| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Mt. Monadnock, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Pumpelly Trail |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Sunday, April 16, 2023 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Limited parking on the side of Lake Road in Dublin. There are lots of "No Parking" signs in the vicinity, |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail, Wet Trail, Wet/Slippery Rock, Standing/Running Water on Trail, Mud - Minor/Avoidable, Snow/Ice - Small Patches |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
No major crossings, since Pumpelly Trail follows a ridge for most of its length. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
Several sections of trail, including most of the steep section and several other sections above and below, are very wet and muddy with standing and especially running water. It's possible to keep your feet dry, but you need to be very careful. A couple of blowdowns, but none that required bushwhacking around. At the junction with Spellman Trail, the only sign is for Pumpelly Trail pointing toward the summit, and the only mention of Spellman Trail at all at the junction is that its name is painted on a rock - but that is fading, so another sign would be useful there. All other signs are in place, but be careful to follow the correct trail at the junctions - I met a woman who was intending to descend Red Spot but ended up continuing down Pumpelly to the Spellman junction (where we met and I informed her that she had gone past Red Spot). |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
Not allowed on Mt. Monadnock, as the trailhead sign for Pumpelly Trail indicates. Unfortunately, I saw one anyway - it and its owner were climbing up the steep section of Pumpelly while I was descending it. I never know what to say in these situations - whether it's right to tell the hiker that dogs are prohibited on the trail. In this case, the dog was well-behaved, so I didn't say anything. But seriously, people - you need to obey the signs. Dogs are not allowed on Mt. Monadnock. Period. |
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 | Bugs: |
A few were buzzing around, but they weren't bothersome. Yet. |
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 | Lost and Found: |
Saw a black sweater (I think - I didn't look at it too closely) and some sort of white headgear at different locations on the upper part of Pumpelly Trail. I left them both there. |
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 | Comments: |
This was my first time hiking Pumpelly Trail all the way from its trailhead and back, and it's no joke! The first 1.8 miles are gradual and easy, with mostly good footing but a few wet and muddy spots. Then, the trail suddenly gets much steeper, and for the next half-mile climbs steeply up the ridge. This section is rough and wet - careful foot placement is important. Once on top of the ridge, the trail is mostly gradual overall, but it has a lot of short, steep descents into gullies and then equally steep rock scrambles (on wet rock) out of them. The overarching theme of the upper half of the trail is wet, slippery ledges - there are a lot of them, and you really need to be very careful on them. Many of the ledges that are totally in the open were dry - it was the sheltered ones that were the wettest. And some of those steep rock scrambles were fairly challenging with the wet rock. Pictures of those scrambles really don't do them justice - the pictures of them that I saw should've had warnings that said "Scrambles In Picture Are Gnarlier Than They Appear". Luckily, most of them (and 99% of the trail) had no ice or snow, and the very small patches of remaining ice were not an impediment. I brought my micro-spikes, but never even considered putting them on.
On the upper part of Pumpelly Trail, follow the cairns carefully. As indicated in the Southern New Hampshire Hiking Guide, Pumpelly Trail isn't the easiest to follow from the summit, so watch carefully where you came from. In addition, while descending the section between Spellman and Cascade Link, the lack of cairns led me to accidentally wander off trail, following the top of the ridge instead of contouring to the northwest side of the ridge like the trail does. After maybe 1 or 2 tenths, I looked at Alltrails, discovered my mistake, and followed a rough herd path back to the trail. A few more cairns in this area would be useful.
Met a bunch of people at the summit, most of whom had come up White Dot and said it too had a lot of wet, slippery ledges. Saw maybe 12-15 other people on the entirety of Pumpelly. The views of the inside of a cloud were absolutely gorgeous - who knew water vapor could be so beautiful? (All kidding aside, I really did like the ghostly vibe of the fog filtering through the trees.) |
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 | Name: |
GN |
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 | E-Mail: |
ghnaigles@gmail.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2023-04-16 |
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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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