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Ski
Hiking Trail Conditions Report
Peaks
Peaks Lightning Ledge, Baldpate Mountain - East Peak, Baldpate Mountain - West Peak, ME
Trails
Trails: Grafton Loop Trail, Knoll Campsite Spur, Lane Campsite Spur, East Baldpate Campsite Spur, Appalachian Trail
Date of Hike
Date of Hike: Sunday, August 30, 2015
Parking/Access Road Notes
Parking/Access Road Notes: Roughly half-full lot at the AT crossing in the mid-afternoon. 
Surface Conditions
Surface Conditions: Dry Trail, Wet/Slippery Rock, Mud - Minor/Avoidable, Mud - Significant 
Recommended Equipment
Recommended Equipment:  
Water Crossing Notes
Water Crossing Notes: All fairly straight-forward rock-hops, but lots of them. 
Trail Maintenance Notes
Trail Maintenance Notes: Overgrown in places from Town Corner Campsite to East Baldpate Campsite, with a few large old blowdowns with herd paths around them. It didn't look like a ton of maintenance has occurred in the last year or two in here, but it was still fairly easy to follow. Up to East Baldpate was littered with countless blowdowns across the trail and many bypasses around the ones that weren't easy unders or overs. Halfway up I ran into a fellow working his way downhill with an axe, he said he had just taken over maintenance of "this section" (not sure how far it went, but at least to the East Baldpate campsite) and was working on cleaning up the mess. Thanks a ton! The AT section was in good shape. 
Dog-Related Notes
Dog-Related Notes: Plenty of water at and between the campsites, not much along the AT. 
Bugs
Bugs: A few here and there, not bad though. 
Lost and Found
Lost and Found: Dan and Katie, who I met at the Town Corner Campsite Saturday night (8-29), I found the lost item you mentioned, it was partway between East Baldpate's summit and the East Baldpate campsite. If you see this, contact me at madmattd2001_AT_gmail_DOT_com (remove underscores) and I'll get it back to you. 
 
Comments
Comments: Last day on the Grafton Loop Trail. The trek along the ridge between all the campsites was pleasant with many stream crossings, several potential swimming holes (especially between Knoll and Lane), and minimal elevation change overall. The trail was rather muddy in places, and blowdowns occasionally blocked progress (herd paths have formed around these), but overall not terrible, though some TLC is needed. Nice views from Lightning Ledge itself, though the Lightning Ledge Knoll has minimal views. The climb to East Baldpate is steady and fairly steep. It was also littered with a lot of trail-swallowing blowdowns, though as I mentioned above it was actively receiving maintenance. Above the fellow I met clearing the trail, things were in much better shape. I had the summit of East Baldpate to myself for a while before I headed over to West and down to my car. Lots of thru-hikers passing through as it is that time of the year, most North-bound but a smattering of SOBOs and flip-floppers.

Knoll Campsite was CLOSED in 2013 according to the MATC site, but there is no signage to that effect anywhere. The sign for the spur is gone (there is still the GLT sign), and the privy has been removed, but it still looks like it is used from time to time. 2-3 smallish dirt pads, and a good stream nearby. Lane was a very nice site, great water source, tons of dirt pads, and a couple of swimming holes even. There was a sign for a "scenic waterfall" inside the campsite that I had to check out, it goes WAY downhill, but at the bottom there was indeed a very nice waterfall across a high rock face with a large, deep pool at the bottom that would make an awesome swimming spot. East Baldpate Campsite had lots of sites too and a good water source. Overall, the water sources are WAY better (and more plentiful) on the East side of the GLT than the West.

A great 3-day weekend out on the trails, and aside from the sections that followed the AT, I saw very few people all weekend (and none on the day between Town Corner Campsite and the summit of East Baldpate except for the one trail worker). This is definitely one to revisit.  
Name
Name: madmattd 
E-Mail
E-Mail:  
Date Submitted
Date Submitted: 2015-08-31 
Link
Link: https://mattshikes.blogspot.com/ 
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