| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Hutchins Hill, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Hutchins Hill Road, Blue Trail, Red Trail, Yellow Trail |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Sunday, April 24, 2022 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Park about 200ft to the east of, what’s shown on Gaia as, Hutchins Hill Rd. There’s a large pullout on the south side of the road. There’s a no trespassing sign or two here to indicate that you shouldn’t go into the woods on the south side of the road but nothing about parking. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail, Wet Trail, Standing/Running Water on Trail, Mud - Minor/Avoidable, Mud - Significant |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
None |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
Sure. But be aware that these are probably “neighborhood” trails so I’d be real careful so we don’t lose access. |
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 | Bugs: |
None. That said, though I forgot to say it earlier, I did see many little flying bugs (not sure what they were) just above the ground on our hike earlier of Mowglis and the Catalouchees. I think it was on one of the bushwhacks that I kept seeing them. |
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 | Lost and Found: |
None |
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|
 | Comments: |
Day 175, Peak 164. 2nd hike and 4th peak of the day after Mowglis-Catalouchees loop with a friend :)
This trail system is marked by plastic diamonds except for close to the true summit of Hutchins Hill where the marking suddenly go from plastic blue diamonds to yellow paint. Generally speaking, the trails are marked very well. That said, they don’t receive much traffic so are quite obscure in places still. I don’t recall many blowdowns.
I walked west along Washburn Rd for a couple hundred feet before turning right onto Hutchins Hill Rd. The road isn’t terribly wide of obvious especially if you’re driving by bug isn’t overgrown or difficult to follow at all. I followed the road, which was very wet and muddy at times, for about 1/4ki before turning right at the first jct I came to which was the blue trail. The blue trail heads generally northeast, crossing the drainage somewhere around 1700ft. Grades are generally moderate. It comes to a jct with the yellow trail (which starts where Hutchins Hill are comes closest to the col) about 0.1mi east of the col. I turned right here and continued following the blue trail along the summit ridge passing over a beautiful minor summit with a small cairn. A little over 0.1mi from its jct with the yellow trail, red trail diverges right and heads east to the top of the cliffs around 1850ft before returning to the blue trail and 0.1mi east of its other jct with it.
Rather than follow the red trail though, I continued along the blue trail on the south side of this beautiful ridge. The trail hit the southern ridge of Hutchins Hill just shy of 2000ft, then follows it north to the summit. Some views along ledges here and the blazing changes from plastic blue diamonds to yellow paint blazes. A red boundary blaze mixed in there as well. There’s a register at the summit. For my return trip, I followed the blue trail back to the red trail, but took the red trail out to visit the cliffs (nice view!), then followed the yellow trail back to Hutchins Hill Rd rather than the blue trail. I really enjoyed this trail system and beautiful mountain! The trails along the ridge were much like the beautiful back country trails I’d been on earlier in the day around Cardigan. Though they’re usually well marked, be aware that some of them were very lightly travelled though and an inexperienced hiker could easily lose the trail if not paying close attention to the blazes and treadway.
The hike was just under 3mi with about 550ft of gain, taking me 1.5hrs. 190 more days and 201 more peaks to go… |
|
 | 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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