| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Elephant Mountain, ME |
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 | Trails: |
Logging roads, herd paths, bushwhack |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Saturday, January 23, 2021 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Ample roadside parking on South Arm Road. The logging roads aren't plowed out. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Snow - Unpacked Powder, Snow - Drifts |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Snowshoes, Skis |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
There are a few small streams higher up that are not frozen beneath snow cover yet. |
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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: |
I had hiked up this peak as far as 3,400 feet the previous week and returned with three friends this time to finish breaking it out. There was 4" fresh snow atop my previous tracks but we were able to follow them up, breaking them out afresh. I took skis with me for the logging roads, switching out to snowshoes at the end of the "summer parking area" on the logging road that runs up to the south shoulder of the mountain. The rest of us wore snowshoes. Had no trouble skiing up without skins; going down was a breeze. Beyond my old tracks we broke fresh snow with knee deep and above depth (hip-deep traps and drifts). From the summer parking area at the end of the logging road S of the summit we headed N up skid trails and harvested glades (pretty nice views) to about 3,200 thence bushwhacking through moderately dense woods while picking up occasional evidence of a herd path. We aimed for the col between the two summits, arriving near the east side of the col and then bearing SWesterly through it to a recent logging cut (logging roads from more distant approaches on the N side of the mountain) and used the cut to get higher up on the summit cone. We found, lost, and found the herd path, pushing through dense growth at times. Some of us signed the cannister. Word on the street is that people do unnatural things with the rubber elephant trunks handing from the cannister tree--we did not touch those, yuck. Good tracks while they last! |
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 | Name: |
Barefoot Paul |
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 | E-Mail: |
paulwgagnon@gmail.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2021-01-26 |
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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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