| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Hurricane Mountain (Conway), Rickers Knoll, The Twins - North Peak, Mt. Shaw, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Bushwhack, FR234 |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Thursday, May 21, 2026 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Spotted a car at the gate on Town Hall Rd, then parked at the Black Cap lot at the height of land on Hurricane Mountain Rd. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail |
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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: |
Champ and Tucker felt seen on the Twins |
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 | Bugs: |
Not bad on a cool day |
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 | Lost and Found: |
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 | Comments: |
I was originally thinking of doing shaw/twin/ricker from the east as a big loop with Weeks Brook Trail & Province Brook Trail, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to add Hurricane, get some free elevation from Hurricane Mt Rd, and to skip the sketchier east side of Shawm, so this traverse plan was hatched.
Straight line up Hurricane Mountain, in steep but open woods. Some evidence of an old trail near the summit and a number of boundary markers. Couple summit markers but no register. From here we headed pretty much due north, in mixed woods on the decent which opened up in the col, which had a decent looking old road passing through it east/west - maybe an active snomo trail? We skirted to the west around the bump just south of Weeks Brook Trail, finally meeting up with the trail just shy of 1500 ft. Followed Weeks Brook trail up to the 90 degree left turn just before the pond and headed into the woods for the short ascent of Rickers. Woods were fairly thick here, but it was short, so easy to push through. Nice summits with some open areas - signed in then headed to The Twins.
Off Rickers, we headed NNW, towards a stretch when maps show slightly less dense vegetation. Then pivoted NE around 2200 on the bump to the north of Rickers. Ran into some pretty thick stuff in here and didn't feel like I was able to maintain a good line, but I've seen far worse. Made it to the col south of the Twins, which had a trail with some flagging heading NW/SE (possible the old Gemini trail). We followed it NW to a boggy area, then backtracked a bit and ascended the Twins, aiming for the col between the two Twins and then to northern summit. The approach worked well and we were on the rocky summit shortly.
From the Twins N, headed north into the col with Shaw, then headed NNE before turning ENE at about 2400. Some thick stuff and boulder fields getting up Shaw, but no cliffs on from this direction. Signed in a headed WSW off the summit, aiming for the kink in FR234 around 1600. Woods were good but had to do keep pushing further south than the topography wanted - specifically getting over the ridge to the west of north twin. Finally made it to FR234 and it was a perfect logging road that we followed right back to the car on Town Hall Rd.
Only took 4.5 hours total. 20 mins up Hurricane, 40 mins from Hurricane to Weeks Brook, 50 mins from joining Weeks to Rickers, 70 mins from Rickers to Twin N, 30 mins from Twin N to Shaw, 40 mins from Shaw to FR234 and 20 mins on FR234 to the car.
Very happy with this route and the time we made. Wouldn't do anything differently, though I am curious where the trail in the col south of the Twins originates to the east. |
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 | Name: |
Big Al Dente |
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 | E-Mail: |
bigaldentenh@gmail.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2026-05-25 |
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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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