| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Southwest Moat Mountain, Middle Moat Mountain, South Moat Mountain, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Forest Road 602, logging roads, bushwhack, Moat Mountain Trail, Dugway Road |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Saturday, June 22, 2013 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
parked in a large pull off at the start of forest road 602 which is about 2 miles west of the parking for moat mountain trail. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail, Wet Trail, Wet/Slippery Rock |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
removed some blowdown from the lower moat mountain trail. some minor blowdown on ridge north of middle moat i didn't remove. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
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 | Bugs: |
bugs were nasty at times when stopped. mosquitoes down low and black flies up high. |
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 | Lost and Found: |
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 | Comments: |
forest road 602 is clearly travelled until it crosses big brook then becomes more overgrown. all through the big brook drainage i noted spray painted and flagged trees along with grade stakes on the road so i'd expect this area to see some logging in the future. the still clear road turned up and away from the brook which was not in my plan, but it was too nice to pass up. it eventually petered out after taking me up and out of the drainage so i slabbed back over into the drainage through the open hardwood forest and picked up on older overgrown road before breaking off to head up to the southern slopes of southwest moat. as i was expecting the climbing became steeper and i was soon slabbing across broken rock with cliffs above. as i wound around to the west the slopes remained steep, but became more wooded with climbable slabs that led up to the summit plateau. some great directional views to chocorua from the ledges. the highpoint is on the far northeast end of this plateau with some false bumps, scrappy woods and blowdown in between. from the summit i followed the connecting ridge between sw moat and the main ridge of moat mountain hoping to hit the trail in between north peak and the red ridge junction. the ridge pretty well funnelled me right where i wanted to go though the woods were continually scrappy with a fair amount of blowdown. a few open spots along the way provided filtered views.
i popped out on the trail just to the north moat side of the col and started hot footing it south along the ridge given the threat of weather. the trail was in good shape and dry to start. a little grown in heading to middle moat. a couple vague areas on the ledges between middle and south. rain came in on middle then came down in sheets on the way up to south moat turning the trail into a brook and making the ledges a bit slick. some of the slabs descending from south moat were particularly so. once off the ledges it was smooth sailing to the road then a couple miles back to the car.
great hike. it was nice to finally get up to middle and south moat (not sure how it took me so many years), despite the rain, and get in an interesting off trail summit as well. sw moat was a rugged little peak and certainly appears so from the main ridge given the steep and cliffy slopes on it eastern side. that summit was my main goal for the day, but given the time the loop over to the main ridge worked out too. ultimately it became a bit soggy (i stopped to empty out my boots on the descent), but some good views before the rain hit. great to be out.
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 | Name: |
bryan |
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 | E-Mail: |
bryancuddihee@yahoo.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2013-06-22 |
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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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