >

Tools of the Trade: The Felling Axe

Part of the culture of trail crews and trail work is an appreciation for the simple and effective tool that is a felling axe. They’re far lighter than a chainsaw, but in the hands of someone well trained, they can clear blowdowns across trails quickly and effectively. Unfortunately, few modern companies make true felling axes anymore, most being heavier for splitting, or lighter “camp axes” for work around camp. So finding a good axe usually comes down to scouring antique stores to find a quality head of the right pattern and restoring it.

A vintage Flint Edge axe restored by the Director of Outdoor Programs, Erik Thatcher.

The rangers we work with, who run the axe training days, wrote the Forest Service manual on axes! Some things they look for are heads with minimal pitting or nicks, intact polls with no signs of it been used as a hammer, and a weight of about 3 pounds, a weight and or maker's initial stamped on the bottom back side, which usually indicates the vintage and a pattern that is fitting for the wood and work that trail crews do around here. The preferred pattern is called a Maine Wedge, and it’s particularly well suited for chopping softwood and throwing big chips as opposed to getting stuck in the cut. 

The one company that is making a modern version of this is Brant & Cochran in Portland, Maine.

At Holderness, trail work is more than a task—it’s a commitment to community, to the land, and to the values we hope to pass on. Whether it’s clearing a path for Out Back students or preserving remote wilderness for future hikers, our involvement in trail maintenance reflects a deeper belief: that caring for the natural world is part of who we are. With every cleared blowdown and every mile adopted, we’re not just maintaining trails—we’re continuing a legacy of stewardship, resilience, and respect for the wild places that shape us.

About the Author

Erik Thatcher
Director of Outdoor Programs

Erik Thatcher is the director of Holderness’s Outdoor and Climbing Programs. Erik has a B.S. in Environmental Science and is an American Mountain Guide Association Assistant Rock Guide and has completed their Rock Guide, Advanced Rock Guide, Ice Instructor & Single Pitch Instructor courses. He has also completed the American Institute for Avalanche Research and Education’s Level 1 and 2 courses. Erik did a Summer of research at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest and spent six years guiding for Mooney Mountain Guides.

He loves to spend time outdoors and enjoys learning traditional crafts and skills that help connect him to the land and the history of where we live, such as gardening, hunting, foraging, woodworking, timber framing, and boat building.