| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Mt. Roberts, Black Snout, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Road walk, Mt. Roberts Trail, View Spur, High Ridge Trail, unknown road, bushwhack |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Sunday, April 3, 2022 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
I parked at the closest hiker/guest parking area to the trail which is the one inside the white fence. I’ve only been here twice before but this seemed to be significantly less busy than it normally is here. I was the only car there upon my return at 6:45pm. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail, Ice - Black, Snow - Trace/Minimal Depth, Wet Trail, Ice - Blue, Wet/Slippery Rock, Standing/Running Water on Trail, Snow/Ice - Frozen Granular, Mud - Minor/Avoidable, Snow/Ice - Monorail (Stable), Mud - Significant, Snow - Spring Snow, Snow/Ice - Postholes, Snow/Ice - Small Patches |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Snowshoes, Light Traction |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
Nothing that’s not bridged |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
Mt Roberts Trail is marked with orange blaze and is easy to follow though you can easily end up on a herd path rather than the trail before fly while along the ledges. No blowdowns that I recall. High Ridge Trail is marked with blue diamonds and is easy to follow. There’s one blowdown along it that I believe was roughly 2/3 the way to Faraway from Roberts. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
I may have seen one or two. Good trail for dogs. |
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 | Bugs: |
I think I saw something small flying around… |
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 | Lost and Found: |
None |
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|
 | Comments: |
Day 154, Peak 144. I started at 11:45am and hoped to do Larcom after this but this hike took much longer than anticipated and wound up being my only hike of the day.
Mt Roberts Trail was mostly free of snow and ice until about 2400ft at the last open ledge (or was it the second to last one where the ice started..?) where I should have put on spikes. I was stubborn and continued a ways before putting them on though. There was a bit of snow/ice before this but this is where I’d recommend putting them on. The snow and ice disappears around the summit again briefly, the reappears on High Ridge Trail. High Ridge Trail has a minor monorail where there’s still significant snow. It’s relatively firm but it was a bit hard to tell where it was due to all the postholes. Some may prefer snowshoes here though the snow is becoming intermittent so I personally preferred spikes.
I started my whack once I was just beyond the east side of the first marsh along High Ridge Trail just a tenth or two of a mile shy of the spur to Faraway Mtn. I’d left my snowshoes in my car but this was a big mistake. You should absolutely still have them if doing this bushwhack. I had a miscommunication I think with a fellow bushwhacker that had been in the Ossipees lately and was told I wouldn’t need them. I think they thought I was referring to the other Black Snout that’s on trail, further east. There is still a foot and a half plus of snow pack in some areas. Some times it’s easy fo stay on top of it but I did my fair share of postholing too which didn’t make for a very pleasant hike. From my starting point, I bushwhacked due north over the ridge. Until I got to the first bump on the ridge I generally stayed on the west side of it though, avoiding some elevation. The woods were never terrible but were icky in some places. Some good, some not so good. After checking out the summit and tower on the almost 2800ft bump, I descended steeply down to the east of the ridge to the col between this and a bump to the north of it. There is a road here shown on Gaia. My plan was to follow it NW for about 1/4mi until it started descending. The road was chocked full of water though and often had undermined snow on it. Also, after just a couple hundred feet of walking alongside it I hit blue blaze presumably marking a property boundary, then I saw a no trespassing sign very shortly thereafter so hopped in the woods to my right, gaining a little elevation, then contoured below the summit of the roughly 2700ft bump here before soon merging with the ridge and following it NW to Black Snout. Once on the ridge, the woods were generally good and there were many places where you could avoid the snow.
No register on Black Snout but there’s something (historic?) attached to a tree at the highpoint and a small cairn a short distance away. Partial views nearby to the north. I mostly returned in my tracks except I stayed to the west of the 2750-2800ft bump on the ridge running north of Faraway. Gaia had be me at about 12mi with 2250ft of gain, taking me 7hrs to complete. Quite a bit more difficult than I would’ve guessed but largely my own fault for not bringing snowshoes. That said, even with snowshoes this hike would be a bit of a PITA right now given some off/on snow along the bushwhack. I guess this will qualify as my quintessential shitty spring hike for the year….
211 more days and 221 more peaks to go… |
|
 | Name: |
Liam Cooney |
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 | E-Mail: |
liamcooney96@gmail.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2022-04-05 |
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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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