| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
North Loon, Scar Ridge - West Peak, Scar Ridge - Middle Peak, Scar Ridge - East Peak, Scar Ridge - Southeast Peak, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Access Road, Cut path, Herd path, bushwhack, East Pond Trail |
|
 | Date of Hike: |
Monday, September 7, 2026 |
|
 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Mostly full @8am, mostly empty @7pm |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail |
|
 | Recommended Equipment: |
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|
 | Water Crossing Notes: |
All rock hops |
|
 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
East pond trail north side is in lovely shape :) |
|
 | Dog-Related Notes: |
N/A |
|
 | Bugs: |
N/A |
|
 | Lost and Found: |
George lost his phone descending off middle scar down towards the false knobs |
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|
 | Comments: |
Today started and ended with lovely grades of simple basic trails. In between were multiple visits to spruce hell and miles of drunken meandering moose trails. All in all better than expected and yet absolutely no desires for a repeat experience.
Access road up to south peak to north peak lift --> cutesy V2 boulder scramble up to the summit of North Loon (no canister boo) --> cut trail over to 2900' (goes to Black Mountain) --> start of bushwhack (easyish to follow pink and occasional blue ribbons) --> keep wandering high and left off trail (bearing anchor was stay left/north on all summit knobs) and angling back up onto trail --> icky yicky blowdown patch at 3500' (go right and angle back up left) --> get absolutely turned around to find Gbax and the cannister on West Scar
Very slow descent off West towards Middle (massive blowdown patch folled by contour drop into spruce hell) --> S hook back north over false east knob of west peak --> deep drop into col --> short and sweet climb up to Middle --> sit on rock and canister is staring me in the face lol lol
Middle to boring angle slog between the 3 false knobs over to East contouring thru the draw around all 3 (Gbax lost his phone somewhere in here) --> short simple climb up to 3600' and 100 yards from the canister --> more spruce hell --> hoodie on and disgusting double S move SW - SE - NE - S - curl right into East Scar summit canister (this felt really satisfying)
Curl back out from East canister into clearing --> view ledge of SE peak --> into blowdown and epic pirouette downward spiral flop dismount onto the ground move --> spruce hell again --> climb up to SE Peak (no canister wowsies) --> hard hook east and drop down the spine (really easy mossy chimney NE of cliffband to sidewind around) --> drop into col, short open woods to trail --> hoodie off and down to car
Overall I felt pretty confident in my navigational skills and wasn't ever concerned about my location even with doing much zigzagging and circles in places on the ridge. Pretty easy to follow the ridge and decent glimpses thru the trees of the various summits and knobs on the ridge. Saw 2 other people who thought today was a perfect day to go do this ridge, I hope they're also alright in the head |
|
 | Name: |
Heat Lightning |
|
 | E-Mail: |
ecs@mountainlogworks.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2026-09-07 |
|
 | 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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