| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Orange Mountain, Crane Mountain, Grafton Knob, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Manning Trail, Holt Trail, Vistamont Trail, Skyland Trail, Woodland Trail |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Sunday, August 24, 2025 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Parking lot at the AMC Cardigan Lodge was almost full this morning at 5:30 -- there was space for another 6-7 vehicles, but jusssst not the way people parked. Plenty of room in the afternoon, after everyone left. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Katz? |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
Nothing of note but EVERYTHING is bone dry. |
|
 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
Trails are in decent shape: see notes, below |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
No. |
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 | Bugs: |
None! |
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 | Lost and Found: |
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|
 | Comments: |
This is a follow-up report from our August 8 and August 15 reports -- we finally finished the small amount (0.1 miles?) of brushing on Skyland Trail between where we ended work on August 8, and the summit of Orange Mountain.
We did additional brushing on the trail that wasn't necessary two weeks ago, but is, now, with the drought: downward-pointing, eye-level, eye-pokey softwood branches. You can tell it's dry when these are angled downward that much.
It would appear that someone is now (recently) maintaining the Vistamont Trail -- thank you! They've done a fine job of brushing the trail up to the ledges, and on the ledges, a good job of opening up what used to be the footbed (before the trail ceased to be maintained in the past few years) to move people back onto the trail. Nicely done!
As mentioned, Skyland Trail is brushed, but blazes need re-freshing from Orange Mountain summit to about 0.1 miles east.
Woodland Trail from Skyland Trail intersection to state forest boundary (the inlet to the now-dry beaver ponds) is in decent shape, just a tad laden with small bits of deadfall, in spite of continued efforts to remove it. We think this section of trail spontaneously generates...deadfall. Anyway, three blowdowns on this section that can be gotten around now, with the recent trimming, but could use an e-saw at some point.
Woodland Trail from state forest boundary to intersection with Clark Trail is a bit easier now because of the drought, sadly -- this old woods road portion is so dry now that the normal mud flats are solid. Numerous small step-over sapling blowdowns; nothing major. Woodland Trail back to the lodge is in fine shape. |
|
 | Name: |
Pancks and Tesco Heaney |
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 | E-Mail: |
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| Date Submitted: |
2025-08-24 |
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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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