| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Bear Mountain (Hinsdale), Daniels Mountain, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Bear Mountain Trail, Bear Mountain Connector, Daniels Mountain Loop, Daniels Mountain Trail |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Sunday, February 19, 2023 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Medium-sized parking area at Pisgah on Rt 63. We were one of the first few there at 830am but it had overflowed with lots of folk and families by 2:45pm when we returned. Just a bit of ice in the lot. Getting to Plain Rd to the east of Daniels Mtn turned into a real adventure…access from Rt 63 doesn’t seem possible. We tried from North Hinsadale, Bradley, and Gulf Rds. I believe all were blocked with boulders so not sure these even work in summer either. So we drove south to Hinsadale and drove north up Plain Rd. It says the road is closed at a certain point but no gate or barrier so my friend plowed through. It was all dry and safe until the last little bit where the road was very sketchy due to ice. My friend nearly lost his truck in the brook! But we made it to the trail without a road walk and that’s what counts, right? Coming in Gulf Rd from the NW would be another option but it seems that this road isn’t maintained beyond a certain point in witner and you should expect a (short) road walk. My recommendation for winter is to drive in Plain Rd. I don’t recall where the road walk would start but I’m thinking it would be less than 3/4mi. I know it was 3/4mi from one of the barriers to the north…North Hinsdale Rd maybe? Also, the roads to the north were frozen muddy ruts. Mid clearance needed and AWD might not be a bad idea. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail, Snow - Trace/Minimal Depth, Wet Trail, Ice - Blue, Ice - Breakable Crust, Standing/Running Water on Trail, Snow/Ice - Frozen Granular, Snow/Ice - Small Patches |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Light Traction |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
Nothing that’s difficult to cross. There’s a couple large blowdowns across one of the western stream crossings on Bear Mtn Trail. The crossing at the start of Daniels Mtn Trail doesn’t have many rocks to hop across but it’s small and I doubt it’s ever much of an issue. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
The trails were all marked. Bear Mtn Trail and Connector were both marked with blue diamonds. I would say these mark the Wantastiquet-Monadnock Trail (WMT) except I think Daniels Mtn Loop (even the part that doesn’t coincide with the WMT) was marked with these. Daniels Mtn Trail was marked with orange diamonds and some orange surveyors tape. May have been a bit of surveyors tape elsewhere on the trails too. All trails were pretty easy to follow except for Daniels Mtn Trailw high was a bit more obscure. There were also arrows at many of the turns in these trails. There was also some old white blazing along the Bear Mtn Trail. In addition to the two huge blowdowns at one of the western water crossings along the Bear Mtn Trail, there was also a decent sized blowdown or two at the trail jct atop Daniels Mtn and a large blowdown obscuring the Daniels Mtn Loop between the summit and Moon Ledge. There may have been a couple smaller ones elsewhere I’m forgetting about as well. Signage was intact though fading on the summit of Daniels Mtn. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
Sure. These all seem like good trails for dogs. |
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 | Bugs: |
None |
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 | Lost and Found: |
None |
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 | Comments: |
Nice hike with 3 friends to redline just a smidgen more of SNH :) We started on Rt 63 and ended near the HOL on Plain Rd. Route: Bear Mtn Trail —> Bear Mtn Connector —> Daniels Mtn Loop clockwise to Daniels Mtn —> OAB on missing portion of Daniels Mtn Loop between summit and Moon Ledge —> Daniels Mtn Trail.
If I were hiking this again, I wouldn’t have bothered throwing the spikes on. Someone at the car said we’d want them on and other than the ice right at the start of Bear Mtn Trail, there wasn’t much use for them. A few spots later on where some caution was needed and they would’ve been helpful but certainly not worth putting them on again. But I hear we’re about to get a lot more snow! Note that Gaia shows the trail opposite the Kilburn trailhead and doesn’t call it such but labels it as the WMT. This is not the case; as the guidebook describes, it starts a short ways north along the road.
The trails weren’t too wet/muddy from snow melt to my surprise. I only specifically recall one real wet spot that I avoided. Other than the Daniels Mtn Trail, the trails were easy to follow. Not much in the way of views other than from Moon Ledge and O’Neil Ledge. Pleasant enough hike though and I really enjoyed all the rhododendrons! Looking forward to exploring Little Monadnock and the trails in Rhododendron State Park another time! Grades were generally easy-moderate except on Bear Mtn Connector which was steeper and a bit on Daniels Mtn Trail too. Gaia had us at about 5.5mi, 1150ft I’d gain, 1600ft of descent, and it took us a little over 4hrs to complete. |
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 | Name: |
Liam Cooney |
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 | E-Mail: |
liamcooney96@gmail.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2023-02-22 |
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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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