| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
None, NH |
|
 | Trails: |
Kedron Flume Trail, West Side Trail, Webster Cliff Trail, Saco River Trail, Dry River Connector, road walk, Maggie’s Extension, Maggie’s Run, Maggie/Saco River Link Trail, road walk |
|
 | Date of Hike: |
Friday, March 20, 2020 |
|
 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Only car at the Wiley House at 4:15pm and 8:15pm. Still some ice on the far side of the parking spaces that was actively melting. |
|
 | Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail, Snow - Trace/Minimal Depth, Wet Trail, Ice - Blue, Snow/Ice - Frozen Granular, Snow - Wet/Sticky, Snow - Spring Snow, Snow/Ice - Postholes, Snow/Ice - Small Patches |
|
 | Recommended Equipment: |
Snowshoes, Light Traction |
|
 | Water Crossing Notes: |
A few small ones mostly or all on West Side Trail. Nothing to worry about. |
|
 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
These trails are all through open forest so the trail corridor isn’t very obvious but there is generally plenty of blaze on all of these trails so following them shouldn’t be much of an issue. Some of the blazes were beginning to look a little old but all are visible. West Side is blazed in yellow. The blazing seemed to get sloppy as you went further south. It became less frequent and at times looked faded even though its a new trail... because of this someone added some yellow surveyors tape to mark the route. Much of it had fallen on the ground unfortunately. All the other trails were blazed in blue. Probably a few blowdowns but I don’t remember specifics. |
|
 | Dog-Related Notes: |
Should be okay trails for dogs. Didn’t see any. |
|
 | Bugs: |
None |
|
 | Lost and Found: |
None |
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|
 | Comments: |
A late in the day redline. 47F at the Kedron Flume trailhead at 4:15pm. Of course because of this, the snow was very unstable... but I wasn’t thinking there’d be a snowpack. So I brought microspikes and not snowshoes. Big mistake. Don’t know if I’ve ever postholed that badly. I apologize to anyone who’s tried to use those trails since (there was little evidence of others on these little used trails which made me feel a little better). Kedron Flume started out as a mix of bare ground and snow/ice. Once I turned left onto West Side Trail the snow/ice was more consistent and I began to wonder if not bringing snowshoes was dumb. Snow was pretty minimal along here though so postholes were more divots and there were several times when the minimal snowpack turned to ice and snowshoes wouldn’t have been practical anyway.
Once at Wiley House Station Rd I looked on the other side to see whether or not Westside Trail had been continued in. That direction as talked about in the guidebook but I didn’t see any signs of if so I crossed the road to hop on Webster Cliff Trail to Saco River Trail. Both of those trails started off with even less snow and more travel than Westside Trail so snowshoes again did not seem needed. Slowly but surely the snow became deeper and the trail less travelled as I headed towards Dry River Campground and I was consistently postholing again. Oh well. Dry River Connector was generally better. Maggie’s Run and Extension (to access this from Dry River Connector, turn left towards the guardrail and there is a sign, not visible from the road, for it behind the guardrail) were similar if not worse and the link between the two was worst of all (and I had to do an out-and-back on it...ughhh). Again, I apologize if anyone has hiked these trails recently and had to put up with my postholes. I really didn’t think snowshoes would be necessary given my recent hikes, trail reports, and just looking at the snowpack on my drive up. Nonetheless the snowpack along the link trail between Maggie’s Run and Saco River Trail was more than a foot often. The most annoying part was that looking less than a hundred yards away at times the slopes were bare where the sun had melted all the snow. C’est la vie. I learned my lesson. I walked back along 302 in the dark. Think I may have heard my first coyotes! 😮 |
|
 | Name: |
Liam Cooney |
|
 | E-Mail: |
liamcooney96@gmail.com |
|
| Date Submitted: |
2020-03-23 |
|
 | 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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