| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Winslow Ledge, Sugar Hill, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Bushwhack, woods road |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Sunday, December 29, 2019 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Left one car at our exit point, 2 miles south of Smarts Mtn. Trailhead, on Dorchester Road; at the south end of Reservoir Pond, at the entrance to the woods road that heads south; this road was signed for snomo trailhead parking.
Parked our second car at the Dartmouth Skiway; we started here.
Scouted out the gated access road just south of Beale Cemetery along Dorchester Road, but with winter snow, there was no safe roadside parking. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Snow/Ice - Frozen Granular |
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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: |
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 | Lost and Found: |
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 | Comments: |
Conditions were perfect today. Barebooted. Thin crusty snow. No ice. Open woods throughout with much evidence of wildlife still running about (bear tracks, coyote, deer, grouse, turkey, hare, porcupine... more!)
The Skiway would not allow hikers on the slopes, so we walked 0.15 south of the ticket building, along the Grafton Turnpike Road, and entered the woods at a snomo sign and small snomo trail. Added benefit of finding a nice bridge across the brook. Headed uphill, steeply at first, and we paralleled the ski area, remaining 50 yards or so in the woods.
Once past the ski area, we stayed on the ridge, through nice woods, all the way to the summit.
Followed the ridge E/SE'ly to the col with Sugar Hill, hitting one short steep section which was not bad.
Climbed the ridge SE'ly to Sugar Hill, skirting the false bump slightly to the south before hitting the summit proper.
Descended N/NE'ly aiming for the marsh shown on the map, as Google Earth showed a dirt road of some sort came in this far. Descended through nice woods, picking up faint logging spurs, which dropped us onto the main woods / logging road at 1500'. We had to pass through a wire game fence to get on the main road.
From here it was an easy 0.8 mi. road walk NE'ly to our car. We passed an X-mas tree farm along the way.
With moderate temperatures, we were able to take nice breaks on both summits, and still were out of the woods after a little over 4 hours.
Nice NH500 hike with Gorbo, Fran, and JEM3.
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 | Name: |
Beth Z. |
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 | E-Mail: |
btzimr at gmail dot com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2019-12-29 |
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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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