| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Mt. Surprise, Mt. Moriah, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Carter-Moriah Trail, herd paths, old roads |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Wednesday, October 27, 2021 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Parked at the power lines at about 10am. Two other cars there. Room for maybe a dozen. I guess you’re allowed to park right by the trailhead as well though I’m never sure precisely where as there’s a private residence on one side and a fire hydrant on the other. Some new outlines were put around the hydrant perhaps to let people know where to/not to park. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail, Wet Trail, Wet/Slippery Rock, Standing/Running Water on Trail, Mud - Minor/Avoidable, Mud - Significant, Leaves - Significant/Slippery |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
No water crossings on this trail so great to do when water is high! |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
Carter-Moriah Trail is blazed in blue as it connects with the AT in this section. You won’t always be able to see a blue blaze but it’s still probably blazed better than most trails in the Whites. Marked by cairns on the ledges. I also noted some very, very old blazes in the form of “+†signs and arrows on the ledges that I don’t think I’d ever noticed before. Easy to follow trail except perhaps around the ledges where someone not familiar with the trail will have to pay attention to the cairns and perhaps use a bit of intuition. Lots of erosion happening on the sides of the little ledge scrambles from people going around them when they’re wet (like today). The soil is of course thin there and quickly eroded down to just expose more ledge. Some drainage issues with all the leaves but by the time I was most of the way down, the trail had been “swept†clear of leaves so as to allow water to drain. I can only think this is the work of Larry of Gorham...thank you sir! A lot of nice work on that trail thanks to him. Still some issues further up along the trail. In particular, the boggy area that the trail goes through much higher up could use some new big bridges. The mud/water there is deep enough that you really don’t want to step into it. No blowdowns I recall other than the one huge one down low that’s been there about a year or more now that Larry nicely put many logs underneath as to make it easier to step over. There’s a new trail sign at the bottom :) |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
Some of the ledge scrambling may be too difficult for some dogs. |
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 | Bugs: |
None |
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 | Lost and Found: |
None |
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 | Comments: |
Gridded out Moriah on Wednesday. 21st 4000 footer of the month out of 24 needed for my October grid. The weather was not as bad as I thought. No rain or even reallly mist fell on me and it was nowhere near as windy as predicted. In fact, I hardly felt nor heard any wind until I was on the summit. And even then it wasn’t bad. Furthermore, I lucked out with the clouds and had views on the summit even if not 360 degrees. Only saw one other person on trail.
The trails were wet and muddy though, where there wasn’t water, were drying out, especially down low by the end of my time out there. Lots of mud, sometimes obscured by the leaves, mainly before you come out onto the ledges. The ledges were of course wet and slick. I only fell once on the way down but had two “oopsies†on the way up that hurt. I only got down on my butt once to scootch on the way down. Minor running water on the trail and moderate standing water. This was mostly up higher on the trail, after the exposed ledges. I imagine things got a chance to dry on out a bit on Thursday and Friday but now we’ve got a bunch more rain coming! Noon on Saturday and Berlin/Gotham’s only for 0.1in so far though... |
|
 | Name: |
Liam Cooney |
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 | E-Mail: |
liamcooney96@gmail.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2021-10-30 |
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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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