| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
None, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Old Jackson Road, Madison Gulf Trail, Great Gulf Trail, Six Husbands Trail, Buttress Trail, Star Lake Trail |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Monday, August 4, 2025 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Plenty of available parking spots at Pinkham Notch at 7 AM. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
The crossing of the West Branch Peabody River on Six Husbands Trail was surprisingly easy - I only needed to step on one wet (but not submerged) rock, and all the other rocks to hop across were dry. The crossing of Jefferson Brook at the bottom of Buttress Trail was similarly easy. Much easier than the last time I was here, four years ago. Water levels are very low right now. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
A few blowdowns on Madison Gulf, Great Gulf, and Six Husbands, but nothing terrible. Buttress is very narrow and brushy in spots. Evidence of blowdowns being cleared and delimbed on all the trails. Signs are all in place. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
Definitely do not recommend dogs on Buttress Trail. They'd have a lot of difficulty with the talus-hopping and the many steep ledges and scrambling. |
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 | Bugs: |
Interestingly, very few. Maybe they don't like the wildfire smoke any more than we do. |
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 | Lost and Found: |
Nothing. |
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|
 | Comments: |
This was Day 1 of a two-day trip, with an overnight at Madison Hut, to finally redline Buttress Trail and thus complete the Great Gulf Wilderness. My original plan was to start at the Great Gulf trailhead, but due to the bridge closure I started at Pinkham Notch instead. Old Jackson Road is easy. The southern segment of Madison Gulf Trail is rougher in spots but not bad, and Great Gulf Trail and the lower half-mile of Six Husbands were more of the same. The two river crossings were both pretty easy - water levels are very low. It took me about 3 1/2 hours to hike the 6.2 miles to the bottom of Buttress Trail.
Buttress Trail itself was a completely different story. The trail starts to climb steeply pretty quickly, and the talus field near the bottom was very rough, difficult, and slow. The next section is a steep, rough climb along a very steep sidehill - this part was very exhausting, and the wildfire smoke certainly didn't help. Once the trail turns the ridge corner, it gets much more gradual and smoother for a few tenths. Unfortunately, that doesn't last. The trail gradually gets rough, and then extremely rough, with a huge number of steep rock ledges to climb, very poor footing, and brush in the trail in places. I frequently had to grab onto the vegetation to pull myself up over the ledges. In many places there were also deep holes between the boulders that needed to be avoided. The one saving grace was that the rocks were dry and mostly grippy - this would be a legitimately dangerous trail to hike in wet weather. Further up, the trail goes across a couple more sketchy talus fields - from this point, you can see the route of the remainder of the trail. It descends on the talus for a little bit, and then climbs moderately, but still very roughly, up to the top. Just before the trail breaks treeline for the last time, I recognized the spot where I had turned around last year - a couple of big boulders with holes on most sides and no way around them. When the boulders are wet, this place is very sketchy, but with the dry rocks it was much more straightforward. After that, the trail very quickly breaks treeline and then it's just a hop and a skip to the junction with Star Lake Trail. The 1.9 miles of Buttress Trail ended up taking me 2 hours and 40 minutes. Star Lake Trail down to the Hut is rocky, but a million times easier than Buttress.
The moral of the story is the, despite what the WMG says, Buttress Trail is a very difficult, strenuous, and technical trail. Unless you are a very experienced hiker, and you enjoy being tortured, I don't recommend Buttress Trail. I'm glad I got it done, but it will definitely be a one and done for me. |
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 | Name: |
GN |
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 | E-Mail: |
ghnaigles@gmail.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2025-08-05 |
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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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