| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Bald Mountain (Baring Plantation/Moosehorn National Wildlife Refuge), ME |
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 | Trails: |
Headquarters Rd Trail, Two Meadows Rd, Greenway Trail, bushwhack, Tower Trail |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Wednesday, December 21, 2022 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
The drive in to the headquarters is well plowed. Lots of parking. A ranger or two at the headquarters as well. No problems for winter access. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Snow - Trace/Minimal Depth, Snow - Unpacked Powder |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
Nothings that doesn’t have a huge bridge across it |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
I believe there were some blowdowns along it but I could be misremembering snow laden trees as such too. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
Sure |
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 | Bugs: |
None |
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 | Lost and Found: |
None |
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|
 | Comments: |
Tower Trail is blazed in white and infrequently so and the blazes are faded. We had trouble finding it at its start. I don’t recall any obstructions on the trails that are roads.
2nd full day of my mini redline vacation in Maine brought me and a new friend to the Calais area. This was our 2nd hike after Magurrewock. No need for snowshoes or traction. Snow depth is about a few inches or so. Obviously less after todays weather disaster. About 2/3mi from the park HQs, there’s a rope and the packed trail turns left. There’s a sign pointing left that says “Two Mile Meadow Rd” with a smaller sign underneath saying “HQ Trail” and pointing the same direction. Since we were supposed to be on HQ Trail, we stayed left without checking Gaia but this was a mistake. We should’ve stayed straight and gone behind the gate on the untrafficked road. Oh well. We didn’t realize this for a ways and at that point we decided to continue along the trails mentioned above to a point due east of the summit where we made a short 1/4mi whack to the summit with some steep pitches. The whack was in softwoods mostly but pretty open. Snow laden trees weren’t too much of a problem. We eventually came to the summit tower remains. We had trouble finding the trail here as we saw no signs or blaze but used Gaia and our instinct to get on a path that eventually became obvious was the trail. My track on Gaia is consistently just to the south of where it shows Tower Trail being. At the end of Tower Trail, we walked HQ Rd Trail back to the car. Gaia had us at 5.5-5.75mi with 350ft of gain; it took us 2.75hrs to complete. |
|
 | Name: |
Liam Cooney |
|
 | E-Mail: |
liamcooney96@gmail.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2022-12-23 |
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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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