Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
| Peaks |
Dummer Ponds Mountain, Long Mountain - East Peak, NH |
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| Trails: |
Bushwhack, Paris Road, logging road, bushwhack, Paris Road, bushwhack, Phillips Brook Road |
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| Date of Hike: |
Wednesday, March 29, 2017 |
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| Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Phillips Brook Road was a bit muddy, not too deep yet but soon, with a good number of pot holes. I just biffed car close to snowbank on side of the road just a short distance past mile marker 4 (which is only visible if you're driving east so use your odometer). |
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| Surface Conditions: |
Snow - Packed Powder/Loose Granular, Ice - Breakable Crust, Snow/Ice - Frozen Granular |
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| Recommended Equipment: |
Snowshoes |
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| Water Crossing Notes: |
small streams and springs were mostly snow covered. Phillips Brook was roaring and without logging road bridge we would not have been able to cross it. |
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| Trail Maintenance Notes: |
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| Dog-Related Notes: |
I would think they'd post hole deeply breaking through the thin crust into the soft snow. |
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| Bugs: |
No ticks, no black flies--- I wish this time of year would last forever! |
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| Lost and Found: |
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| Comments: |
Paris Road is only plowed a couple miles up stopping at the Stark town line and near some camps so we decided to go from Phillips Brook Road. Road is well plowed and is starting to get muddy and it is wicked bumpy. We crossed under the powerline and aimed for just south of the south bump that is the high point of Dummer Ponds Mountain and we didn't hit anything too steep and we crossed a bunch of old skid roads. Snowshoeing was decent breaking through a thin crust and sinking about 6 inches with the occasional deep hole. From the recognized summit we noted recent visitors on 3/10 and slabbed NW down to Paris Road. We did well and only had at most a 1/4 mile road walk along Phillips Brook. Snowmobiles have traveled here but not today and we turned left and crossed the brook over a bridge and continued straight ahead on a logging road, snowmobiles continued to the right. We followed the logging road up and up until it entered a large cleared area and here we began our bushwhack to Long-East Peak. We took aim just north of the summit to avoid steeps and thick woods and we were able to reach the ridge with only a short steeper climb in open woods. We enjoyed the ridge walk south and up to the recognized summit. Noted that our friend bryan was the last to sign the register last early Nov. Mr.Yellow X left his mark. We followed our tracks back to Paris Road and followed our tracks back up Dummer--but about half way we got the great idea to head to the bump to the north of the summit since this bump was only 15 less in elevation that the highpoint. We weren't disappointed the views of the Longs from near the top were fabulous and the rocky summit bump and nearby was a hot bed of activity by the local Moose. We followed a gazillion survey blazes before heading down and slabbing back to the car. We were in nice open woods all day and we passed at least a dozen trees that woodpeckers decorated with big holes. Descending we had big views of the Millsfield wind turbine farm. There is still a lot of snow out there, two to three feet in the woods and the snowmobile tracks looked good. Thanks Danielle and Jack for another great day bushwhacking. |
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| Name: |
Nordic Gal, Danielle, jack |
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| E-Mail: |
amybike@gmail.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2017-03-29 |
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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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