| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
None, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Landing Camp Trail |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Sunday, August 18, 2024 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Bog Dam Road is in good condition - I could do 25-30 mph for most of it - but it's narrower than Magalloway Road (which I drove the day before), so be careful at sharp curves. Small parking area on the right just before the trailhead. Unsurprisingly, I was the only vehicle there today. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail, Wet Trail, Wet/Slippery Rock, Standing/Running Water on Trail, Mud - Significant |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
Several mud crossings, and one spot (right next to a camera attached to a tree!) where shin-deep wading is necessary for a short distance. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
I could write an essay on this one! For the sake of brevity, I'll summarize. Dozens of blowdowns, of all shapes and sizes. Most are easy to get by, but there's one spot where two trees are fallen over a wet, muddy area, and I had to squeeze under them while making sure to step on rocks and not into the water. Large sections of the trail are extremely wet and muddy, and those areas are unavoidable. There's a new-looking sign at the trailhead, but just two pieces of flagging tape where the trail ends at the T-junction with the abandoned Upper Ammonoosuc Trail. Almost the entire trail could also use a lot of brushing. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
If they like mud, I guess they'd be OK. |
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 | Bugs: |
Some were buzzing, but they weren't an annoyance to me. |
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 | Lost and Found: |
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 | Comments: |
Having completed the Pittsburg-area trails I needed for redlining yesterday, it was time to head down to the Kilkenny and finally redline the infamous, the notorious, the one and only... Landing Camp Trail!
I prepared for this one by carrying only a small pack, and, more importantly, wearing heavy-duty plastic rain boots (of the sort that people who handle concrete at work would use) instead of my normal hiking boots. This quickly proved to be a very good decision. The first section, a gradual descent down to the old logging camp, is slightly obscure but not difficult to follow for people used to wilderness trails. It had a little bit of mud but nothing terrible. The fun started at the clearing, where the trail swims through very tall brush. Right after that is the first water feature, where the trail goes across a very muddy beaver dam. There are several minor river crossings soon afterward, including the only place where I needed to look around to find the trail. It alternates between dry (but still brushy, overgrown, and littered with blowdowns) and very wet and muddy sections through tall grass. The water crossing at the spot with the wildlife camera was interesting - a few steps of wading through a very muddy stream, then a section of muddy tall grass, and then a crossing of another muddy beaver dam. The next section, "follows an old road through a very swampy section", may have been the most annoying section for me - some parts of it have very deep mud, and it goes on for a while. The fork at 1.7 miles is pretty clear to turn right when going in, but watch carefully for it on the way back since it's easy to go the wrong way there. The final section had some more areas of mud, but the spruce grove near the end was very nice. The end of the trail, at the T-junction with the abandoned Upper Ammonoosuc Trail, is marked only by two pieces of orange flagging. It's in the middle of a very overgrown area - both trails are very overgrown at this point. The short jaunt from there to the "open meadow" was also very overgrown, and the meadow itself is less open than I expected - the entire area is grown in, and the even faint signs of a trail end so even reaching the bank of the Upper Ammonoosuc River requires bushwhacking through the growth. The view of Mt. Weeks was very nice though.
This hike took me about an hour for each direction. It not only completed Chapter 12 of the Redlining Spreadsheet for me, but it also completed everything north of Route 2. In contrast to all the people I saw at Magalloway and Garfield Falls yesterday, I didn't see another soul on this trail. (I would've been very surprised if I had.) I did see plenty of animal life though. While I'm not exactly itching to do this one again next weekend, or even next year, it honestly wasn't as miserable as other reports made it out to be - I think the boots I wore helped a lot. There's a lot of beauty in this area. |
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 | Name: |
GN |
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 | E-Mail: |
ghnaigles@gmail.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2024-08-18 |
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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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