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Ski
Hiking Trail Conditions Report
Peaks
Peaks Mt. Success, NH
Trails
Trails: Austin Brook Trail, Mahoosuc Trail, herd path, Peabody Brook Trail, Dryad Fall Trail
Date of Hike
Date of Hike: Monday, June 1, 2020
Parking/Access Road Notes
Parking/Access Road Notes: A small parking area opposite the trailhead could probably hold close to six carefully parked cars. I was the only one there at 8am and 5pm.  
Surface Conditions
Surface Conditions: Dry Trail, Wet Trail, Wet/Slippery Rock, Standing/Running Water on Trail, Mud - Minor/Avoidable, Mud - Significant, Leaves - Significant/Slippery, Snow/Ice - Small Patches 
Recommended Equipment
Recommended Equipment:  
Water Crossing Notes
Water Crossing Notes: Nothing more than simple rock hops :)  
Trail Maintenance Notes
Trail Maintenance Notes: Austin Brook Trail was blazed in blue. It was blazed very regularly early on when a footpath in the woods, but after 1.3mi when it reaches Mill Brook Rd and largely follows roads, the blazes are naturally less frequent as the trail is obvious. The more regular blazing didn’t begin again when the trail becomes a footpath shortly after Dryad Fall Trail. The only places I found the trail to be a bit obscure were where it was a footpath in the woods toward the beginning but like I said the blazes are pretty regular down there. Watch for the signs on/off roads and private property signs. Some can be easy to miss and I accidentally crossed onto private property on my way down despite having been on this trail before (and didn’t realize my mistake until I saw a house...). The Mahoosuc Trail is infrequently blazed in white for the AT. This was not one of the better blazed sections of the AT...in particular, there were no white blazes on the ledges above tree line and few cairns. I was able to follow my nose but i could definitely see people having trouble following the trail above tree line before Success. Below treeline, the footpath is of course well established. Dryad Fall Trail was blazed in yellow but hardly had a blaze on it. Not hard to follow though. Just watch for the turn off the road if you’re descending as there’s no sign (just some debris blocking the road in that direction). The very short section of Peabody Brook Trail I was on was blazed in blue. Don’t get confused by the yellow blazed AT corridor which is not a trail!! You’ll run into it shortly before reachinf Gentian Pond on Austin Brook Trail, while on the herd path to the airplane crash, and on Dryad Fall Trail. One very large spruce blowdown that hasn’t had anything done to it on the Mahoosuc Trail between Peabody Brook Trail and Austin Brook Trail. Maybe a half mile south of Moss Pond. Just after (heading south) Moss Pond there was an uprooted tree. I think it took out the old trail and now people travel to the left where it was uprooted. Many other, less significant blowdowns as well. Many bog bridges at different points. Most of the ones on the Mahoosuc Trail should be replaced. They weren’t QUITE at the point of being dangerous yet (if you’re paying attention) but many are broke, rotting, submerged, barely showing, etc. The ones that traverse the open bog near around Gentian Pond on Mahoosuc Trail were new and in great shape though! Some of the parts of Austin Brook Trail that follow roads shortly before Dryad Fall Trail really need to be brushed out.  
Dog-Related Notes
Dog-Related Notes: A very strong hiking dog could probably handle this hike but realize that it is VERY long for a dog to go (15+mi) and has a LOT of elevation gain (4500+ft) with some steep parts and scrambles. There seemed to be some water on this part of the ridge but you’d still probably have to bring extra. Mahoosuc Trail on the whole is pretty dry. No dogs seem today.  
Bugs
Bugs: Surprisingly, not bad! I didn’t notice any in the morning and there were none above tree line due to the wind. The black flies just didn’t seem to be out at elevation. Too cold? The mosquitos were out on my way down Austin Brook Trail not long after coming off of Dryad Fall Trail though.  
Lost and Found
Lost and Found: I noticed a few small pieces of trash that had likely fallen out of pockets along Mahoosuc Trail. Not knowing I’d lost it, I also found a piece of paper with my hiking plan on it on my way back down Mahoosuc Trail 😂 
 
Comments
Comments: Nice to be back in the Mahoosuc tab! I went up to Success via Austin Brook and Mahoosuc trails taking the herd path to the airplane crash site along the way, then down Mahoosuc Trail, Peabody Brook Trail, and Austin Brook Trail. Including the spur to the airplane crash and other short spurs along the way, the hike was probably about 17mi with a bit over 4500ft of gain.

