| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Mt. Deception - East Peak, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Bushwhack |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Sunday, October 16, 2022 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
After quickly turning around as we tried to get this peak from campsite 8 on Old Cherry Mountain Rd, my friend headed home and I continued down the road to campsite 7 where most folk start and tackled the peak from there. As seems to be peoples luck, campsite 7 was occupied so I parked next to it. Enough room nearby to pull off the road. Old Cherry Mountain Rd is dirt but should be doable for any car.
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail, Wet Trail |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
Minor drainage crossings |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
N/A |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
My only concern would be the blowdowns up top. |
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 | Bugs: |
What on earth are these bugs that are everywhere lately?!? They aren’t on every hike I’m on but they’ve been on some. Super random and they seem to mostly come out in the afternoon. A bit larger than a mosquito. Don’t bite but land on you. I have pictures and I’m super curious!! |
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 | Lost and Found: |
None |
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 | Comments: |
Day 350, Peak 337. Third peak of the day after Millen and Dartmouth with Kyle. We’d tried this from nearby campsite 8 but quickly turned around due to spruce and blowdowns in the flat area just north of the ponds.
Campsite 7 was occupied so I started my whack just south of it. I crossed what must be a minor outlet of the pond to the north, and began whacking just south of east. Easy-moderate grades up until 2400ft or so. Very open woods. See the note about the weird flying insects that were everywhere. Not wanting to hit what sounds like a massive blowdown field between the peaks (hence my wanting to aim directly for east peak and starting my whack from north of the ponds from campsite 8; see other “attempt” trail report for this peak) just above 2800ft I began just north of east around the west peak. At this point the woods had transitioned or at least were transitioning though remained open. The footing wasn’t as nice and I slowed down some but not too bad of footing considering you’re on the side of a mountain on a massive sidehill. Between the minor NW ridge of west peak and due north of west peak, I headed more E/SE again as I made my way up toward the col. At times, the footing seemed to improve as I neared it, so perhaps I should’ve stayed closer to the ridgeline ? As a reference point, though I was slabbing and this always gaining elevation, due north of deception I was still below 3400ft. Anyway, I hit the summit of east peak from due west, only having to deal with the blowdown fest for a very short time. As others have noted, the canister is attached to a leaner blowdown. Still accessible and I don’t think it’s coming down any time soon but you never know. If someone who actually knows how to use a toolkit is feeling generous, perhaps they can move the canister to a nearby tree. I didn’t find it hard to find.
I returned roughly the same way. Note that though Gaia shows an open area between 2200 and 2600ft on the west side of the peaks which is usually accurate and usually means logging, I did not encounter such. I generally stayed south of these cuts on Gaia but my track has me going right through the southernmost one on my descent but I encountered no brush so I wouldn’t worry much about this. Overall, this is a long whack and while I suppose my slabbing route below the summits is a bit of a pain, this is still a pretty nice whack. The hardwoods down low to where I started my slab are very quick and easy walking though steep. You’ll be down in no time on the descent. Gaia had me at 4mi with a little more than 1700ft of gain. Took me 3hr15min to complete. 15 more days and 28 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: |
2022-10-19 |
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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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