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Ski
Hiking Trail Conditions Report
Peaks
Peaks Mt. Major, Straightback Mountain, Mt. Anna, North Straightback, East Quarry Mountain, West Quarry Mountain, Rand Mountain, Mt. Klem, Mt. Mack, North Piper Mountain, Belknap Mountain, Gunstock Mountain, Mt. Rowe, NH
Trails
Trails: Mt. Major Trail, Belknap Range Trail, Quarry Trail, Klem-Mack Loop, Round Pond Trail, Round Pond/Piper Link, Piper-Whiteface Link, Ski Trail
Date of Hike
Date of Hike: Sunday, May 18, 2014
Parking/Access Road Notes
Parking/Access Road Notes: Spotted a car at Gunstock (upper lot), and drove to the Mount Major trailhead 10 minutes away. Plenty of room at both though I bet the Mount Major lot was pretty full mid-day. 
Surface Conditions
Surface Conditions: Dry Trail, Wet Trail, Wet/Slippery Rock, Mud - Minor/Avoidable, Mud - Significant 
Recommended Equipment
Recommended Equipment:  
Water Crossing Notes
Water Crossing Notes: A few minor brooks here and there. Nothing to worry about. 
Trail Maintenance Notes
Trail Maintenance Notes: Overall in pretty good shape. Minor mud here and there, most of it we walked through using logs and rocks in the middle. One pretty significant boggy area on the Quarry Trail approaching East Quarry from Straightback, we had to detour around this as there was no telling how deep it was. The footbed and trail corridor wasn't always obvious especially between Straightback and Anna, but it never took more than a moment or two of looking to find the next blaze. Pretty lightly traveled out there, and over the Quarries in places too. Well-blazed (excessively over-blazed in places especially between Major and Straightback where there were often 3-4 blazes on adjoining rocks and trees, and even flagging too) for the most part. However, we were unable to find the White Trail (BRT) coming off of Gunstock, so we ultimately followed the ski trail for a ways until the hiking trail met up with the fence. It clearly went uphill here as well as downhill, so we aren't sure where the upper end was at Gunstock. Probably should have read the trail description better, but the signage at the top was lacking, unlike most of the rest of the range. Coming off of Rowe was also not completely clear, but it seems that the road that leads down from the tower is in fact the trail. Just bear right at the fork 2/3 of the way down. 
Dog-Related Notes
Dog-Related Notes: Saw quite a few all over the range, all seemed to be very happy. Numerous wet seeps for sippin right now, and no terrain that should pose trouble. 
Bugs
Bugs: Oh yea, they are out. Black flies a-plenty, though mainly swarming, not too many biting. One of our party also picked up a tick somewhere along the Quarries. 
Lost and Found
Lost and Found: A ton of trash all over Gunstock (and I'm not talking about the buildings!). 
 
Comments
Comments: We attempted to earn the Belknap 12 Patch in a day on this one, but ended up skipping the long out-and-back to Whiteface due to time constraints being it was a Sunday and we all had to be at work first thing Monday morning. 11 still isn't bad, and we hit a few more peaks not on "the list". A great day on the trails, with nice weather, nice scenery, quiet trails, and fairly mild terrain overall. Not a lick of snow or ice aside from a couple visible patches on the Gunstock Ski slopes, and it was great to carry a light summer pack again! Aside from the confusion on Gunstock we had no issues finding our way and following the trails, thanks to great signage and good blazing that color-coordinates with the map available on the Belknap website (VERY useful, get it here: http://belknaprange.org/belknaprangemap.htm). We even ran into the gentleman who created this map as we passed through Round Pond. What a privilege to meet him, he did a great job with the map and it was great to chat with him for a few minutes.

For those interested in our route, we mainly stuck to the ridge, with a couple out-and-backs and a zig-zag. The route took the Mount Major Trail/BRT to Mount Major and then South Straightback, we continued to Anna and u-turned there. Backa t South Straightback we took the White-blazed Quarry Trail all the way to Klem (short 'whack to W. Quarry), the Klem-Mack Loop South to Mack, and then continued to Round Pond. From there we took the Round Pond/Piper Link and then the Old Piper Link to North Piper, then turned around and took the White Trail to Belknap, and followed the BRT the rest of the way over Gunstock and Rowe. There are a few variants one could do to get the full 12, but this one seemed to work well.

A great day out, thanks for Pam and Mike for inviting me along! I'll get around to pictures and a TR on the blog in a few days.  
Name
Name: madmattd 
E-Mail
E-Mail:  
Date Submitted
Date Submitted: 2014-05-19 
Link
Link: https://mattshikes.blogspot.com/ 
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