Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Mt. Tucker - West Peak, Loomis Valley Brook Peak, Chase Mountain, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Logging roads, bushwhack |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Wednesday, September 3, 2025 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
It appears to me like two different roads are referred to as Fourmile Brooks Rd, one accessible from the Coarser Brook Rd bridge and on the west side of Fourmile Brook and one that is totally inaccessible that runs up the east side of the brook and ultimately adjacent to the east branch of Swift Diamond River. I will refer to the accessible one as 4MB (W) and the other as 4MB (E).
With Carl's reports in hand, we knew we were in for a road walk to West Tucker. We spotted a car at the junction of Crystal Mountain Rd and 4MB (W). We continued north on 4MB (W) with a detour up four mile spur for Four Mile Brook Peak / South Tucker (road was challenging, but doable in mid-clearance AWD). We went north until we encountered a black/plastic exposed culvert that was the 1st of a series of nasty exposed culverts and parked here. If you're looking at a map, this spot is due west of the fork in Four Mile Spur road. If you have a high clearance vehicle and aren't scared of exposed culverts, you might be able to make it close to the Pond Road - although there's a substantial wash out close to Pond Rd that would prevent you from getting all the way there or proceeding further north.
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
The bridge where Fourmile Brook Rd (W) crosses Four Mile Brook was in good shape. Crossing both the east branch of Swift Diamond River and Fourmile brook at the end of the day was easily rock-hoppable in our current drought conditions, but I imagine this could be difficult in normal water levels. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
Tucker was confused why we kept talking about West version of him. Champ enjoyed gnawing on the moose antler at the summit of Chase. |
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 | Bugs: |
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 | Lost and Found: |
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 | Comments: |
Another adventure day! Knowing West Tucker would require a long road walk, we plotted a course where we roadwalk up to W Tucker, then whack down into the eastern valley for Loomis and Chase. Hadn't seen reports of anyone trying to do this before- so was excited for some true exploring.
From our northern parking spot, we road walked up to Pond Rd. I initially walked right by 'Pond Rd' since it's very overgrown, particularly near the jct 4MB (W). Pond Rd is followable though and definitely helpful - just expect to get soaked from the morning dew. We didn't quite make it to the pond before we headed north up W Tucker. Woods were OK - just had to be deliberate about finding an open route. Found the summit no problem, and began the uncharted part of the day.
Descending W Tucker, I knew I wanted to skirt the eastern edge of the pond and ultimately hook up with the drainage that connects to 4MB (E). The woods getting down to the pond were thick and nasty at times, and kept pushing us further east than ideal - did not want to end up in the valley to the north! We fought our way back on course and hit the pond on the NE edge. The pond had predictably low water, so we could walk on the exposed edge for a nice reprieve. Some more thick stuff immediately after the pond, but that didn't last long before we found some ferny old skidder roads, which were much more pleasant than the thick stuff we had been dealing with. We then found a much better skidder road, just to the west of the drainage - this road was the MVP of the day and we flew down this road to the jct with FMB (E). Now I had scouted FMB (E) via sat imagery and saw way more green than I would have liked, and calling it a road is a stretch at this point - more waist high vegetation, with a single herd path through it. Anyways we followed it as it hooked south getting us closer to Loomis. Pretty much everything in this valley has been logged it seemed, and this area was no different, but usually there's moderately useful moose path through the shrubby regrowth and we were able to follow a mostly direct line from the tip of the hook of FMB (E) to the summit of Loomis.
From the summit of Loomis, we decided to skip the col (which seemed long and unpleasant from other reports, and only saved a couple hundred feet of gain) and descended down to E Branch Rd. Again, this was the story of finding overgrown skidder paths and trying to follow moose tracks through them, but we popped out at the landing at the tip of E Branch Rd (which similar to the hook on 4MB (E) was not really a road. We followed this south to the jct with FMB (E), which actually kind of resembled a road (not drivable) with easy walking! We followed this south until we found a landing NW of Chase and started our ascent from here. Again, moose paths through overgrown skidder roads, and then seas of hobblebush, but we pushed through and woods opened up a bit as we got higher. Made the summit and headed WSW back down towards 4MB (E). These were some of the more pleasant woods of the day, until we hit more of the theme of the day, overgrown logging roads! We followed these until we hit FMB (E) again, pretty much due west of the summit. Our descent line was certainly preferable to our ascent line.
A quick roadwalk south on 4MB (E) until we were due east of our car spot at the Crystal Mt Rd jct, and we started whacking down to the river in lovely open woods. Crossed the East Branch of Swift Diamond River and then fourmile brook. West of four mile brook was really nasty logging area, with pencil young growth and chest high prickers in places, without as many herd paths as we were used to today. Regardless, with the end in sight, we pushed through this until we hit 4MB (W), right at our car.
All-in this hike took about 6:30. 50 mins walking 4MB (W), 30 mins on Pond Rd, 20 mins from Pond Rd to W Tucker. 30 mins from W Tucker to the eastern edge of the Pond. 30 mins from the pond down to 4MB (E), 50 mins from FMB (E) to summit of Loomis, 30 mins from Loomis to E Branch Rd, 20 Mins to our launch point for Chase. 40 mins to ascend Chase, 30 mins to descend Chase and 40 mins to walk FMB (E) and whack back to the car.
If doing this again, I would probably head back to the western edge of the Pond from W Tucker, and try to go counter-clockwise around it. I would also take a different line up Chase, probably starting just barely north of west of the summit on 4MB (E).
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 | Name: |
Big Al Dente |
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 | E-Mail: |
bigaldentenh@gmail.com |
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 | Date Submitted: |
2025-09-04 |
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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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