| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Scar Ridge-East Peak, Scar Ridge-Middle Peak, NH |
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 | Trails: |
East Pond, East Pond Loop, bushwhack, Little East Pond |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Monday, November 3, 2025 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Parked at the trailhead on Tripoli Road |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail, Snow - Trace/Minimal Depth, Leaves - Significant/Slippery |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
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 | Bugs: |
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 | Lost and Found: |
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 | Comments: |
We parked at the southern trailhead for East Pond on Tripoli Road and headed up to the junction with the loop trail (after popping out to check out East Pond and our first objective, Scar-East). We took the loop trail approximately 0.2 miles and then headed into the woods, aiming to ride up the ridge that leads directly to the summit of East. We encountered an old skidder road that was going the way we wanted to go and took it for a while before we decided to veer to the left and continue along the ridge. Luckily, the skidder road seemed to have forked here, too, and we followed it some more. Once again, it started to lead us around rather than up so we cut steeply uphill in somewhat pokey trees for a short distance (100’ maybe) to gain the top of the ridge. It was gloriously open and I was feeling great about this route. As we approached the summit, though, we hit the thick stuff that I had read about. We had maybe 0.1 mile of thick starting with pokey pencil trees and progressing to tight, young conifers (wet from snow) as we approached the canister. Soaking wet, we were glad to spot the sign and canister and sign in. The contents of the canister were dry and in good order. Leaving the summit consisted of more tight going for a short distance.
Once off the summit of East, the going was much better and whenever it got bad, we headed to the north side as I had heard that the woods are better there. It was slightly nasty at one spot after the bump mid-ridge, but short and nothing like the area around East. Climbing up Middle, the woods were fantastic and it got really steep. We consulted the slope angle view in Gaia and aimed for a spot that looked the least steep. Canister was easy to spot as the summit area is wide open woods. We had toyed with backtracking into the col and descending the other ridge near the bump between the two peaks, but then decided to just descend off of Middle and aim for Little East Pond.
Again, the slope angle layer on Gaia was nice because it showed that there is a gradual descent from Middle (relatively) if you head west and then hook around to the south. It was fine descending (and would be decent to ascend this way), but the woods were never wide open. We popped out on the shore of Little East Pond directly across from the trail and, due to the low water level, just walked the edge of the pond around to the trail where we had a quick walk out on Little East Pond and East Pond Trail. |
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 | Name: |
WanderingSoules |
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 | E-Mail: |
soules@writeme.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2025-11-06 |
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 | Link: |
 https://youtu.be/YYwg1m_63JM?si=z-Jpg9rKi7W6j-Nu |
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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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