Mon., Nov. 7
The Cohos Hiking Trail

LMG: Kim Nilsen, Founder of the Cohos Trail

From its base in New Hampshire's White Mountains up to the northern-most reaches of the state, the Cohos hiking trail spans 162 miles of rugged Granite State landscape. Trail-hardened hikers and curious backpackers will find miles of untouched forest, rocky crags and looming peaks, all strung together by an unassuming trail rising and falling with the land, a footpath visible where the brush has been beaten back, where hiking boots have folded down the forest grasses. Far away on the horizon lies a snow-capped ridgeline. Closer, martins keen and hawks wheel over the thick New Hampshire firs.

These vistas were known only to a few dedicated outdoor devotees until thirty-three years ago. Kim Nilsen, a newspaper reporter and intrepid woodsman, decided New Hampshire needed a trail to rival the country's greatest paths. And decades later, after thousands of hours working with volunteers, hacking away with saw and machetes, erecting makeshift bridges and primitive lean-tos, the the Cohos Trail stands as New England's third-longest and one of its remotest. Kim Nilsen joins us to talk about conceiving his project, working countless hours in the woods, and now beginning the next phase for New Hampshire's great hiking trail.