| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Square Mountain, NH |
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 | Trails: |
FR 406, FR 104, bushwhack |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Sunday, April 17, 2016 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
we parked at the end of hagar road in milan at the gated start of FR 406. this is also the start for the north end of the old west milan trail. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail, Ice - Black, Wet Trail, Standing/Running Water on Trail, Mud - Minor/Avoidable, Mud - Significant, Leaves - Significant/Slippery, Snow/Ice - Small Patches |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
crossing of higgins brook on fr104 was a straight forward rock hop. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
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 | Bugs: |
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 | Lost and Found: |
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 | Comments: |
FR 406 is in nice shape and was generally pretty dry. there wasn't any sort of sign at the turn off for what shows on the usgs as fr104. this road was also nice as it started to do a bit of climbing up towards square. higher up it became rougher, but still allowed for quick hiking up to around 2000 ft at an old landing. beyond that the road continued, but was very rough and deteriorated and we pretty quickly just started bushwhacking up towards the peak. woods were nice and open to start. the last few hundred vertical evergreen started mixing in with some occasional scrappiness. there was also some ice of note. some flows that could be skirted, but there was also some black ice under the leaves and ground cover which made for some tricky going. we lucked out on a good route up between some larger flows and small cliffs to the ridge a little east of the summit. some icy moose paths led from there up to a false summit where we started to get a taste of the views then it was a short walk over semi open ledges to the recognized highpoint and down to the very imressive south facing cliff below the summit. some of the nicest views i can recall from a trailless summit to date ranging from peaks of the north country to the nearby pilots and down to the whites with the presidentials front and center. heading down we went a bit more east on the ridge and found an old campsite. ultimately heading down the ice and small cliffs forced us back over to our ascent line and once past the ice it was a nice walk back to the forest road and out. this was a real nice one. |
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 | Name: |
bryan, Nordic Gal |
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 | E-Mail: |
bryancuddihee@yahoo.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2016-04-17 |
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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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