| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Cave Mountain (Dixville) , NH |
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 | Trails: |
Bushwhack, logging roads |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Friday, September 2, 2022 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Flume Brook Rd is not gated and can be driven. This is the road (not shown on CalTopo and not labelled on Gaia) that goes through the col between Cave and Rice Mtns and start off the north side of Rt 26 a SE of Dixville Notch. That said, it is pretty rough at its start, and is rough in some other places as well. Low clearance is a definite no. I thought the first section was sketchy in my mid clearance. Just very, very rocky. Then it got better for a bit, then smother sketchy section just over 3/4mi in that I decided to park roadside at. I probably could’ve done it (the road again got better afterward) but my cars been making some funny sounds lately and didn’t want to do any more donate to it ;) That said, I high clearance vehicles would be A-okay. Mid-clearance, maybe, with caution. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
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: |
N/A |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
Sure |
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 | Bugs: |
I don’t recall any |
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 | Lost and Found: |
None |
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 | Comments: |
Day 306, Peak 284. Great hike with twinkle toes! Finally got to hike with her and not just randomly see her on a mountain, lol! After accepting defeat and parking roadside about 0.8mi up Flume Brook Rd, we walked up the road at easy-moderate grades for a little more than 1.5mi with almost 800ft of gain, to the Cave-Rice col. There’s been logging on the north side of this col where Cave Mtn is. We walked through the brush for about 0.2mi before entering the woods. There were some game paths through the brush which continued into the woods. Not always on our bearing though, so we sometimes left them and, when we did, found thick woods usually. These were usually small patches of thick woods (one with blowdowns too) though and could be avoided to some degree. We basically followed the SW winding S ridge to the summit. A little bit of scrambling as you began to near the summit. The summit itself was beautiful; lush, green, and relatively open. Easy to find the register.
Upon signing in, we returned on roughly the same line to 2800ft. I checked Gaia here to check our progress and noted I was just a wee bit east of our ascent line. Now I could’ve turned this into a positive and could’ve stayed just east of the logging/brushy area but instead I tried to correct back to our original line and take us back into the brush. Well, low and behold, I WAY overcorrected and travelled perpendicular to our line to the west. Didn’t realize it at first and when I did, it was hard to correct. We basically followed the end of the SW ridge down to 2700ft then found a very overgrown logging road that contoured back to the clearing. Nice and wet. Got us back, but man, what a silly mistake on my part, and so close to the end of the hike! Definitely made it take much longer than need be with some thick woods and then the brush and water we encountered on the old road. At least we dried out on the road walk back down…ha!!
The hike was about 5mi with 1300ft of gain, taking about 3hr15min. Chop most of that off if you were able to drive to the col and take a little off for my foolish meandering at the end of the whack. 59 more days and 81 more peaks to go… |
|
 | Name: |
Liam Cooney and twinkle toes |
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 | E-Mail: |
liamcooney96@gmail.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2022-09-05 |
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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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