| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Oregon Mountain, Mowglis Mountain, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Welton Falls Trail (South), Elwell Trail, Oregon Mountain Trail, Dicey Road, roadwalk |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Tuesday, November 19, 2024 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
We parked at the Welton Falls (South) trailhead in Alexandria, just on the side of the right-of-way that leads to the trail -- careful to pull way out off to the side so as not to (even remotely) impact access for the residents nearby who use the right-of-way to get to the driveway for their home. There's room here for a couple of cars. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail, Mud - Minor/Avoidable, Leaves - Significant/Slippery |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
Nothing of note -- everything is bone dry right now. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
Trails are in fine shape right now, except for one ~14-inch brushy softwood on Oregon Mountain Trail, ~0.2 miles west from intersection with Carter-Gibbs Trail. See additional notes, below. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
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 | Bugs: |
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 | Lost and Found: |
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 | Comments: |
What began as a simple rekky hike on a nice fall day morphed into a bona fide trail work trip.
A couple of weeks ago, someone posted on this site that they had hiked Oregon Mountain and Mowglis Mountain, and that there were blowdowns between the two peaks -- but without specifying what trails (Oregon Mountain? Elwell?) they hiked on, and where the blowdowns were. Taking them at their word, we decided to head out to those trails to see what clean-up needed to be done, if any. We had last walked there a couple of months ago, and removed or at least noted any blowdowns at that time.
This morning, we walked both the Oregon Mountain Trail and the Elwell Trail between the two summits, and counted ~15 new blowdowns (wow) of significant size (4-6 inches or larger), most on them on the Oregon Mountain Trail. All were brushy softwoods; most were rotted and relatively light. Thus, with a bit of elbow grease, we were able to pick them up and move them off the trail -- all but a couple that became stepovers using the "boot-kick" delimbing method, and the final one on Oregon Mountain Trail, mentioned earlier, that will require a chainsaw.
Beyond dealing with blowdowns, we took time to remove quite a bit of deadfall, so the trails are good shape.
One other note: on Elwell Trail between Welton Falls Trail (South) and Oregon Mountain Trail, some blazes in sections of open hardwoods are battered a bit and will require a refresh, even though they were touched up less than a year ago. Note that with all of the leaf drop right now, these sections may take a moment to navigate.
A fine day on the trails today. Oh -- and we saw no one else, over the course of over ten miles. |
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 | Name: |
Pancks and Tesco Heaney |
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 | E-Mail: |
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| Date Submitted: |
2024-11-19 |
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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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