| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Peak Above the Nubble, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Haystack Road, logging road, herd path, bushwhack |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Saturday, May 18, 2019 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Haystack Road remains closed, adding 1.7 mi each way of a road walk |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Mud - Minor/Avoidable |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
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 | Bugs: |
amazingly just a few gnats and maybe a mosquito or two in the evening |
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 | Lost and Found: |
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 | Comments: |
We're newbies at off-trail navigation so this was a test. In reading 2 posts in the past week on this peak, it seemed the time to do it, which bore true albeit the "easy" part of everyone's posts is in the eye of the beholder. We survived to get back to the car and did pretty well on ascent although our times were nowhere near as fast as other online reports at VFTT, SectionHiker, 4000footer.com etc. The mountain was relatively mud- and bug-free and early spring here meant fewer leaves to obscure line of sight. A pretty obvious herd path esp. at the start on ascent and then again on the trek from Nubble to PATN made it easy. Apart from a few minor patches of calf-high snow, "trail" conditions were superb for this.
On descent, the good news is we made it back to the car intact, and managed to course-correct using compass and online map from Caltopo geolocated via Avenza and our own track on ascent in Guthook. Picking up a stream bed helped lead us to better footing when we realized we were well west of course/west of initial ascent track, after some exasperating attempts at pushing through thick brush, reverted to compass to chart an easterly course so in the end we hit Haystack Road just slightly west of the initial starting point. Whew. #76 of NEHH. I'm in awe of frequent bushwhackers posting here and while we have much to learn, it was actually amazing setting your own track through hill and brush - a metaphor to inform more than mountains. |
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 | Name: |
TwinMom+1 |
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 | E-Mail: |
mk@mkmarinac.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2019-05-19 |
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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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