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Ski
Hiking Trail Conditions Report
Peaks
Peaks Pleasant Mountain, ME
Trails
Trails: Firewardens Trail, Ledges Trail, Southwest Ridge Trail
Date of Hike
Date of Hike: Saturday, September 19, 2020
Parking/Access Road Notes
Parking/Access Road Notes: The trailhead for Southwest Ridge Trail suddenly became quite full at 10am. There was still a spot or two at Firewardens Trail shorty thereafter though. I imagine it’s not too hard to park roadside for Southwest Ridge Trail (more popular) however there’s a sign at Firewardens Trail asking you not to park along the road. Both lots have room for about a dozen cars or so. The dirt roads in are suitable for any car and are in fine shape :)  
Surface Conditions
Surface Conditions: Dry Trail 
Recommended Equipment
Recommended Equipment:  
Water Crossing Notes
Water Crossing Notes: None of any consequence  
Trail Maintenance Notes
Trail Maintenance Notes: Firewardens Trail was (mostly) marked with red diamonds. Somewhere in the upper half of the trail the road seemed to split. Ahead, was one road (not the trail - may have been marked in white diamonds??) and the trail bore left. No mention of this on the guidebook and the other road is not shown on Gaia either. I think there were some white diamonds around here as well. They may have also marked some recent reroutes around eroded areas. In short, the trail is marked with red diamonds but don’t get confused if you occasionally see a white one 😜 The markings were regular but not terribly frequent but the trail is easy to follow so long as you bear left at the other road as mentioned above. Not hard to follow down low as mentioned in the guidebook; there’s one road that diverges to the right but there’s brush in front of it so it’s pretty obvious not to go that way. The trail wasn’t nearly as eroded and nasty as I thought it would be given the guidebooks description. Southwest Ridge Trail was blazed in yellow and also had some yellow diamonds. Again, regular blazing but not terribly frequent. Not hard to follow. Everything was signed well. I think there was one stepover on the way up Firewardens Trail. I believe there was a blowdown partway across the upper portion of Southwest Ridge Trail as well to walk around. Then, there was one larger but trimmed step over blowdown on the lower portion of Southwest Ridge Trail.  
Dog-Related Notes
Dog-Related Notes: Many seem almost all leashed and well behaved. These are fine trails for dogs :)  
Bugs
Bugs: None 
Lost and Found
Lost and Found: None 
 
Comments
Comments: Back at a little redlining in the Maine Mountain Guide :) It’s been awhile! My parents and I dropped one car at Southwest Ridge Trail, then drove over to Firewardens Trail where we started our hike.

Firewardens Trail didn’t sound too nice from the guidebook’s description but it had pretty nice grades and isn’t that eroded. We liked it well enough. Saw many people out but not quite crowded and definitely not as popular as Southwest Ridge Trail. There’s a viewpoint on the right probably a bit over halfway up toward Washington. We saw many more people once Bald Peak Trail joined. The summit was quite busy but keep heading over to the views and there’s lots of ledge to sit on that’s spread out.

The section of Ledge Trail we had to go down to access Southwest Ridge Trail felt a bit like a traffic jam at one point. Steep at times but not too bad to descend. A nice little ridge traverse over to the Southwest peak which had some views, then lots more views as we continued down the ledges to the trailhead.

Nothing but very dry soil and rock. Some loose stuff that would be easy to slip on. A very bright, sunny, beautiful, and yes, too cold for September, but still a great day :) It felt significantly warmer in the afternoon as we descended Southwest Ridge Trail.  
Name
Name: Liam Cooney 
E-Mail
E-Mail: liamcooney96@gmail.com 
Date Submitted
Date Submitted: 2020-09-21 
Link
Link: https:// 
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