| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Bigelow Mountain - West Peak, Bigelow Mountain - Avery Peak, ME |
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 | Trails: |
Stratton Brook Pond Road, Fire Wardens Trail, Appalachian Trail |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Wednesday, March 13, 2019 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Room for about 3 cars, maybe 4 |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Snow - Unpacked Powder, Snow - Drifts, Snow - Wet/Sticky, Snow/Ice - Monorail (Unstable) |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Snowshoes, Light Traction |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
One water crossing, easy to cross |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
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 | Bugs: |
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 | Lost and Found: |
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 | Comments: |
Thanks to the people who broke trail today.
Parked near beginning of Stratton Brook Pond Road. Road is packed by snowmobiles and large portion of it is groomed snowmobile trail until one reaches summer parking lot for Fire Wardens trail.
Fire Wardens trail, prior to today trail was unbroken with 6 to 8 inches of new snow. Thanks to mainly two individuals and then three others (5 people total hiked today) trail is nicely packed to the West Peak - Avery Peak col. Heading up the snow was pretty slippery on the steeper portions of the trail as there haven't been many hikers on the trail since the last 1 or 2 snowfalls. On the way back the snow was pretty mushy from warm temperatures and was balling up on our snowshoes. The steep section to the campsites is all snow.
From the col to Avery Peak is broken out. It is all snow when still in the trees. Once above the tree line there is an abundance of exposed rock with some ice in between. We kept our snowshoes on but one can certainly understand putting on microspikes for this portion.
Back to the col we hiked to West Peak. When still in the trees there is one wrong turn that went to the right. Turn left at this "junction" to more closely follow the AT. The AT is all snow until the summit of West Peak. We chose to hike to the north of the AT to take a more gradual approach to the summit.
Snowshoes will be required for this entire hike, except maybe the last 0.1 mile to Avery Peak (we kept our snowshoes on). The snow is to soft and mushy for anything else.
This hike was about 13 miles and took about 7 hours. |
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 | Name: |
Ryan |
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 | E-Mail: |
rk219@yahoo.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2019-03-13 |
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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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