| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
None, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Bear Mountain Trail |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Friday, January 12, 2024 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Normally, it should be fine to park on the side of the road by the trailhead but with the snow, I think you'd be over the line so I looked around for elsewhere to park. I found a dirt pull off with room for few cars 0.25mi south along West Shore Rd. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Ice - Breakable Crust, Snow/Ice - Frozen Granular |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
Trivial |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
The trail is marked with yellow rectangles tacked to trees. The markings are regular and usually pretty frequent. Not too hard to follow the trail even with snow and no tracks. The trail is signed at the bottom but I don't think was marked very well at the loop jct. A large broken tree across the trail about 45min in. Can easily go around. Or maybe straddle it with snow depth. Without snow, it would likely be an awkward crawl under. At least one other small tree down that can be stepped over/through or walked around. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
Sure |
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 | Bugs: |
None |
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 | Lost and Found: |
None |
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 | Comments: |
Northern spur of Bear Mtn (Hebron)
NH Aududon's Bear Mtn Trail
First hike of the day. This arguably is not needed for redlining as it's not described *from* a trail in the guidebook but it's described with a distance within the Bear Mtn description on pgs 157-158 of the guidebook as it warns you not to get the two trails confused. What the guidebook doesn't say is that there's a loop at the end of it which is not terribly easy to see. I continued over the knob, only suspecting a loop once it turned back to the NE after nearly reaching Skyline Drive. The trail does not reach anything particularly interesting as there isn't much in the way of views even with the leaves off the trees. I think there were some steep pitches, but overall the trail is not steep as, like the guidebook says, it only gains 600ft over the 1.1mi. I carried my snowshoes along the road but decided to leave them at the trailhead given the lack of snow depth. They probably could have been used and may have helped you stay on top of the crust) but just not ideal snow yet. Then again, this report is more than a week late and we've since got some good powder! At the time, it was slow going given the snow. Usually you broke the crust and sank a couple inches in the snow but other times you wouldn't. Note that the trail is not shown on Gaia but the guidebook's description of where it is was accurate. Feel free to reach out if you'd like a track. Gaia hade me at 2.6mi, about 550ft of gain, 2.6mi. |
|
 | Name: |
Liam Cooney |
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 | E-Mail: |
liamcooney96@gmail.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2024-01-21 |
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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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