| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Lord Hill, Pine Hill, ME |
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 | Trails: |
Horseshoe Pond Trail, Conant Trail, Mine Loop, Connector |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Thursday, May 30, 2013 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
There's only room for 2, maybe a third car if all are well parked at the small turnoff, but I would expect parking on the side of the road to be okay given the low traffic. Deer Hill Rd, is a decent gravel road. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail, Mud - Minor/Avoidable |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
Rock steps |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
Trails generally clear, wide and with a nice footbed. I recommend that the AMC Guide should be read with care since using map and ground evidence caused me some issues. Horseshoe Pond's trailhead lacks a typical CTA or USFS trail sign; there's just a paper in plastic sign on a tree that isn't easy to see. The trail down from there is well painted until it hits the road. At that point a footpath with faded paint blazes crossed the road and went down to a camping area. It didn't look right so I hiked to the road and went down it, but there was no paint until I got to the road end, and then found a footpath with fainted paint that headed to Horseshoe Pond instead of off to its right. I returned to the road end and saw a faint path into a field but it sure didn't look like a trail, so I hiked back up to my car a bit miffed, and the AMC Guide cleared things up. The path through the field is not all that noticeable but once in the woods the paint blazes are obvious. The other time I got mixed up was on the Lord Hill ledges, since the Conant Trail south branch is not marked as such, and counter-intuitively it heads down a ways towards Horseshoe Lake before reversing direction. Having missed that we went down Mine Loop since I remembered an unmarked but well traveled path off it towards where Conant should have been, and fortunately it took me to a sign for Conant in both directions. We went down to the beaver flow, and sometimes it seemed like a paint blaze was missing, but definitely pay attention to the double blazes, as they indicate sharp direction change. There are a couple major duck under blowdowns that have been debranched, and one easy stepover. I took out a small spruce across the trail. On the whole however, the Conant has a delightful footbed as did its northern loop, but it is faint in places due to low use which is why the paint blazes are so useful if present.
Horseshoe Pond did have some mud spots, but I had trouble following the Horseshoe Pond trail early on. First, there is no standard trail head sign, just a paper in plastic sign. Second, the trail is well painted until it hits the road at which point the footbed made it appear to cross the road and continue downhill to a camping area. There were faint yellow blazes as well. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
This hike was the last of the day and in the warmest temps with less wind, but once again there was lots of shade and plenty of sip n dips, and with a modest uphill pace Pepper again didn't need any of my water. He had fun chasing some chippies too. |
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 | Bugs: |
Black flies, skeeters and deerflies were all present but not really a problem as we kept moving, although on the slower uphill return hike they all attempted bites and got dope slapped. |
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 | Lost and Found: |
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 | Comments: |
I really like most of the Conant Trail, both loops, and so I hope the beaver flow can be handled in some way before the blazes fade and the south loop is lost. The beaver flow could be waded, and that may be the best strategy. I bushwacked around it earlier this week, and went looking for it and alternatives today, but there's no simple directions. I followed a freshly surveyed and painted (orange) BL from the Conant Trail from a corner just north of the flow, and it runs roughly 90 deg to the trail and is easy to follow, but it goes from one old public road (the Conant here) to another, which is growing in, and then turns right, so it could be missed. A wacker could get around the flow and stay close to it all the way around, or get up a bit higher and drier and shoot a compass bearing to hit the trail or this survey line to the trail.
We didn't see anybody else on any of the trails today. Combine this solitude with the generally wide and clear trails with nice footbeds (and by nice I mean way nicer that many of the 4Ks we've been on lately, and we really like hiking these modest peaks. Too bad they are such a long drive from home. |
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 | Name: |
Pepper and Me |
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 | E-Mail: |
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| Date Submitted: |
2013-05-30 |
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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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