Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Owl's Cliff, Mt. Tremont, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Rob Brook Road, Brunel Trail, Owl's Cliff Spur, snowmobile trail |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Wednesday, March 12, 2025 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Parked at Rob Brook Road/FR 35 off Bear Notch Road. Plowed parking for 3-4 cars. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Snow/Ice - Frozen Granular, Snow - Wet/Sticky |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Snowshoes, Light Traction |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
A few blowdowns here n there |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
Little mountain dog with us did great. |
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 | Bugs: |
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 | Lost and Found: |
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 | Comments: |
Last week we used Wiggy's Waders in order to successfully cross the Swift River on our Sawyer Pond-River traverse. This week we opted for the Rob Brook approach to Mt. Tremont. Because I needed the entire Brunel Trail, including the short piece down to Sawyer Pond Trail and back, this route ended up being 15 miles total, maybe 7-8 of which were on snowmobile trails.
Barebooted the first 4 miles, snowshoes for the 0.3 mile segment of Brunel to SPT and back, bareboots back to the start of the hiking trail section of Brunel up Owl's Cliff and Tremont. Met a group from Holderness School setting up camp (?) for 90 students, a bunch of their gear having been hauled in by snowmobile.
Heading up the previously untraveled Brunel Trail, snow was mostly supportive to Owl's Cliff (views!) and down to the OC-Tremont saddle. Warm sun softened the snow, and we began alternately floating on top or sinking 12-15" - nowhere in between. hahaha! Getting up Tremont (more views!!) was quite a workout as it gets pretty steep and scrambly. Televators were much appreciated.
The trip back down featured more sinkage and cautious steps as you never knew when the snow would hold or not (mostly not at this point). Once we hit Owl's Cliff snowmobile trail, we opted for that over the rest of Brunel as it had been snowmobiled recently. We switched from snowshoes to spikes for a bit here as there was a glaze forming over the snowmobile tracks.
From here on out was a tiny bit of a slog. Alas, we had to switch back to snowshoes for the last mile which is off the main snowmobile trail. A solid 15-mile day for 4 bluelining miles. :p
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 | Name: |
Snowflea & friends |
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 | E-Mail: |
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 | Date Submitted: |
2025-03-13 |
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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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