| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Nathan Pond Ridge - Northwest Peak, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Bushwhack, skidder roads |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Sunday, October 2, 2022 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
From Rt 26 in Errol, follow Coarser Brook Rd North for a little more than 6mi. I’d think this would be doable by even low clearance cars as it’s a wide dirt road in good shape though it has some pretty rocky spots when it goes up and down more steeply. Cross a bridge, then turn left onto Greenough Pond Rd. Follow it for another 2.5mi or so. Here, what I believe is still Greenough Pond Rd bears left and Roaring Brook Rd bears right. I bore left to stay on the road. While it’s generally in good shape, I’d only take mid clearance plus cars on it due to a very muddy spot that takes up the whole road beneath one of the Nathan Pond Ridge Peaks. From Roaring Brook jct, I drive an additional 2.25mi and parked NE of the peak alongside the road. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail |
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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: |
I’d be careful with them along the slash. |
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 | Bugs: |
None |
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 | Lost and Found: |
None |
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 | Comments: |
Day 336, Peak 322. 5th peak of the day after the 2 Crystals, Blue Ridge North, and Diamond Ridge. I parked NE of the peak and walked right up into the huge logged area. Very steep from the start but decent walking. More open than brushy. I eventually found a skidder road full of slash and walked up it or alongside it to about 2200ft. Here it began to contour (in both directions I believe). According to Gaia I seemed to be almost directly below the steepest stuff. Worried about getting cliffed out, I contoured briefly north along the road, then forced my way through very tight young growth briefly to get into the first real woods of the hike. From here to the summit plateau, it was a very steep climb but with no cliffs. Could still maybe be called minor scrambling though. Woods were open enough. I hit the summit ridge a couple hundred feet north of the true high point. Not hard to find the jar.
I signed in and came directly off the summit. Gaia showed me right on the steepest contours. No worse, and in fact a little better I think, than what I came up though. May have fallen on my ass a few times but no scrambling. If I recall correctly, I didn’t have to fight through the young growth this way, coming back out into the open logged area a little south of my ascent line and thus I’d recommend taking a straight shot to the summit and not worrying about the steepness. Gaia had me at 1mi with 750ft of gain. Took me just under 1hr15min to complete with a 15-20min break at the summit. 29 more days and 43 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: |
2022-10-06 |
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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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