| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Mt. Anna, West Quarry Mountain, Rand Mountain, Mt. Klem, Mt. Mack, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Old Stage Road, Red Trail, Belknap Range Trail, Marsh Crossing Trail, Dave Roberts Quarry Trail, Mt. Klem Spur, Klem-Mack Loop, Blue Trail, bushwhack |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Saturday, March 11, 2023 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
The four or so parking spaces closest to the west side of Old Stage Rd were already taken by 8am. More parking was available toward the east side. The last bit of road is dirt and was a bit soft/muddy but not too bad. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Snow - Trace/Minimal Depth, Ice - Blue, Snow - Packed Powder/Loose Granular, Snow - Unpacked Powder, Snow/Ice - Frozen Granular, Snow - Wet/Sticky |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Snowshoes, Light Traction |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
Sometimes a little awkward with snowshoes but no issues and none that I can think would be an issue unless water was very, very high. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
I don’t recall a trailhead or sign for Old Stage Rd nor was it marked but is obvious since it’s a road. Red and Blue Trail were marked with wooden diamonds of their respective colors. I think they were well blazed. There were some red and blue blazes as well. I think Belknap Range Trail was blazed in blue and was well blazed. Marsh Crossing, although not signed at its start is obvious and well blazed in yellow. Dave Roberts Quarry Trail is blazed in white and adequately so I think. I recall a small but a bit of an awkward stepover blowdown that I think was on Red Trail…or it may have been further along in the hike. Probably even more awkward without snow. There may have been some others but if so they were trivial. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
One leashed one was seen presumably on its way to Straightback along the Belknap Range Trail. The exact hike that we did I would not recommend for dogs given the sketchy section along Dave Roberts Quarry Trail between Klem and Rand. |
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 | Bugs: |
None |
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 | Lost and Found: |
None |
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|
 | Comments: |
A nice loop hike with some friends for some SNH redlining for me and Belknap Gridding for another. We ascended Old Stage Rd and Red Trail to Anna, then completed a counterclockwise loop over West Quarry, Rand, Klem, and Mack using BRT, Marsh Crossing, Dave Roberts Quarry Trail, Klem-Mack Loop, and Red Trail back to Anna. Well, almost. I also did an OAB along BRT to its jct with Dave Roberta Quarry Trail just west of Straightback Mtn and hiked the northernmost 0.2mi of Blue Trail described within the guidebook as a spur and thus needed for redlining. I bushwhacked by roughly contouring from there back to the Red Trail…if I were smarter, I would’ve lost elevation as I did this.
Trails started off frozen and you could have spiked on Old Stage Rd. I stayed in snowshoes the whole day though despite a lack of snow depth at the start. As soon as we started up Red Trail, snowshoes were easier to use although one could probably posthole their way up without too, too much damage in the morning as it was somewhat firm. Snow depth from there increased and I would say was generally around 2ft at elevation. All trails were broken out except for between Rand and Klem where the sketchy section is. BRT between Marsh Crossing and Dave Roberts Quarry had just a single set of snowshoe tracks. The consistency of the snow varied. At best it was almost powdery (but of course with the temps it was at least a little wet), at other times a bit crunchy, later in the day pretty wet, but never terribly sticky without too much sun. Gaia had me at 9 1/3mi, 2300ft of gain. |
|
 | Name: |
Liam Cooney |
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 | E-Mail: |
liamcooney96@gmail.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2023-03-13 |
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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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