| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Bald Knob, Turtleback Mountain, Mt. Shaw, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Shannon Brook Trail, Bald Knob Cutoff, Bald Knob Trail, Turtleback Mountain Trail, Turtleback Summit Trail, Black Snout Trail, Black Snout Summit Spur, High Ridge Trail, Gorilla Trail, Faraway Mountain Trail |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Monday, June 24, 2024 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
I parked in the mid-large sized dirt lot on Rt 171 with room for more than a dozen cars. I think there was only one other at 12:30pm and I was the only one remaining shortly before 9pm. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail, Wet Trail, Wet/Slippery Rock, Mud - Minor/Avoidable, Mud - Significant |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
I don't think there were any that weren't bridged and if they were, then they must've been pretty trivial. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
The trails are usually marked with colored diamonds tacked to trees but I believe there's the occasional faded paint blaze as well. The trails are usually trivial to follow as they're old carriage roads and the blazing is consistent enough. The red and yellow blazing on Gorilla Trail is very faded, there are a lot of blowdowns obscuring the trail near its terminus on Mt Shaw, and is overgrown in places and can be very obscure at times. Beyond these blowdowns, I'm not sure there were too many. Trail signage was intact as far as I recall. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
Other than Gorilla Trail which has got some awkward boulders to negotiate in a spot or two, these are very good trails for dogs. |
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 | Bugs: |
I don't recall them being too bad. These carriage roads are notorious for being tick laded as they're very grassy but I didn't catch any on me. |
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 | Lost and Found: |
None |
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|
 | Comments: |
I believe this was my penultimate redline in the Lakes Region tab and finished up the Ossipees for me. Still a long hike but luckily not as whacky a route as my Belknap hike a couple days prior: Shannon Brook Trail --> Bald Knob Cutoff --> OAB on Bald Knob Trail to summit --> Bald Knob Trail (north) to --> right on Turtleback Ridge Trail --> OAB on Turtleback Summit Trail --> Turtleback Ridge Trail to High Ridge Trail and back to --> Black Snout Trail --> OAB on Black Snout Summit Spur --> Black Snout Trail --> OAB on High Ridge Trail and Gorilla Trail to Mt Shaw and Mt Flagg --> High Ridge Trail to --> Faraway Mtn Trail --> Turtleback Mtn Trail --> Bald Knob Trail --> Bald Knob Cutoff --> Shannon Brook Trail.
The carriage roadssuch as Shannon Brook Trail, High Ridge Trail, Faraway Mtn Trail, and Bald Knob Trail were all very quick and easy walking. Gorilla Trail is much rougher as a footpath and is also very obscre so was much slower. Bald Knob Cutoff was also a footpath and a little rougher. Point being, these are easy trails to rack up high mileage on. I don't have Gaia stats for this but I think it was supposed to be somewhere in the vicinity of 20mi, with 4200ft of gain, and it took me about 8hr15min. Note that Gorilla Trail is a blowdown mass near Mt Shaw and seems to quickly be becoming abandoned. It was clearly very lightly traveled, but there were also some extremely obscure parts parts to it, one turn in particular that I'm sure will baffle just about anyone. As such, I wouldn't recommend this trail for inexperienced hikers. It's not very steep but it does have some very rocky, awkward footing at times. Also, the view from Mt Flagg seems to be growing in. It is sort of a neat trail but I personally don't think it would be a bad candidate for exclusion in the next guidebook given its current state. |
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 | Name: |
Liam Cooney |
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 | E-Mail: |
liamcooney96@gmail.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2024-06-29 |
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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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