The herd path to the airplane crash is not signed but should be easy to follow if you have some experience. The other gets very tight and overgrown a couple of times but it seems to get descent traffic. Note that after its initial descent off the ledges and into the woods,it follows along the AT corridor for most of its length. The AT corridor is blazed in yellow. You may think “oh wow, someone blazed this! How nice!” Nope, it’s just the AT corridor. I mention this because although I saw yellow blaze earlier in the day and identified it as such, I wasn’t thinking at the time, and decided to follow “the blazed herd path” back rather than turn left where the herd path goes. There was also a herd path in this direction but when it started descending again I finally realized my mistake. Oof. Note that there seemed to be several herd paths starting from several points. The ones north of the main one are likely due to people like me following the corridor back and then realizing their mistake. There was another herd path not long before the main one. It looked VERY muddy at its start so I didn’t take it but I’m guessing that it’s a more direct route to the crash. There seemed to be another VERY clear herd path a ways before either of these near the first bump after the steep ascent. It was also too wet for trail runners so I didn’t venture down it but I was very curious as to what it led to. Maybe another herd path to the airplane. Seemed almost too far back though. Maybe a view?

It was a cool and windy day and the hat, puffy, and glove liners came out at least a couple of times each. Kept the bugs away though! You could’ve eaten lunch at the summit if you really wanted to and had the clothes though. Mostly cloudy and it spit on me a bit as I neared the end of my hike. Much cooler was when I first got to tree line and small little snowballs fell from the sky. Very gentle and cool without being scary.

Only one patch of snow on trail after the steep ascent to the main mass of Success. More seen in the woods but not much on trail. Snow also makes an appearance as you head toward Dream Lake but none of trail. There was a patch of snow across from Gentian Pond seen at an open spot shortly after the shelter. Lots of recent melting on the ridge clearly as there was plenty of mud and wet spots and wet ledge, one or two even with running water down them, headed up the sustained steep climb to the main mass of Success. This half mile section with 800ft of rain wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought it’d be though. The wet rock seemed to have fairly good traction. No problem going up and although I slowed myself on the way down it never actually felt very slippery. One section of Mahoosuc Trail on the ascent up the first hump that had a bunch of leaves that were dry but still easy to loose your footing and slip on.

Austin Brook Trail is pretty nice. A good warm-up and cool down for my day. Some “regular” woods and a footpath trail down low, then hardwoods and old roads with gentle grades, then a nice spruce forest, then a nice swampy area, and finally a steep, ass kicker section to bring you to the beautiful pond :) Mahoosuc Trail was a lot of ups and downs and was rugged but not as grueling as I thought it might be. Dryad Fall Trail was meh.

Nothing too hard to follow but some more markings above tree line would be nice. See my trail maintenance notes about some blowdowns that should get taken care of and replacement of bog bridges too.

Saw a group do threee young guys traversing the Mahoosucs and staying at Gentian Pond Shelter. I also ran into my first AT hikers of the year :) Three of them. The first one I met was ecstatic to hear that there was no snow to Success. I warned them all about Mahoosuc Notch though. I hope they stick together and make it through there safely.  
Name
Name: Liam Cooney 
E-Mail
E-Mail: liamcooney96@gmail.com 
Date Submitted
Date Submitted: 2020-06-02 
Link
Link: https:// 
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