| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Mowglis Mountain, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Manning Trail, Back 80 Trail, Elwell Trail |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Thursday, July 3, 2025 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Plenty of parking at the AMC Cardigan Lodge the day before the holiday. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail, Wet Trail, Wet/Slippery Rock |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Kittens? |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
None were an issue. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
Back 80 Trail could use some love; Elwell Trail up to Mowglis Mountain is now brushed and blowdown-free. See notes, below. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
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 | Bugs: |
Everything, in small amounts, though -- eye flies, deer flies, mosquitoes, and a tick or two. |
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 | Lost and Found: |
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 | Comments: |
We planned a work trip to clean up a section of Elwell Trail -- between Back 80 and Mowglis Mountain -- and looked at the weather for Friday, July 4, and saw it was perfect. Then, we looked at the holiday booking for that day at the AMC Cardigan Lodge and saw that it was almost full, so, that meant probably no parking for us at the lodge if we went that day. Unfortunately, the quickest way to the section of trail we wanted to work on was via Back 80 from the lodge, so, we moved our work trip up a day, as result.
Back 80 Trail up to the cellar hole was in decent shape. Back 80 Trail from the cellar hole to the Elwell Trail intersection, in particular the final mile, was brushy and deadfall-strewn, with a few duckunder and stepover blowdowns. None of the blowdowns were that much of an issue except a large rotten birch about 100 feet or so south of the Elwell Train intersection -- it's large, on a slope, with limited access for getting around.
Elwell Trail from Back 80 intersection to the summit of Mowglis Mountain is brushed and free of blowdowns -- any remaining blowdowns are easy duck-unders or stepovers, and can rot freely in place. Unfortunately, we left some bits of our brushing on the trail, as we had to hustle to avoid the incoming thunderstorms that day. We can clear that stuff later. This section also needs some blaze refreshing, but nothing major.
ONE ITEM of note: final mile or so of Back 80, south of Elwell Trail intersection, has seen some recent, heavy addition of red boundary marker paint -- quite a bit of it on the corridor, in some cases painted over yellow trail blazes. Much of this section of trail passes over private land, and someone appears to have been making a point -- but it's first time we've seen this sort of thing in over 20 years. |
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 | Name: |
Pancks and Tesco Heaney |
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 | E-Mail: |
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| Date Submitted: |
2025-07-06 |
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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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