| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
The Bulge, The Horn, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Unkown Pond Trail (Interpative), Kilkenny Ridge Trail (Interpative), Horn Spur, bushwhack |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Sunday, March 15, 2026 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Road was plowed however the excess off the end of the plow froze solid overnight into several interesting ruts/lines, which where high enough to scrape a low clearance car. Non issue as of this posting. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Snow - Unpacked Powder, Snow/Ice - Frozen Granular, Snow - Wet/Sticky, Snow - Spring Snow |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Snowshoes |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
All crossing hoppable, or otherwise crossable as of 3/15 pre rain. Some required a bit of thought, some required running long jump leaps, but no wet feet, even at 4'11. From what I saw, I'd wait atleast a few days, or never, to hike this trail. Of note, I did walk out on the pond, in a protected shaded cove and went out about 20' or so. I did encounter a layer of slush. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
The maintainer has utilized the tested and true one-blaze-a-mile method on Unknown Pond, it is extremely helpful for route finding. There are several blowdowns/crowns on UPT. It does look like said maintainer has plans for fixes, though I feel like I saw these last year, or the year prior when I did this as well in the winter. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
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 | Bugs: |
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 | Lost and Found: |
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 | Comments: |
A FINE day in the forest was had. The Midget Mafia got back together from our collective anarchy spreading across the north east to help Steve finish out his NE100W. Let me ask you, the reader, do you have one really odd family member that you'd secretly find joy in never seeing or hearing from again? Let me tell you, I found the trail form of that person in Unknown Pond. If you have mental problems and enjoy side hilling and route finding for 3.2 miles, you're probably in a psychiatric ward and not reading this anyways so I am not offending anyone. We donned snowshoes to start, following someone likely for a nice walk through the open hardwoods along the abandoned Upper Ammonosuc Railroad. There was a general 4-6 inches of fresh new snow atop what felt like concrete. While route finding was generally intuitive, there are large portions where we simply followed moose tracks as they generally went in the direction we needed. They live there, they know better than we do. The sidehilling got old after the first few miles, it made for a much tougher day on what would otherwise be a very gentle gradual trek to the pond. Kilkenny Ridge had more blazes in the first 100 feet than the preceding 3.2 miles. We where able to generally follow the trail, however we opted for more of a direct route in switchback areas simply because its less time/effort. The sidehill again greeted us on the eastern side of The Horn, which was a nice treat as I felt lost without having to do it for once. We went to the Bulge first, of which we made short work of and finished atop the Horn. We bushwhacked off the Horn utilizing the ridge crest to the North, with the exception of the immediate drop off of the summit the woods where fantastic moving, especially in magic shoes and deep powder - of which there is easily still 4'+ at 3500'. Pizza, NA beer, whoopie pies, cupcakes, and for the health conscious, slicked peppers and tzatziki sauce. |
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 | Name: |
The Teal Goat, Pretzel, Honey_Badger, Lil Squirt, Steve |
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 | E-Mail: |
sea2thebiscuit@yahoo.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2026-03-16 |
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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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