| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Carr Mountain, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Three Ponds Trail, Carr Mountain Trail, Waternomee Falls Spur |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Saturday, February 13, 2021 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
On the west side, Clifford Brook Road is nicely plowed and sanded, and was no trouble at all for my Corolla. Room for maybe 4-5 cars at the plowed area with the trail sign. On the east side, the Three Ponds trailhead is nicely plowed and in good condition, though Stinson Lake Road has a lot of frost heaves. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Snow - Packed Powder/Loose Granular, Snow - Unpacked Powder, Snow - Drifts |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Snowshoes |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
The crossing of Sucker Brook on Carr Mountain Trail has a solid snowbridge. The crossing of the branch of Clifford Brook on Waternomee Falls Spur seems to be fairly solidly snowbridged, but I do think I heard ice creak under me at one point. Probably best to keep moving there and don't stand on the snowbridge for too long. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
The lower mile or so on the western side of Carr Mountain Trail is the site of a major ongoing logging operation. Footing is poor, and the trail is unmarked and unblazed through the tire tracks and slash piles. If you're descending down the west side (as we were), when you first reach the logging operation continue straight down the logging road. Soon, there'll be a split - go right (this turn is unsigned, but the location of the split is fairly obvious). Continue down to a T-junction - that's where the Waternomee Falls Spur diverges right. The main trail turns left, and follows a snow-covered road with tire tracks (not the larger, dirt-covered road that runs to its left, though I believe you'll end up in the same place either way). I don't remember any major blowdowns on the hike (at least any that were above the snow). |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
Didn't see any. They'd probably be fine on the east side of the trail. Wouldn't recommend taking them on the west side, for two reasons: 1) The trail is still somewhat unconsolidated, and with all the deep snow, they'd probably be floundering. 2) If the logging operation at the bottom of the west side is in process, the loggers definitely wouldn't want a dog running around all that heavy equipment. |
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 | Bugs: |
None. |
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 | Lost and Found: |
Nada. |
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|
 | Comments: |
From the Three Ponds trailhead, we headed up Three Ponds Trail, which was packed out by snowmobiles. It could be barebooted, but snowshoes would also work. When we turned onto Carr Mountain Trail, there was a clear snowshoe track. It was still a little bit soft in places, so snowshoes are definitely necessary there, but the track was in fairly good condition. The crossing of Sucker Brook was easy. As the trail ascended, there were a few sections where the track was drifted and messy, but they were generally the exceptions, and the trail was never difficult to follow. There are several fairly short, steep pitches, but no long steep sections, and grades were generally moderate and always constant (there are no PUDs [pointless ups and downs] on Carr Mountain Trail). Higher up, the trail became a winter wonderland with large amounts of snow on the tree branches - it was beautiful. When we finally reached the summit (it seemed like a longer distance than it was), there were limited views from standing on the concrete pillars of the old fire tower.
The west side of the trail was initially completely untouched, with probably 2-3 feet of powder. We were slipping and sliding while descending the steeper sections, even with snowshoes. There are a bunch of good buttsledding opportunities on the way down - there's so much snow that even if you fall out of the sled, you'll probably be fine. We started seeing some fairly old tracks that looked like they were from a skier, and those helped us stay on the trail. As we continued to descend, the trail gradually got less steep, and we followed a logging road all the way to the WMNF boundary. Just past that boundary is where the logging operation started. Footing immediately changed from 1.5 - 2 feet of unpacked powder to solidly packed tire tracks and slash. We found our way out (follow the instructions I gave above). We also redlined Waternomee Falls Spur while we were there - the spur was unpacked, but there wasn't quite as much snow as higher up, and it wasn't difficult to follow. Just don't dillydally on the first water crossing. Waternomee Falls itself was frozen over, but still looked nice.
Moral of the story - the west side of Carr Mountain Trail, and Waternomee Falls Spur, are now broken out from two pairs of snowshoes, but they're still very soft and snowshoes are definitely required to traverse Carr Mountain.
This was a very enjoyable hike. We saw a few people at the Three Ponds trailhead, and then met just one other person on the hike. |
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 | Name: |
GN |
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 | E-Mail: |
ghnaigles@gmail.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2021-02-13 |
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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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