| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Mt. Shaw, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Pond Trail, Cold Spring Road, Cold Spring Trail, Faraway Mountain Connector, Faraway Mountain Trail, Oak Ridge Cutoff, High Ridge Trail, Summit Loop |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Saturday, September 12, 2020 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Easy to find parking between 8 and 8:30am. The main lots were not filled up. When we returned just past 2pm there were many, many more cars. People seem to be allowed to park on the grass and such though so that there’s never any shortage of parking. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
One bridged crossing. Now water otherwise. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
The trails are in good shape. No blowdowns noted and the trails aren’t too brushy. Everything is very easy to follow as just about everything is an old road. And, for the most part, the trails are still well blazed even though they’re very obvious. The trails are usually marked by diamonds (sometimes two different colored diamonds where trails coincide) but one of the trails down lower also had blue paint blaze to go with the blue diamonds. Everything was well signed and usually gave distances as well. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
These would be good trails for dogs but beware of ticks and the fact that other than the one bridges crossing, there is no water. The trails are very, very dry. Bring extra water for them. We saw a few out today. Some leashed, some not. All behaved okay. |
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 | Bugs: |
Hardly any. |
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 | Lost and Found: |
Picked up a few small pieces of trash. |
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 | Comments: |
My mom and I got out today to wrap up my 52WAV and get some new redlines in the Lakes region tab of the AMC’s Southwrn NH guidebook. Mount Shaw was not a bad peak to finish on...great views to the Whites and east from the summit area. Only one view the entire hike though and it wasn’t quite panoramic. I could see all the way to Lincoln Slide on Franconia Ridge, trough all the Whites, to the mountains of western Maine (Pleasant Mtn) and some of the Ossipees in front of you such as Bald Mtn, Bayle Mtn, and Black Snout. What’s more, we had it to ourselves for awhile! Only one couple came to the summit while we were there around 11:15am. More started coming up as we were leaving and we passed several groups on our way down but not at all crowded. We only saw one person on our ascent...I was very surprised!
The trails are bone dry. No wetness or mud anywhere. Unbelievable. The trails grades are mostly easy to moderate. The fitting is never bad but sometimes the roads are eroded and have a little loose rock. This was mostly the case with Oak Ridge Cutoff which was also a bit steeper than other trails. |
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 | Name: |
Liam Cooney |
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 | E-Mail: |
liamcooney96@gmail.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2020-09-12 |
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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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