| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
North Kinsman Notch Peak, Blue Ridge - North Peak, Wolf Cub, Mt. Wolf, South Kinsman, North Kinsman, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Kinsman Ridge Trail, Gordon Pond Trail, bushwhack, Fishin' Jimmy Trail |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Friday, September 20, 2024 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
This was in near drought conditions, so everything was about as dry as it every gets. Eliza Brook was still flowing plenty for water filtering. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
Champ and Tucker needed help on one sketchy cliff band going up Mt. Wolf |
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 | Bugs: |
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 | Lost and Found: |
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 | Comments: |
My last day that I get to combine grid and 500H progress. Started at Kinsman Notch with a plan to traverse to Lafayette place and hit everything on the way, with Wolf Cub being the main event.
North Kinsman Notch and Blue Ridge North were unremarkable. North Kinsman Notch high point seemed essentially on trail. Blue Ridge north was like 100ft off trail, with a minor herd path, but no sign of a jar/register that I thought was supposed to be there.
For Wolf Cub, I descended the Gordon Pond trail to just before the pond spur. Knowing the old AT use to pass to the west of the pond, with care, I'm pretty sure I found the spot it intersected the Gordon Pond Tr, and launched from here (sort of a fork to the left, with an embedded small horizontal log 'blocking' the old trail). The old AT came and went on the west side of the pond. Following Liam's guidance, I tried to hug the pond when the path wasn't obvious and that worked pretty well. As we approached the northern end of the pond, the woods tightened up and there wasn't much of a way to hug the pond, but water levels were so low, we just walked through the northern end of the pond/bog while keeping feet dry. As Liam described, as soon as you get to the east of the major inlet to the pond, the old AT reappears in a more substantial form. It's wet, but easy to follow. I took this to about 2700ft, then took a line straight for Wolf Cub. I was expecting open woods and hobblebush for this stretch, but parts were much more dense that I was expecting, particularly the 2800-2900 stretch - maybe I should have stayed on the old AT longer? Made it to the summit eventually, with a cannister in a nice little open area.
Decided to descend aiming for the col in hopes of avoiding some of the denser stuff I encountered on the ascent, and this worked better, but still not the open woods/hobblebush I had read about. I was making a game time decision on how best to get to Mt. Wolf from here (either a direct ascent or backtracking to Gordon Pond Trail). I decided on the direct ascent since I could see much of the cliff bands as I descended off Wolf Cub and thought I could see a line, veering slightly to the east of a direct line. This ended up working pretty well. The ascent was predictably really steep, but the cliff bands were navigable and the woods never too thick. It really helped that stuff was bone dry as there was lots of moss covered slabs that would have been treacherous if the moss was damp. Only one spot where I needed to help the pups on a steep, moss covered crack between bands.
Took about an hour to get from the summit of Wolf Cub to the eastern sub peak of wolf (probably a touch faster than backtracking to gordon pond), from which we back tracked to the western peak, then continued north on the AT.
AT north the rest of the way.
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 | Name: |
Big Al Dente |
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 | E-Mail: |
BigAlDenteNH@gmail.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2024-09-21 |
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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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