Kearsarge North Mountain - Weeks Brook Trail - 6-26-2011

Hiking Trail Conditions Report
	Peaks	Kearsarge North Mountain, NH

	Trails:	Weeks Brook Trail

	Date of Hike:	Sunday, June 26, 2011

	Parking/Access Road Notes:	Small dirt parking area. Sign on South Chatham Road indicating hiker parking down FR317.

	Surface Conditions:	Dry Trail, Wet Trail, Wet/Slippery Rock, Mud - Significant, Standing/Running Water on Trail

	Recommended Equipment:

	Water Crossing Notes:	Ledge/rocks on Middle Brook crossing were slippery.

	Trail Maintenance Notes:	Several downed trees across or in trail. The largest was near Shingle Pond which was a climb over. Large stretches of wet and muddy trails. The sections of trails on the logging roads were grassy including grass up to five feet high with the trail plowing through the grass with water beneath in places.

	Dog-Related Notes:	A dog would need tick protection.

	Bugs:	The mosquitoes were bothersome and biting for most of the hike. There were black flies at the summit of Kearsarge North. There were flies in the cab of the fire tower. The grass sections of the forest roads were tick infested. I knocked off seven ticks at the end of the hike and extracted one tick from my back when I arrived home. Hope I discarded all of the ticks.

	Lost and Found:	There was an LL Bean shirt in the fire tower.


	Comments:	I would not recommend the Weeks Brook trail until the tick season is over. The trail starts out by continuing down the grassy fire road. It turns right on a subsidiary forest road (signed). It quickly leaves this road to the left and passes through a nice forested stretch. The trail then takes a left on to another forest road which has the trail continuing through five foot high grass and then through a lower grass area with water in the trail. Metal posts with a hiker symbol are placed as the trail transitions between forest and road. The trail is very muddy and wet beyond this point. The area before and after Shingle Pond has the most blow downs. The downed trees can either be straddled, climbed over, or bypassed. The ledges higher up the trail were slippery as if covered with a slime layer. Just below the summit the ledges were dry with good footing. I saw no other hikers on the Weeks Brook Trail nor at the summit. Shingle Pond had lily pads and frogs with a view up to the Kearsarge North tower. The brook running alongside the trail was nice. Although conditions were not ideal it was a nice change to go up Kearsarge North hiking a different route.

	Name:	WAUMBEK

	E-Mail:	WAUMBEK at Roadrunner dot com

	Date Submitted:	2011-06-26

	Link:	https://
		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.