Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
| Peaks |
North Terrace, Middle Terrace, South Terrace, North Weeks, Middle Weeks, South Weeks, Mt. Waumbek, Mt. Starr King, NH |
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| Trails: |
York Pond Road, York Pond Trail, Bunnell Notch Trail, Kilkenny Ridge Trail, South Terrace Spur, Starr King Trail |
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| Date of Hike: |
Thursday, December 26, 2019 |
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| Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Spotted a car at Starr King trailhead, summer lot is still accessible, though icy and rough getting up to it. York Pond Road icy above the hatchery, but plenty of parking about 1.1 miles from the summer trailheads. Active logging going on, be wary of logging trucks. |
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| Surface Conditions: |
Ice - Blue, Snow - Packed Powder/Loose Granular, Snow - Unpacked Powder, Snow/Ice - Frozen Granular, Snow - Drifts |
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| Recommended Equipment: |
Snowshoes, Light Traction |
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| Water Crossing Notes: |
All easily stepped over or frozen over. |
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| Trail Maintenance Notes: |
A few blowdowns on the Terrace section of KKR, somewhat fresh blazing too, which helped especially descending into Willard Notch off South Terrace. The Weeks were rough. Was able to stay on trail up to North Weeks, following old faded blazes. We were able to follow the trail proper for the most part out to Waumbek, but blazes are faint or non existent. Quite a few blowdowns across the trail between North Weeks and Waumbek, necessitating detours around or over. |
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| Dog-Related Notes: |
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| Bugs: |
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| Lost and Found: |
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| Comments: |
On seeing that the trail section over the Weeks had been tracked out, Rachel and I went for these straggling sections. We barebooted up Bunnell Notch (where we saw the one other person we’d see all day) to the KKR junction, then donned snowshoes until Waumbek. Broke trail over the Terrace’s, in 2-8†of light powder, and very much enjoyed this remote ridgeline. Dropping down to Willard Notch, we half expected a track heading up to the Weeks, as there were tracks heading off on York Pond Trail down low... but it was not to be. More of the same, 4-8†of powder over what felt like an old track. We were happy to see Jason and Leah’s tracks once hitting the summit. The track was rough, and punctuated by moose postholes for long stretches, and we did our best to try and smooth it out, and break out the sections of trail obscured by blowdown. We were overjoyed to hit the packed trail at the outlook before Waumbek, then switched to spikes and made a quick exit. If you want any of the peaks, and don’t want to have to worry about breaking trail yourself, there’s a decent track now the whole way. Today’s freezing precip should prove to solidify things. |
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| Name: |
Bill Robichaud |
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| E-Mail: |
bill.robichaud@gmail.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2019-12-27 |
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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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