| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Mowglis Mountain, Catalouchee Mountain, Catalouchee Mountain - North Peak, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Carter-Gibbs Trail, Oregon Mountain Trail, Elwell Trail, Mowglis Trail, bushwhacks |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Sunday, April 24, 2022 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
We spotted a car at the northern end of the Mowglis Trail (start of Orange Rd - signed as such) just over a bridge. Note that the bridge over Atwell Brook is not green as the guidebook says. There’s a pullout or two near the start of the road, roughly opposite a camper for a couple of cars. Do not park in an open field that also seems like a likely starting place on the other (east) side of the brook. We then drove over to Carter Gibbs Rd. It’s a moderately steep road but has minimal potholes so even low clearance cars will be fine. No need for AWD unless there’s snow on the ground perhaps. Look for a small trail sign at the top of a hill at a bend in the road. Room for at least a few cars to park roadside here. Very wide. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail, Wet Trail, Wet/Slippery Rock, Mud - Minor/Avoidable, Mud - Significant, Snow/Ice - Small Patches |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
All rock hopable. One near the start of Carter Gibbs Trail that I could see being difficult to rock hop with dry boots if water was much higher. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
None seen but sure. |
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 | Bugs: |
None |
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 | Lost and Found: |
None |
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 | Comments: |
Mt. Mowglis, Catalouchee Mountain (Northwest Cilleys Cave), Catalouchee Mountain - North Peak
Day 175, Peaks 161, 162, and 163. 1st hike of the day. A great loop hike with a short car spot with a friend to get some SNH redlining miles and bag 3 more peaks for the 500 :) The morning was cooler and a bit windier than predicted.
Carter Gibbs Trail, while obscure, is usually very well blazed. There were probably some blowdowns along it but I don’t recall them. I don’t recall the blazing along Oregon Mtn Trail (yellow if it was blazed I’m pretty sure) but it did have at least one more two minor blowdowns along it. It’s also lightly travelled but is a bit easier to follow as the treadway is easier to see in the softwoods than in the hardwoods.
Note that Gaia does not show Carter Gibbs Trail for most of its length. The trail starts at a sharp bend in the road. Look for a small trail sign. The trail follows to the west of a brook, between Spruce Ridge Rd and a logging rd shown on Gaia diverging S/SW. The trail meanders near the brook through the hardwoods. Not much of a footbed of trail corridor to follow but it’s generally very well blazed. It nears and parallels Spruce Ridge Rd and you can see buildings on the other side of the brook. The footpath crosses the drainage and begins its ascent. I believe it followed roads for a bit too but I may be mistaken. On Gaia, it merges with an unnamed trail/road shown that starts at the end of Spruce Ridge Rd at 1800ft. Ascend steadily up to the ridge from here with some steep pitches. The last couple hundred feet of so are to the west of where Gaia says it is. A wee bit of snow in here as well. Only one portion of which was on trail and you had to step in. We then turned right and followed Oregon Mtn Trail over Mowglis, finally out of the hardwoods. We both loved this section of trail. Like many of these back trails on Cardogan, it was a lightly travelled, gorgeous, mossy, lichen-y, wonderland!! Finally got to experience what I’ve only seen in others photos, lol! Nice ridge walk to Mowglis. Don’t get confused on the summit of Mowglis; Gaia doesn’t show all trails (Elwell Trail) that lead to it.
Shortly after Mowglis, the beautiful woods stopped, and we descended back into the hardwoods. We climbed steeply up to the knob where the jct with Mowglis Trail is. We turned right and followed it to the road that Mowglis Trail follows back out to Sculptured Rocks Rd. From the open field/log landing where the trail meets the road, we began our whack toward Catalouchee. We followed the drainage up in hardwoods to shortly before the col and then…turned right and headed toward the wrong peak ???? That’s my first of what will probably be many. We descend back to to the col, then ascended up to the correct peak through thick hobblebush. Luckily it hasn’t bloomed yet! We descended on a more direct line S/SE, not hitting the drainage until we were maybe 0.1mi from the road.
We followed Mowglis Traill north for about 1.25mi until Gaia shows a road heading west up a drainage that would get us closer to Catalouchee North. Unfortunately the road wasn’t there but there were old skidder roads you could mostly follow. We followed these on the north side of the drainage to about 1900ft where we decided to bite the bullet and turned right (north) to ascend straight up the peak. We’d cleared any cliffs that may be present further east at this point but it was still a good workout! We hit the summit ridge about 0.1mi SE of the summit in a beautiful wet area and walked the ridge to the highpoint which wasn’t hard to find. For our return trip, we headed pretty much straight off the peak, due south, slightly west of our ascent line, then followed a bit closer (further south) to the drainage on our return.
A long, soft, muddy, road walk out along the unexciting northern end of Mowglis Trail from there. The hike was around 12mi with about 3000ft of gain. Took us 8hrs to complete. 190 more days and 202 more peaks to go… |
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 | Name: |
Liam Cooney |
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 | E-Mail: |
liamcooney96@gmail.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2022-04-26 |
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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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