| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Hawthorne Falls, Flat Top Mountain, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Gale River Trail, bushwhack |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Saturday, September 23, 2023 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Parking lot was full but I got the last creative place in the lot, upon return there were dozens of cars parked along the roadside. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail, Wet Trail |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
Rock Hop-able |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
I wouldn't take a dog bushwhacking. |
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 | Bugs: |
none |
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 | Lost and Found: |
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 | Comments: |
The Falls were Becca's idea and Flat Top was my just one more thing idea.
Gale River Trail foot bed is well worn and clear. About two miles up the trail after crossing the West fork of the North Branch of the Gale River I left the trail and headed into the woods along the water's east bank. Becca had a good half an hour head start and I had jogged up the trail and tried to make time in the woods. There is kind of a herd path with plenty of blow downs and it is easy to follow to the wide ledges in the brook bed and after that it peters out. I stopped to take some photos, yelled for Becca but no response. I caught up to her shortly. We admired the cascades and we managed to do the same thing I did four years ago, we missed the falls pool and had walked to the top of the falls. We back tracked and worked our way into the fall's ledge box and ate our lunch at the edge of the pool. It was too cool to swim this time. Here's a tip, always stay close to the bank and the falls are about 2900' and I noticed while writing this report that GAIA couldn't be more wrong with their marked location. As we descended there we had a lot of daylight left so suggested we should try to visit the top of Flat Top Mountain. We found a good place to cross the brook around 2800' and went straight up, it was steep but the woods were pretty open. Nice moose paths along the big summit to the highpoint. Summit very cool with a small ledge we could step out upon and gaze a the big visita, we could even see the roof of the Galehead hut, Garfield Ridge looks as rugged as it feels to hike and the backside of Garfield is awesome and the Twins. The view was super above Flat Top's cliffy face. This is where we should have turned around and gone right back down the way we came if we wanted an easy quick outing. Ha! instead we looked at the wide contours to the north and thought heck it is only a mile. At first we had splendid moose paths to follow and then we hassled with lots of blow downs then we came to a cliff. What's this doing here, eeek. I looked left and I looked right and it was only about 10 to 20 feet ta;; but went on as far as I could see. Dumb luck in a moment I found a narrow gang plank of ledge that we could reach a tree and lower ourselves to the next ridge of ledge that would get us to the bottom. We battled blow downs, wet areas, hobble bush, just like you'd expect. We enjoyed walking under some really large White Birches, nice woods and then a struggle to get through the woods, over and over. Once we hit the Gale River Trail we decided ahh it wasn't so bad. But it was a rugged bushwhack and slow going so it was a total fun time, right. And so nice to hike and not see anyone, we did see a rabbit on the summit of Flat Top! |
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 | Name: |
Nordic_Gal, Becca Munroe |
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 | E-Mail: |
amybike@gmail.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2023-09-24 |
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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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