| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Mt. Lowell, Mt. Anderson, Duck Pond Mountain, Mt. Bemis, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Signal Ridge Trail, Carrigain Notch Trail, bushwhack, abandoned Mt. Bemis Trail, Nancy Pond Trail |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Saturday, August 19, 2023 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail, Wet Trail |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
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 | Bugs: |
think I saw 3 all day. |
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 | Lost and Found: |
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 | Comments: |
Woof what a day. Started from Signal Ridge TH and went just past Carrigain notch before starting the whack up the NW ridge of Lowell. Slow going in steep but not super tight woods - lot's of pulling myself up by trees. Hit some cliffs just SSW of a slide patch that's visible on sat imagery, and tried to navigate around the cliffs to the north via that slide patch, which was a bad idea as the slide patch was super sketchy. If I were doing this again, I'd aim my whack to go north around this slide patch. Took about 90 mins from Carrigain Notch to the summit of Lowell, with some pretty dense, unpleasant stuff on the ridge.
Lowell to Anderson took about 80 mins. Getting down to the col was the worst part of it. I was surprised how easy the marshy col itself was to get through with dry feet.
From Anderson, set my sights directly to Duck Pond. Thought about popping out to Nancy Pond trail, but opted against it based on reports of nasty woods between the Anderson east ridge and the trail. Mixed woods descending off Anderson, but it was never consistently brutal. I was aiming for the eastern edge of the col and did fall off the ridge once, having to ascend a cliff band to get back on. There were a couple gnarly cliff bands I hit in here, that took some real creativity to get down. Found a couple pockets of nice woods below the cliffs, until the drainage from the pond, where things tightened up again. Path up to Duck Pond was dense at first, then opened up, then got dense again at the summit. Took about 1:35 from Anderson to Duck Pond.
Descending from Duck Pond, I aimed just east of Nancy Pond, but strayed even further east. These were the best woods of the day - until 0.1 from Nancy Pond Trail, where it got boggy and brushy. Took about 30 mins to get back to the trail.
Followed Nancy Pond Trail to the intersection with the drainage from the pond between Nancy and Bemis and made the regretful decision to whack up Bemis from here. I was aiming to intersect the abandoned Bemis trail around 3450ft. I would not recommend this approach. I crossed the pond drainage and followed it loosely on the east side. It was good woods at first, then got expectedly dense and steep - slow going. When I got to the plateau of the ridge it became truly awful - reminiscent of the summit of East Scar. Took me 90 mins to cover the 0.6mi before I intersected the Bemis trail. Pretty quick to the summit from there, though the trail is tough to follow at times. The extra whack from the fire tower to the summit was denser than I expected, and not appreciated this late in the day. Coming back, I found a heard path that made this easier. To find the herd path, best advice is to walk parallel to the exposed side of old tower, and push 10-20ft into the woods before the path appeared. I think if I were doing this again, I'd take the herd path up Nancy and whack to Bemis from there.
Descending Bemis was more challenging than I expected. Mainly because I lost the trail between 3300ft and 3000ft, immediately after crossing a minor drainage. After looking for it for awhile, decided to just I had to just whack down to the ridge as it was getting late an I was worried about daylight. Got back to the trail on the ridge in a shrub field and made great time from there. Once the trail curves off the 3000ft ridge, it's really quite steady and clear and one can fly down it. All in all took 90 mins to get from Bemis summit back to Nancy Pond TH. Also got snagged on metal wire that was in the middle of the Bemis Trail in at least three places. Never seen something like that before and can't comprehend why that would be in the middle of the trail in so many places (though was nice confirmation I was on the trail).
11hours total, brutal day. |
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 | Name: |
Big Al Dente |
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 | E-Mail: |
bigaldentenh@gmail.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2023-08-20 |
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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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