| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Savage Mountain (attempt), Spruce Mountain - East Peak (attempt), NH |
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 | Trails: |
Pond Road, unknown roads, bushwhack |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Sunday, May 22, 2022 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
We parked at the far end of Stratford Bog Pond. On Gaia, this is the end of Bog Rd. On my iPhone’s maps app it’s called Notch Rd. We got here by following Bog Rd, Bordeau Rd, Sky View, and Hartshorn Rd back to Bog Rd (or Notch Rd on maps app). Some of these roads have signs that say private on them but didn’t say you couldn’t trespass. We tried getting access via Gay Brook Rd but we came to a house and turned around. The gate shown at the start of Hartsthorn Rd on Gaia wasn’t there let alone closed ??????? We went this roundabout way (rather than following Bog Rd the whole way) because this section of Bog Rd (shown on Gaia as a gray line) seemed more like and ATV trail than a road. I recommend mid-clearance vehicles for these roads. 2WD should be okay. Parked in a clearing; plenty of room. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail, Wet Trail, Wet/Slippery Rock, Mud - Minor/Avoidable, Mud - Significant |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
We crossed some drainages and such. Nothing that was too tricky. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
The roads we were on were often overgrown. I was quite surprised that neither of us found a tick on ourselves. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
Sure |
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 | Bugs: |
If you stopped they were horrendous. Highly recommend something with at least some DEET in it. Bug net and bug shirt wouldn’t be a bad idea either. |
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 | Lost and Found: |
My friend may have lost his bushwhacking glasses on this hike. Would’ve been on the southern end of our loop. If you find them please let me know :) |
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 | Comments: |
Day 203: a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day Part 1:
We followed what’s shown on Gaia as Pond Rd to its end just above 2000ft. We then followed a road shown on Gaia that headed west on te south side of a drainage. Just above 2400ft where this road is shown as curving south on Gaia, we hit a gate, wire, and no trespassing signs. I’d seen in previous reports that there might be access issues coming from the east but since I’d also seen reports coming from the east I figured this wasn’t the case or was an east work-around. I think the reality is that the reports that came up from this side were made BEFORE the claims of private property on this side of the mountain.
Anyway, we whacked due south, very roughly contouring, to the next jct with a road shown on Gaia, then the next and so on, hoping that the posted land would stop. It didn’t. We walked 1/3mi south from the gate. We finally gave up and returned to our car. Rather than return the same way, we whacked/followed a very old road south but to the east of the one shown on Gaia, then connected with it roughly where it turned east and followed it back to our car. Though this would’ve been a shorter approach had we come up this way, we didn’t because the road was very overgrown and we were worried about ticks. Not much worse than the way we came in though. Very wet/muddy at times and overgrown.
Having failed from the the east side of the mountain, we then drove over to Lamm’s Trail for a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day part 2. |
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 | Name: |
Liam Cooney |
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 | E-Mail: |
liamcooney96@gmail.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2022-05-22 |
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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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