| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Poplar Hut , ME |
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 | Trails: |
Maine Hut Trail, Larry’s Trail, Warren’s Trail, Carriage Road, Huston Brook Road |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Tuesday, February 14, 2023 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Don’t park at the sign for the airport but rather just north on a spur rd shown on Gaia and labelled as Airport Trailhead. This is just south of what’s shown on Gaia as Old Hughes Mill Rd. Parking is suitable for any car and is quite large. There were maybe a half dozen cars or so when I arrived at 10:15am and returned just past 3pm. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Snow - Packed Powder/Loose Granular, Snow - Unpacked Powder, Snow - Wet/Sticky |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Snowshoes |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
I don’t believe there were any that didn’t have some sort of bridge across them. Some are narrow puncheons though and folks may be unnerved crossing them in snowshoes. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
Maine Hut Trail is more of a road than a trail so is trivial to follow. It’s well signed and I believe had occasional markings on it saying that it was the Maine Hut Trail. I believe both Larry’s and Warren’s Trail also had these markings (occasional) but also had some blue blaze on them. Not terribly often though. Larry’s Trail wasn’t hard to follow but Warren’s was a bit obscure at times. It seemed most “primitive”, as the guidebook describes it, because of the number of blowdowns on it though…there were several many of which were a pain to get around/through. I believe all other trails were clear of blowdowns. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
I believe I saw a sign somewhere saying that they aren’t allowed year round. |
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 | Bugs: |
None |
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 | Lost and Found: |
None |
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|
 | Comments: |
Another late trail report, sorry. I’d hoped for a bigger hike today (traversing some of the lesser known trails around the Bigelows with a car spot) but between cancelled plans, the weather, a late start, etc. we settled for this. I hiked the Maine Hut Trail to the hut, then did an OAB on Larry’s Trail, then hiked Warren’s Trail back to Maine Hut Trail, then hiked out Carriage Rs and Huston Brook Rd. Note that Warren’s Trail comes nearly on Carriage Rd further south of where it’s shown intersecting with Maine Hut Trail on Gaia. Also, Carriage Rd is gated where in intersects with Huston Brook Rd and is signed above as no trespassing but I saw no signs while coming down…oops. My best guess is that this is really to deter snowmobiles as there were many signs against snowmobiling, I saw another snowshoer on this road, and there were no other no trespassing signs further up where the road intersects the trails, but can’t say for sure. Quick walk along Huston Brook Rd from there.
I’d have been fine barebooting on Maine Hut Trail but snowshoes were needed on Larry’s and Warren’s trails which are actually footpaths. The snow was actually rather wet and sticky with the warm weather and was sticking to my snowshoes some on Maine Hut Trail. The other trails had just seen a snowshoe track or two on them that weren’t terribly recent. No viewpoints per se but some views through the trees on Maine Hit Trail were had to the Bigelows which were quite impressive. Poplar Falls was frozen and scenic enough. Gaia had me at about 9.5mi with 700ft of gain. Took me just over 4.5hrs to complete. |
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 | Name: |
Liam Cooney |
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 | E-Mail: |
liamcooney96@gmail.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2023-02-18 |
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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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