| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Bear Mountain, Bear Mountain - West Peak, ME |
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 | Trails: |
Bear Mountain Trail, road walk |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Friday, July 14, 2023 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
**The parking situation has changed since the last edition of the guidebook** Rather than park along the same road the trail follows, you now park along Berry Rd. If st the 4-way intersection of Pratt Hill, Mahoney, Bear Mtn, and Berry Rd as described in the guidebook, turn right onto Berry Rd and come to the parking area on your left in 0.2mi. There is a small sign at the 4-way intersection indicating this but it’s turned and obscured by something else such that it’s not even pointing you in the correct direction…and that’s if you even happen to see it. I should have moved it! I headed up Bear Mtn Rd and when I didn’t see parking turned around and asked someone along Pratt Hill Rd for directions. She was very kind :) The new parking area had too for maybe a dozen cars. I was the only one there at 11:30am and one other was there when I returned at 1:30pm. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail, Wet Trail, Standing/Running Water on Trail, Mud - Minor/Avoidable |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
None |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
The road/trails were not marked but are easy to follow. There’s a small sign for Bear Mtn at the new parking area. There’s a small blowdown with its branches in the middle of the road on the new path connecting the parking area to the road. I don’t recall any other blowdowns. There’s no sign for the older woods road/trail to the western peak but there’s a sign down low along the connecting path that says “Gandalf” which had me very curious! |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
Sure |
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 | Bugs: |
Yup. I may have picked up another tick or two on this one. |
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 | Lost and Found: |
None |
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 | Comments: |
Bear Mtn Trail (old and new routes!), road walk
3rd redline of the day after Mt Tire’m and Black Mtn. From the new parking area, follow the overgrown path by a sign for the mountain up to an overgrown old road that roughly contours to Bear Mtn Rd shortly before the last house or two, turns right, then follows the road up to the mountain. The road was wide, rocky and wet, but shaded and not unpleasant. Wet but not necessarily terribly muddy. I didn’t even notice the turn-off for the narrower old road that heads toward west peak on my way up so I just followed the road all the way to the main peak. Easy-moderate grades down low. Flat or very gentle grades up higher until the short final pitch to the summit. A couple roads come and go and loop around here so a little ambiguous as far as redlining goes so I went a few different ways. There’s also a grassy road off to the left if ascending that forms a loop that’s shown on Gaia (though the trail, which I think is actually an offshoot of the main trail that the guidebook describes and goes to the summit, shown on Gaia doesn’t actually go all the way to the summit). Nice views from the summit and I disturbed a group of vultures that when I arrived took off but then proceeded to circle me overhead…
On my way back down, I followed the narrower road to the western summit at easy grades. For my return back die the mountain, I followed the road all the way back down, then turned left onto Berry Rd. This way, I followed both the new route that will presumably be described in the next edition and the old route currently described in the current edition. Gaia had me at 5mi, 950ft of gain, 2hr10min. |
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 | Name: |
Liam Cooney |
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 | E-Mail: |
liamcooney96@gmail.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2023-07-16 |
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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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