| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Mt. Success, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Carlo Col Trail, Mahoosuc Trail, Austin Brook Trail |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Tuesday, August 3, 2021 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
As this was Day 2 of a 3-day backpacking trip, no roads or vehicles were involved today. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Wet Trail, Wet/Slippery Rock, Standing/Running Water on Trail, Mud - Significant |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
No actual rivers, but still a huge amount of standing and running water and mud on the trail. Much of it was unavoidable. Sometimes it seemed like the trail was a river. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
This section of Mahoosuc Trail had a bunch of blowdowns (the section we did the day before had none). None of the blowdowns required bushwhacking around. The entire trail has massive drainage and erosion issues - huge amounts of standing and running water and mud, including some between deteriorated bog bridges. Lots of steep, wet ledges that hikers are bushwhacking around, which causes more erosion and further widens the trail. Two very steep and difficult rock scrambles that could be dangerous if the rocks were wet and slippery. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
Dogs are discouraged along the AT in Maine, and would have a lot of difficulty with some of the steep rock scrambling, wet ledges, and mud. We didn't see any. |
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 | Bugs: |
Still practically none. |
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 | Lost and Found: |
A pair of glasses in the tent platform area at Gentian Pond Campsite. None of the campers there claimed it, so we left it there. |
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 | Comments: |
This was Day 2 of a 3-day backpacking trip in the Mahoosucs, from Carlo Col Campsite to Gentian Pond Campsite. The climb out of Carlo Col to start the day is extremely steep and scrambly, with several constricting spaces where large backpacks can be a hindrance. Making matters worse, between all the boulders was nothing but deep mudpits, which made footing even more challenging than it already was. From the top of that scramble, there were several more significant ups and downs (all of which featured steep, wet rock slabs and lots of mud) to the main col between Success and Carlo. The steep rock scramble out of this col was extremely difficult, and could possibly be dangerous for solo hikers in wet weather. From there, it's more ups (and a few downs), and more steep wet ledges and mudpits, to the junction with Success Trail.
I did the section between the junction with Success Trail and the summit of Success a few years ago, and it was clear that the trail had continued to deteriorate since then. There was even more mud and even more erosion than before (and the trail was already in pretty bad shape then), and the steep wet ledges are just getting wider because hikers are bushwhacking around them. Scenes like this are both ugly and very sad, though I'm honestly not sure what could be done about it. Putting iron rungs in these steep wet ledges would be difficult and time-consuming, as would rerouting the trail. It's a shame since the Mahoosucs are incredibly beautiful (the view from Mt. Success is stunning, as is the alpine meadow just below the summit), but hiking many of the trails there is just unpleasant. My friend and I, who are redlining, were initially planning to redline Carlo Col and Goose Eye Trails as a loop including part of Mahoosuc Trail, but after doing that part of Mahoosuc Trail on this trip we've decided that we're going to redline Carlo Col and Goose Eye Trails as out-and-backs instead so that we don't have to do the connecting section of Mahoosuc Trail again.
The descent off Success started out gradual, with nice views from open ledges (this part is poorly marked - be careful not to go the wrong way), but then turned into another long, steep descent down wet slabs. When we finally reached the bottom of that, we had three more humps to go up and down over before reaching Gentian Pond. This part was somewhat drier and less scrambly, but still steep in places.
When we eventually reached the junction with Austin Brook Trail at Gentian Pond, we looked at our watches and it had taken us 7 1/2 hours to get there from Carlo Col Campsite. We had originally planned to hike all the way to Trident Col today, but that was clearly too ambitious for such a slow, difficult, strenuous trail. So we spent the night at Gentian Pond Campsite - it was nice, and the camp group that was also camping there were very polite, but the water from Gentian Pond wasn't exactly clear-looking. (After filtering it, it still tasted fine, and I drank it that night and all next day and still feel perfectly good.) Our night at Gentian Pond was not as cold as the previous night at Carlo Col. |
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 | Name: |
GN |
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 | E-Mail: |
ghnaigles@gmail.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2021-08-04 |
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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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