| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Mt. Major, Straightback Mountain, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Blueberry Pasture Trail, Straightback Mountain Trail, Jesus Valley Beaver Pond Trail, Old Stage Road, Brook Trail, Belknap Range Trail, Yellow Trail |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Wednesday, August 29, 2018 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Parked at end of Alton Mtn Road, lot empty. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail, Mud - Minor/Avoidable |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
At the upper end of the BPT, where it intersects SMT, one paper sign is gone, just a roofed backboard left. (There are, however, two very tiny arrow signs nailed to a tree that detail BPT direction and distance.)
Paper sign also removed on Brook Trail where BRT branches off. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
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 | Bugs: |
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 | Lost and Found: |
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 | Comments: |
I reached the top of the BPT, and began heading West on SMT. Soon after that point, I got on a yellow blazed trail that descended me down to the JVBPT. Whoops! So how did I get sucked into that? I think it was because the SMT is marked with cairns, no green blazes. So when I finally saw yellow blazes, I said to myself, "Hmmm, I thought this was supposed to be green blazes. Oh well." and just kept going. Don't be me, check your map. You can see this unnamed trail I took by accident as a dashed line on the map (F10 on the belknaprangetrail.org map).
So I made the most of it, continued up to Mt. Major to redline out a segment I needed, and back down the Brook Trail, down the BRT, to the South Peak, then back on the SMT, now going East. So when I passed that yellow trail again, now going the other way, I almost took it again! Similar fakeout, the cairns showed a fork in the trail, but only one way is blazed, so I started concluding it must be the main trail because it's the blazed one. I checked the map this time. It'll fool me tomorrow, but not again today! Instead of repeating the BPT on descent, I went down the JVBPT from there, and had lunch at that little scout leanto by the bog on OSR, and returned by the OSR.
So it was really really hot and all day I kept worrying about core temperature and heat exhaustion. But the real problem the heat gave me was a tired mind that didn't want to be bothered with deciphering details on a map. |
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 | Name: |
Steve Marion |
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 | E-Mail: |
swamp_fox@comcast.net |
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| Date Submitted: |
2018-08-29 |
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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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