| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Blue Ridge - South Peak, Blue Ridge - North Peak, Mt. Wolf, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Kinsman Ridge Trail, old Dilly Trail, Gordon Pond Trail, Gordon Pond Spur |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Saturday, October 3, 2020 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
The old parking area for Gordon Pond Trail has been blocked with boulders by the landowners due to people trashing the area around the cascades on that side of the road (the trail actually starts across the street). You need to find alternate parking. There isn’t any in the immediate vicinity on 112. We parked at the end of Sundance Rd (dead end). You’re allowed to park street side. Just don’t block a driveway. There was a kinda sorta pull off which I pulled into. The trail is very close by in the powerline cut here. After spotting a car there, we drove to the trailhead for Beaver Brook Trail which we used to access KRT which is almost directly across the street. $5/day fee area at Beaver Brook. The lot was maybe 2/3 full when we arrived around 7:30am. It looked like it just barely overflowed when we returned around 5:30pm. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail, Wet Trail, Wet/Slippery Rock, Mud - Minor/Avoidable, Mud - Significant, Leaves - Significant/Slippery |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
None of any consequence on Kinsman Ridge Trail (KRT). A few on Gordon Pond Trail. They were very doable but some go overtop cascades and such so may unnerve people as you wouldn’t want to fall in a spot of two. I’d definitely avoid in high water but they were easy Saturday in moderate water. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
The portion of KRT we were on is blazed in white as it’s part of the AT. As is often the case I think some places were hardly blazed and other spots were blazed more frequently. In any case, it wasn’t hard to follow although the leaves have obscured it. I think there was a descent amount of blaze around the jct with Reel Brook Trail which is blazed in blue and also had some pink flagging on it at the jct. Gordon Pond Trail is blazed in blue. Not hard to follow except perhaps at the jcts down low with roads and such. There, it would be helpful to have the guidebook and/or a GPS with you. Note that the trail does seem to deviate where Gaia has it at the last crossing of Gordon Brook near the snowmobile bridge. There were hardly any blowdowns all day! One with a herd path around it on KRT. Another fallen tree across the trail on maybe the lower third of Gordon Pond Trail. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
An experienced hiking dog could probably do this. Some scrambles on KRT that might be challenging. There’s also very little water on KRT. We saw on Corgi our backpacking with its owners :) Unleashed but behaved well enough. |
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 | Bugs: |
None |
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 | Lost and Found: |
None |
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 | Comments: |
Finished up the Cannon and Kinsman tab Saturday with a friend. We spotted a car at the end of Sundance Rd (Franconia) then drove to the start of the KRT. We took KRT all the way to Reel Brook Trail, then back to Gordon Pond Trail and out that. Note that, if redlining, parking at the end of Sundance Rd (which is probably your best option anyway) adds a half mile out-and-back to your hike to the true end of trail. A little elevation was gained on the way back at the end of our hike but pretty easy as far as out-and-backs go. There is no trailhead for Gordon Pond Trail and there’s a sign in the driveway saying no trespassing but the guidebook says that it does not apply to hikers.
The first half mile or so of KRT was steep and slow as advertised but between there and the ascent up Wolf it was much gentler than we thought it would be. After that, it became more rugged like we’d anticipated. We were also very surprised at just how many leaves were down. Given the recent rain too, things were very wet although not terribly slick. There were enough leaves down to obscure the trail but it’s still not hard to follow. The leaf cover was pretty consistent, even at higher elevations.
There were some very muddy sections to negotiate along the trail. Much more like I anticipated Gordon Pond Trail to be like although it actually was relatively dry. Gordon Pond Trail made for a nice, easy descent. Some relics along the way including one at the pond. For redliners, the Failing Water Lond Spur is pretty obscure but right where you get a glimpse of the pond.
Also bagged three more NH500 Highest Peaks. North Kinsman Notch Peak is maybe 5yds off trail to the right. Actually took us a few to find the jar even though we were in the right spot. Note that it’s labeled as Blue Ridge - South peak with a 20 foot difference in elevation rather than North Kinsman Notch Peak. Blue Ridge - North Peak is a longer bushwhack but still very, very short. Well under a tenth of a mile from the trail. We recognized the high point but couldn’t find a cairn or a canister. After doing some searching I finally found the jar sitting on top of a mossy rock. We dropped our packs and thus didn’t have anything to tie it back onto the tree at the high point with. Hopefully the next person up there will see this and bring some! We bagged the west peak of Wolf for the 500. Where the trail turns right, there is a herd path to your left. It’s a little hard to see at first but once you’re on it it’s easy enough to follow and leads almost immediately to the high point. The East peak, not needed for the 500, is signed with a “Lookout†sign. No views on our way in but on my way back it was starting to clear and I got a glimpse of the southern end of Franconia Ridge looking toward Liberty and Flume and beginning to clear toward Little Haystack.
It was cloudy and misty most of the morning. No views as we were in clouds. It misted/sprinkled on us a couple times a bit later in the day too. The sun did eventually come out in the afternoon though which was nice. Maybe a little more than a half dozen people seen in total. |
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 | Name: |
Liam Cooney |
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 | E-Mail: |
liamcooney96@gmail.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2020-10-05 |
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 | Link: |
 https:// |
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Disclaimer: Reports are not verified - conditions may vary. Use at own risk. Always be prepared when hiking. Observe all signs. Trail conditions reports are not substitutes for weather reports or common sense. |
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