| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Rogers Ledge , NH |
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 | Trails: |
South Pond Road, Kilkenny Ridge Trail, Devils Hopyard Trail |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Sunday, May 24, 2020 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
South Pond Rd was gated on my way in and out. I parked in a pullout on the right immediately before the gate. I was the only car there when I arrived at 6:15am and there was only one other car when I left returned shortly before 1pm. Room for close to a half dozen cars in the pullout before it would overflow. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail, Wet Trail, Ice - Blue, Wet/Slippery Rock, Standing/Running Water on Trail, Snow/Ice - Frozen Granular, Mud - Minor/Avoidable, Mud - Significant, Snow - Spring Snow, Snow/Ice - Small Patches |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
The water was probably a bit on the higher side from all the recent melting snow but all the crossings were do-able as a pretty standard rock hop. No wet feet and I was in trail runners. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
Kilkenny Ridge Trail is blazed in yellow but not always consistently or frequently. Many of the blazes are also faded. I did finally see one of the plastic blazes the guidebook talks about though! The trail shouldn’t be difficult for someone with experience to follow though (in summertime...this would be difficult to snowshoe in winter for sure) although there are two parts where the trail is totally obscured by short pine trees you have to push through. Obvious on the way up that the trail was on the other side of them but less so on the way down. I may have had some trouble there if I hadn’t come up the same way and recognized the spots. The trail really should be brushed back there and in several other spots as the hobblebush and such grows in (not bad now). The trail does have a tricky turn right across a small stream where another path goes straight/left on the ascent. If you look right here you’ll see orange surveyors tape which marks the trail here and in a couple other places. No idea where the path right leads if anywhere. May just be a herd path from hikers that didn’t see the turn. The trail is also obscured from some large blowdowns at times. The orange surveyors tape is attached to one or two of them to show you the trail goes through them. This section of the KRT was more overgrown and had more blowdowns than any other section I remember. It would be nice if someone took care of some of the larger blowdowns out there this year. Devil’s Hopyard Trail wasn’t blazed or marked as far as I could tell so that could be tricky to follow. I only saw the end of trail sign at the end. See notes on this trail below. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
The people that had camped out overnight on Rogers Ledge had two dogs with them. I was very happy they were on leads when I arrived and they had them on leashes when we crossed paths again as they were loud and seemed aggressive. |
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 | Bugs: |
They weren’t too bad but that’s probably because I started so early. They were noticeable by the end of my hike and I put bug stuff on later in the day. |
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 | Lost and Found: |
None |
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 | Comments: |
A nice Sunday morning redline before a get together with friends and family in the afternoon :) This hike got me the rest of the KRT that I needed. This was also probably my favorite hike on it :)
I was fearful of what snow I might run into as someone that had done this the Saturday before said they’d run into consistent snow above 2000ft, 1-3ft deep. I ran in to almost nothing! I forget where it was a first saw a patch of snow (maybe around 2500ft??) but they were just occasional large patches of snow that had remained as they were shaded in very overgrown areas. They would have probably melted if the trail had been trimmed lol. They were a bit deep at times but very brief and do able. I was very happy with my decision to wear trail runners. Of course there was still plenty of mud and water to dodge though.
The water crossings were very doable and the trail wasn’t too hard to follow. See my notes above about a couple hrs to follow sections and all the blowdowns and overgrown sections.
I ran into two people who camped out near Rogers Ledge the night before. Other than them, I just ran into two people doing an out-and-back to Rogers Ledge. Great views from there :) I also really enjoyed walking along South Pond. There was at least one group out on the water when I returned. I also enjoyed the trails mostly was grades. No needs for spikes or snowshoes.
The one hellish part of this hike was Devil’s Hopyard. I figured that since basically all the snow was gone to just below 3000ft where Rogers Ledge is that it would also be gone in the ravine Devil’s Hopyard Trail brings you into. There was still some some snow there though even though the trail ends at 1300ft. I couldn’t believe it. The snow appears as you enter the ravine. There is a bit of ice to be cautious of at the start. It then turns into snow. Not all the deep and somewhat inconsistent but given that this trail involves boulder hopping, this is a treacherous situation. I went VERY slowly through this section and fell through a couple times and got some minor bumps and bruises. I’d highly recommend waiting to do this trail until ALL the snow and ice melts. I managed to stick true to the trail basically the entire way to the end of trail though and then I bushwhacked along the side of the ravine on the way back which was also treacherous as it was a steep sidehill and the ground was rotten logs and such that you could also fall through 😂 Still, this was much quicker than the way I came in. |
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 | Name: |
Liam Cooney |
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 | E-Mail: |
liamcooney96@gmail.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2020-05-27 |
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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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