| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Straightback Mountain, West Quarry Mountain, Mt. Anna, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Old Stage Road, Blueberry Pasture Trail, Straightback Mountain Trail, Anna-Straightback Link, Marsh Crossing, Anna-Goat Pasture Trail |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Saturday, March 8, 2025 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Surprisingly few cars at the end of Alton Mountain Road today - plenty of room. The dirt road leading there is in good condition, but after a warm rain it could easily become very muddy. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Ice - Blue, Snow/Ice - Frozen Granular |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Light Traction |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
Crossing on Old Stage Road at the bottom of the hill was open and flowing. Hikers with long legs could have leaped across. However, the ice over the pond itself was solid, so we could bypass the trail by walking across the ice. The crossing of the stream on Marsh Crossing still had enough solid ice to cross without too much difficulty. Everything else was trivial. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
No blowdowns. Portions of Blueberry Pasture Trail and Anna-Goat Pasture Trail clearly had water running down them during the recent warm spell. But overall, the trails were in good condition. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
Saw one. As long as they don't mind high winds, they'd be fine. |
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 | Bugs: |
High winds blew away any that weren't already frozen. |
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 | Lost and Found: |
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 | Comments: |
This was a fun hike. Following Old Stage Road east from the trailhead, I started with bare boots but put on spikes after just a few tenths, and kept them on for the rest of the hike. Frozen granular is a good description of the snow conditions for most of the hike. There were some ice flows on the climb up to Straightback, but they were manageable with spikes. That climb mostly follows snowmobile trails. Anna-Straightback Link has a monorail, but it's at about the same level as the surrounding snow (i.e. not elevated yet), so it's not always the easiest to find and stay on top of. And any steps off the monorail will result in postholing. Luckily, the monorail was generally quite solid. The steep pitch about halfway along the trail was mostly ice and bare ground, so caution was required there.
Upon arriving at the junction with Marsh Crossing, we decided to do an out-and-back along it to get a little bit more distance and elevation. Especially past the marsh, snow on Marsh Crossing was softer than elsewhere on the hike. The steep ledges just below the summit of West Quarry had no ice, just soft snow and bare ledge in spots. That section required care but honestly wasn't as bad as I expected. DRQT showed some signs of use, but it was unclear how far that went considering that both the Reed Road and East Gilford trailhead parking areas are unplowed and inaccessible. We made sure to take the very short spur to the true summit of West Quarry.
We returned to Anna-Straightback Link and continued toward Anna. The steep climb out of the ravine had some ice, but it was avoidable. Just after leaving the summit of Anna, we met a group of Boy Scouts heading up. Anna-Goat Pasture Trail was a straightforward descent - not much ice and the trail was generally solid and good for spiking. Upon reaching Old Stage Road again, we returned to the snowmobile trail, which was a little icy but not too bad. As mentioned above, the water crossing next to the pond was open and flowing, but the ice over the pond was solid so we could walk across that.
While the weather was certainly windy, it honestly wasn't as bad as I expected considering the forecast. The conditions were pretty good. I very much enjoyed this hike. |
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 | Name: |
GN |
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 | E-Mail: |
ghnaigles@gmail.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2025-03-08 |
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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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