| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Mt. Dustan, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Road walk, skidder road, bushwhack |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Sunday, July 7, 2024 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
I utilized the road that is due south of Dustan's summit, off of route 16 (It's entrance is approx 1/4 mile north of Umbagog Admin building). I took the road almost exactly 1/2 mile to a small log landing and parked. DO NOT attempt to go any further, there is a rotten bridge that looks like if you sneeze it will collapse. It is grown in, but the roadbed is very good. No icebergs. The stuff in the middle is not very girthy yet. I was able to get my Mini Cooper in here with really no effort. A larger vehicle in a few spots would be hitting trees for sure above. The ONE time it was useful in a Mini! |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail, Wet Trail, Mud - Minor/Avoidable |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
No crossings of note on this |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
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 | Bugs: |
The deer flies where wild |
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 | Lost and Found: |
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 | Comments: |
After reading multiple reports from coming in from the west, seemingly getting more ominous as the years have gone by with regrowth, I opted to try something different. The aerial shows logging regrowth over there as well, and the rain the evening before set the bar exceptionally low for anything other than horrible. I drove up 1/2 mile on the road due south of the peak and parked in a log landing. From here, I was able to follow a well defined and east moving road bed (not grown in like say a Chandler from Mountain Pond) for approximately 0.65. This road continues in a NE fashion, but the deer flies and mosquitos where fierce and at three large boulders i deviated off the road to get away from the mud, and hopefully atleast the mosquitos. I found great easy moving wood. Utilizing the ridge crest southeast of the summit, I found better woods on a well defined edge of it. I actually did opt to ridge the true crest and in the scrub just to get the deer flies away from me for a bit. This entire side is softwood. At around 2400, it started getting steeper before it got steeper. It is a short lived but menacingly steep section through mossy post hole boulders. If I was to do this again I would opt for a slightly more easterly approach, it looked good about 100 feet over that way (it always does though). After that it was pretty easy going. Found the recognized summit, seemingly its always Oncoman was the last signer from last winter - true again today. After this I followed well defined moose paths west off the summit to the minor bump on the ridgeline west of the summit, eventually dropping down the ridge crest heading SW off that area before taking a bearing back in the vicinity of the road. This side was largely hardwood and easy moving. I still found some steep sections rivaling but not eclipsing the ascent's - and less boulders from this side. Uneventful on the way out. Clocked in about 4.25 miles and 1400 gain. About 3.5 hours for this, but the heat/humidity/full body armor required a much more sedate pace. |
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 | Name: |
The Teal Goat |
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 | E-Mail: |
sea2thebiscuit@yahoo.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2024-07-08 |
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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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