Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
| Peaks |
South Crocker Mountain, Mt. Redington (attempt), ME |
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| Trails: |
Appalachian Trail |
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| Date of Hike: |
Friday, May 22, 2020 |
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| Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Road conditions not great, definitely need a big car or truck to pass |
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| Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail, Wet Trail, Ice - Blue, Standing/Running Water on Trail, Mud - Minor/Avoidable, Mud - Significant, Snow/Ice - Monorail (Unstable), Snow - Spring Snow, Snow/Ice - Postholes, Slush |
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| Recommended Equipment: |
Light Traction |
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| Water Crossing Notes: |
Trail is very flooded, lots of rock hopping. Expect to get your feet wet and have some monorail collapse into a stream or two |
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| Trail Maintenance Notes: |
Few small blowdowns, avoidable |
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| Dog-Related Notes: |
Would be hard for dogs with ice and postholes |
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| Bugs: |
None |
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| Lost and Found: |
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| Comments: |
Planned on hiking up south crocker and reddington in the afternoon and spend the night at crocker cirque campsite before heading over to sugarloaf and the saddlebacks. First small section of AT up to south crocker was dry, but after that the trail is completely covered in snow. Up to the campsite, the monorail is somewhat stable, but once you hit the steep section, t he monorail is extremely unstable. Postholed every few steps, didn’t wear snowshoes but they would not have made a difference. We have hiked at this time of year several times and these conditions are by far the worst we have ever encountered and continue to get worse as the snow melts. There was a noticeable difference between the conditions on the way up and on the way back; there was no stable monorail at all ok the way back. Herd path to reddington was completely buried and we postholed to the hip every step of the way when we tried looking for it (turned back after 10 very unsuccessful minutes of searching). Conditions on top of south crocker are sketchy, very slick ice mixed with slushy snow that made climbing down very slow. Also, the river crossing between crocker and sugarloaf was impassable due to the depth and quick flowing of the river. |
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| Name: |
Abby |
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| E-Mail: |
amross3648@gmail.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2020-05-23 |
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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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