| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Dickey Mountain, NH |
|
 | Trails: |
Welch-Dickey Loop Trail, Dickey View Spur |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Sunday, August 27, 2023 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Plenty of room at the Welch-Dickey trailhead. The main parking area was almost full, but the overflow areas weren't needed today. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail, Wet Trail, Wet/Slippery Rock |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
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|
 | Water Crossing Notes: |
None on the Dickey side of the loop. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
Only one or two blowdowns - nothing bad at all. Despite the recent wet weather and rain at the beginning of the hike, there was remarkably little mud - the trail work (rock steps and waterbars) are working well. The trail is obvious in the woods below the ledges, and there are cairns marking the route across the open ledges. Overall, Welch-Dickey Loop Trail is in good condition. The spur, however... see my notes about it below. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
Saw a few. As long as they're OK with very slippery (and sometimes steep) ledges, they should be fine. Keep them close at the dropoffs, though. |
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 | Bugs: |
Very few. Not an issue at all. |
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 | Lost and Found: |
Successfully reunited a hat and rain gear with their owner. |
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|
 | Comments: |
This was my fourth time at Welch/Dickey, and I finally managed to find and redline that elusive Dickey View Spur. I talked with the trailhead steward, who told me that the USFS has officially decommissioned the spur and removed it from his map at the trailhead, and that he has gone up there and taken down the cairns marking the spur to discourage people from hiking it. However, it's still on the redlining spreadsheet, so I still had to do it, and I had confidence that my Alltrails would help me both follow the spur and get back to the main trail, even without the cairns.
I decided to do an out-and-back up the Dickey side of the loop rather than do the whole loop, to avoid the very steep ledges going up Welch that today were very slippery. The hike was uneventful up to the first big open ledge going up to Dickey (the last big open ledge for people doing the whole loop). Much of the trail from there to the summit of Dickey climbs up big open ledges, and the rock was very slippery today, so I needed to be careful. Luckily, the ledges generally weren't steep (except for one just before the summit of Dickey that was the steepest). Just after summitting Dickey, I reached the point where I thought (and where my explorations confirmed) the Dickey View Spur began. The "spur" is really just a bunch of short herd paths connecting a series of big open ledges, and the area is interlaced with herd paths like these in various states of trodden-ness. At first, I went mostly straight, but then the open ledge I reached didn't seem to have any herd paths continuing on the far side. I checked my Alltrails and discovered that I had gone a little bit off the top of the ridge to the north. By getting back to the top of the ridge and then following the open ledges (and short herd paths between them) to the northeast, I was able to find the large open ledge that marks the end of the spur. On a clear day, views from there would be excellent, however today it was mostly socked in with clouds. On the way back, I tried to find a more direct route, but ended up needing to take a few twists and turns anyway, and ended up back on the main trail just slightly east of where I had left it. The trail back down again needed to be taken carefully due to the slippery ledges, but ultimately wasn't too bad, and I made good time on the lower section.
This hike completed the Waterville Valley tab on my redlining spreadsheet. |
|
 | Name: |
GN |
|
 | E-Mail: |
ghnaigles@gmail.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2023-08-27 |
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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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