| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Mt. Paugus (South Peak), NH |
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 | Trails: |
Cabin Trail, Lawrence Trail, Old Paugus Trail, Big Rock Trail, Whitin Brook Trail |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Saturday, May 10, 2014 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Room for a handful of cars to park off 113A; more on a nearby wideout. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail, Wet/Slippery Rock, Standing/Running Water on Trail, Leaves - Significant/Slippery, Slush |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
The many intermittent or small drainages were easy step overs. The three crossings of Whitin Brook were interesting. The second was a wet booter, a multi splash and dash on submerged rocks. The other two were rock jumps. Pepper had no problems wading and/or jumping them. The Big Rock trail crossing was another rock jump for me a short ways upstream, but Pepper had to make several forays before he found a wade spot, but his legs are short. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
There was no sign for the Whitin Brook trail where it intersects the Big Rock but at that point Whitin Brook is essentially a wide woods road. Some of the waterbars on Lawrence weren't working; I dragged a path through the leaves in some with my poles, but that's a temporary. There are periodic blowdowns, especially in the spruce-fir sections, but some have been there a long time. There is a particularly nasty new one on Big Rock that involves multiple stems. I had some trouble staying on Lawrence trail near an unofficial camp site; there are no paint blazes, and the snow can hide any sign of a footbed. There are places where the trails are eroding on the steeper sections. These trails obviously don't get the traffic or attention of the main trails. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
Pepper had some deep pawholing in the ridge snow patches, but it wasn't much of a hindrance. He loved the sip n dips down low. As noted above he took his time on a couple of stream crossings before getting across. |
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 | Bugs: |
A couple of black flies at the parking area were it. |
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 | Lost and Found: |
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 | Comments: |
I chose this hike rather late in the am, guessing that by the time I got to the trailhead the weather would clear, and then we would do a quick Pepper redlining hike on mostly clear trails. It worked until we got to roughly 2600' and then ran into pockets of snow, ice, water, and a mix of them. Some of the snow patches were still 2-3' deep, but not having been packed they are soft, and sometimes hide water pools underneath. Picking my way through it slowed us down. Waterproof boots and gaiters are highly recommended for that stretch and the stream crossings. The ledges coming down from the high point on the trail were wet and slippery; going up no big deal but going down some care was required. Counterclockwise may be better than the clockwise loop we did. But my Solomon boots seem to have Teflon soles. I carried spikes but there never was a place to use them; snowshoes I could have used for the ridge's snow patches but then it would have been an on and off process most of the way. The Big Rock caves were interesting. There were some nice views from the upper ledges and the hike back and forth on Whitin Brook was nice. But I'd say this hike would be better a couple of weeks from now. Thanks Pepper for a good day on the trails. |
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 | Name: |
Pepper and Me |
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 | E-Mail: |
windriversjohn at gmail dot com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2014-05-10 |
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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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