| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
West Royce, Ragged Jacket, Mt. Meader, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Royce Trail, Basin Rim Trail, Basin Trail |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Monday, October 21, 2019 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Parked at the Brickett Place. $5 fee or recreational pass required. Excellent, clean, stocked privy 0.1 miles to the left from the kiosk. Cool historical site. Nice to see it again on a pretty day. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Wet/Slippery Rock, Mud - Minor/Avoidable, Leaves - Significant/Slippery |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
All were rock hoppable. Very low water levels this time of year, even after an evening of rain. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
Look, man, trail maintainers should be trained on how to maintain trails using these trails as a template. Perfect, recent, yellow blazing on the Royce Trail. Blowdowns dealt with, effectively. Drains dug out. Recent brushing out to keep encroachers at bay.
Recent, well spaced yellow blazes on the Basin Rim Trail. Blowdowns dispatched of.
Adequate yellow and recent blazes on the Basin trail. Basin trail blazes were more spaced out than the other trails, but this is a more popular trail and may not need as much blazing when significant leaf litter is not present.
Excellent signage on all trails. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
These trails are the epitome for taking four legged types along. This trip had plenty of water points to keep hounds and homo sapiens sapiens hydrated. |
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 | Bugs: |
Ha! See you in the spring suckers!! |
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 | Lost and Found: |
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 | Comments: |
Trip route:
Royce Trail > Basin Rim Trail > Basin Trail
Royce Trail: oh the water features!! Definitely a trail in its own right because of the rivers, brooks, cascades, and falls. Then... it turns super steep. No exposure, or tricky ledges. Just steep hiking up slippery rocks and roots. This is a moderately used trail making the footbed defined and soft (until rocks...).
Basin Rim: yellow blazes were the saving grace in this trail. Much leaf litter disguised the trail. The footbed is still easy to follow, and soft. Interesting 15 foot decent over this root covered rock about 0.3 miles from Rim Junction. Would be hard with an overnight pack. Otherwise the reduced foliage give way to increasing views of the Basin.
Basin Trail: yellow blazed and completely covered in leaves. Suckers hide everything like holes, wet roots, and wet rocks. So many spills on this trail... But a really nice trail! Steep descent next to the cliffs of the Royce’s. Then moderately steep descent to the old woods roads. Nice walk out in open woods and seriously HUGE trees. Also a set of falls on this trail. Falls paths are also blazed in yellow. Pay attention towards the end of this trail. Beaten footpaths and spaced out blazing make the trail harder to follow. Some caring soul set up carins at key turn points near the Basin Pond.
I chose to road walk from the end of Basin Trail back to the Brickett parking area. So tempted to just bushwhack through the woods as they were so open... and inviting... But this is a weekday and traffic was minimal.
I saw no other soul on these trails... Same as the other time I went in the summer. But clearly, these trails are used regularly. |
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 | Name: |
Remington34 |
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 | E-Mail: |
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| Date Submitted: |
2019-10-21 |
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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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