| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Rickers Knoll, The Twins, Mt. Shaw, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Weeks Brook Trail, bushwhack, Province Brook Trail |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Saturday, August 2, 2014 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Plenty of room at both lots. Access road to Weeks lot has some rocks sticking up that could cause issue for low clearance cars. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail, Mud - Minor/Avoidable, Mud - Significant |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
Rock hops on Weeks Brook Trail and near Province Pond shelter |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
Some stepover blowdowns on Weeks Brook Trail. Also some treetop blowdowns on Province Brook Trail. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
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 | Bugs: |
Initially a few deer flies, but mosquitoes were out on the ridge, and black flies were out on Shaw. Not too bad on Province Brook Trail. |
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 | Lost and Found: |
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 | Comments: |
Weeks Brook Trail up to the swamp in the Kearsarge North - Rickers Knoll col was generally dry, though some of the logged areas were overgrown. One particular field was hard to navigate due to high grass and some ATV packed down sections...trail sort of exits the field on the right.
Once up in the col, we attempted to find the abandoned Twins Trail, but were initially unsuccessful. Perhaps it starts just a tad bit lower than the swamp. We initially hit some thicker spruce with blowdown, but eventually hugged around the peak, hitting the northwest ledges (could prove to be very scenic, but it was pretty foggy to start), then doubling back up to the recognized summit (picking up the old trail there). The trail seemed to be well worn in southbound, but we did lose it northbound somewhat quickly. We did pick it up briefly later on (even finding a really old soda can) where it was very prominent (descending down the nortwest ridge of Rickers, contrary to some of the old maps), but lost it in some blowdown/thicker spruce. Tended to have some slow going, attempting to favor the east side of the ridge, but things improved after we hit the col just before the Twins. Two possible corridors still seemed open in the vicinity of the abandoned Gemini Trail crossing (as well as an old logging road). Both seemed to have more hope on the northwest side than on the southeast side.
Both Twins had quite a few view ledges near their summits, the northern of which is recognized as being higher. We picked up the abandoned trail once or twice, but the bushwhacking wasn't overly thick otherwise in this section.
We also had occasional trail dropping off North Twin, but that soon ran out. Offhand I don't recall seeing any evidence of the old trail that came up from near Province Pond, but it's possible we were west of that junction, as we aimed for the western ridge of Mt. Shaw. Other than a few ledgy/rocky areas, the going wasn't too bad up to the ridge and then over to the recognized summit. The recognized highpoint is a bit north of the spot elevation on the map, which shows up as a ledge on the aerial. Said ledge doesn't have much in way of views and does appear to be lower than the highpoint.
We also went out to the eastern ledges in search of views, but they too were blocked in by trees. There was a promising ledge on the southeast face that probably has views, but we opted to instead head over to the eastern knoll, which was burned over at some point (still some charred logs). While we got near it without too much issue, getting onto it from above was thick due to blowdown and new growth. Once out on the ledge, the views were spectacular. We opted to exit to the east, which looked worse than it actually was (found a ramp down off the cliffs, then the young hardwood growth wasn't as thick as it seemed, soon giving way to open hardwoods below it, all the way to the pond/shelter).
The Province Pond Shelter was surprisingly not being used when we arrived there not long before dinner time. Once upon the eastern shore of the pond, it was a pretty quick walk out, as it's a gated forest road (not muddy) from there to the parking lot.
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 | Name: |
rocket21 |
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 | E-Mail: |
rocket21@franklinwebpublishing.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2014-08-02 |
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 | Link: |
 https://www.franklinsites.com/hikephotos |
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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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