| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Logging Camp 23A (attempt), NH |
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 | Trails: |
Pemi East Side Trail, Wilderness Trail, Thoreau Falls Trail, herd paths, bushwhacks |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Monday, October 13, 2014 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Plenty of parking at Lincoln Woods though when I got there the "LOT FULL" sign was at the entrance. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail, Wet Trail, Mud - Significant |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
All water crossings rock-hoppable with care (water not as low as I was hoping) though crossing the North Fork of the Pemi both near New Camp 22 and later Jumping Brook required ability to span some deep rushing water. Jumping Brook itself had little flow but large unstable rocks. Early morning water crossings had icy rocks. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
Wilderness trails fairly trail-runnable: leaves were compacted enough to determine footing though I did roll my ankle a handful of times. Much of the trail from the East Side out were OK on mountain bike with occasional dismounts. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
a lot of water |
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 | Bugs: |
yes - black flies I think |
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 | Lost and Found: |
Found a "happy birthday" mylar balloon in the woods north of Jumping Brook and close by what I think was a t-shirt. Must have been quite the party. |
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 | Comments: |
Excellent day out in the Pemi Wilderness exploring the more remote logging camps. I usually explore one day a year when the foliage is mostly gone, it's fairly dry, fairly warm and there's no snow on the ground. Hence - perfect day for it today!!!! I knew I probably wouldn't find Camp 23A but I did find enough to go back and try again.
Anyway, I biked in as far as I could and jogged the rest of the way to the south end of the old crossing of the Thoreau Falls Trail to the west side of the North Fork (the current trail bypasses this section). From there I crossed the North Fork and followed the old RR grade to its terminus in a swampy area north of Camp 23 (not quite to the brook down from Zeacliff Pond).
From there I backtracked to Camp 23 (which is a ways north of Jumping Brook) and cut into the woods west of the camp to look for a logging road/trunk road hoping it would lead to Camp 23A eventually. No dice. I reached a very swampy area and kept cutting up northwest, continuing to look for a road or a skidder path. Weirdly, for this area being so logged out last century, I really had trouble finding any skidder roads. I found open hardwoods and zones thick spruce. I kept cutting back and up to get higher on Jumping Brook. I didn't want to get into Jumping Brook's drainage so I kept basically just a little east of the ridge north of Jumping Brook. Some freaking thick spruce in there. Kept looking/up and down/etc.
FINALLY, I found a skidder road at 2800' just on the edge of the ridge. It was open occasionally but mostly had a lot of fir trees and some big blowdowns. Sometimes it became pretty indistinct. I followed it up to about 3000' and could see it continued up the ridge but I had reached my turnaround time. I am moderately sure, that it could be the access to the Camp.
On the descent I was able to follow it down to about 2500' when it disappeared in a large sloped area. I figure it hugged the hillside left (going downhill) but was too filled with blowdowns to be sure. From there I picked the most open lines I could down to the intersection of Jumping Brook and the North Fork. I explored the old footbridge area. I'm pretty sure the footbridge went across the North Fork rather than Jumping Brook.
From there, and easy jog/mtn bike back to my car. In total, this fun Pemi Adventure took me 9hrs 15 min and was about 23.5 miles. Very fun!!!! |
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 | Name: |
Becca Munroe |
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 | E-Mail: |
beccahiker@yahoo.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2014-10-13 |
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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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