| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Bigelow Mountain - South Horn, Bigelow Mountain - North Horn, Bigelow Mountain - West Peak, Bigelow Mountain - Avery Peak, ME |
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 | Trails: |
Stratton Brook Pond Road, Fire Wardens Trail, Horns Pond Trail, Appalachian Trail, Horn Pond Lean Tos Spur, Pond Loop, North Horn Trail |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Sunday, July 23, 2023 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
The dirt road in is narrow and has some mildly muddy spots but I would think should be doable for even low clearance cars. The parking area has room for a dozen plus and I was pleasantly surprised to see that it hadn’t overflowed at 11:15am! That said, there is some overflow room around. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail, Wet Trail, Wet/Slippery Rock, Standing/Running Water on Trail, Mud - Minor/Avoidable, Mud - Significant |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
The drainage crossing on Horns Pond Trail was definitely full but was still easily crossable. Crossings on Fire Warden’s Trail were rock hopable. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
Fire Warden’s Trail, Horns Pond Trail, Pond Loop, and North Horn Trail are blazed in blue. I think the blazing may have been a bit old but still very visible and I’m not so sure how frequent they were. In any case it’s Fire Warden’s Trail is a VERY well trodden (and eroded) trail that’s easy to follow. On the descent, just keep a very careful eye out for a right hand turn that would be very easy to miss. The AT is of course blazed in white. Sometimes pretty old and presumably not too frequently. I did find good blazing above tree line in spots though it would be covered in winter. I did not find the trail hard to follow. A couple of bog bridges have suffered due to the rain. One down low on Fire Warden’s Trail, another one or two on the Pond Loop. A widow maker is above the trail on Horns Pond Trail right after the meadow. Two blowdowns, one cut, one not, lie together on North Horn Trail. I believe you can squeak around the one, then duck under the other. There were two blowdown, each duck or scotch unders I believe, 15-20min above the Horns Pond Trail jct on Fire Warden’s Trail. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
Most fit hiking dogs should probably be okay. There’s some steep stuff/minor scrambling but nothing too crazy. |
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 | Bugs: |
Surprisingly, they were not bad until 5pm or so. No ticks. |
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 | Lost and Found: |
None |
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 | Comments: |
What a fantastic day!! I hiked the loop over the Horns and Bigelows ascending Horns Pond Trail and descending Fire Warden’s Trail. Personally, this would be my preferred direction because Horns Pond is quite gradual overall and Fire Warden’s is not so steep as to make for an unpleasant descent.
Quick, easy, and beautiful walk along Stratton Brook to reach the jct with Horns Pond Trail. Horns Pond Trail was a delight. Very much my type of trail with some mixed terrain but overall very nice grades and some beautiful forest and meadow. There is a spur 1mi in that leads a few hundred feet down to an obscured view to Sugarloaf and the drainage. It is signed as “View”. It is not mentioned in the guidebook though it wouldn’t surprise me if it was mentioned in the next edition. This is not long before the meadow and some really great walking before the final climb (which isn’t bad) to the AT. A quick walk along the AT brought me to the lean tos and Horns Pond. I explored all the paths at the lean tos and it took awhile as it felt like a huge campsite! Horns Pond was beautiful! Note that there’s a Pond Loop shown on Gaia and signed here. It’s lightly trodden and kind of awkward but I hiked it in case it’s in the next edition. Some big bridges need replaced here.
I then began the steep ascent to The Horns which wasn’t quite as rough as I thought it might be...that being said, I missed the side trail to North Horn which is actually easy enough to do if ascending. The sign is more visible if descending. Once at South Horn I backtracked a short ways to North Horn Spur which was not too bad and I was treated to a summit all to myself :) South Horn was a little busier. The col between the Horns and the Bigelows is deep enough but the climb itself wasn’t too bad other than some short steep pitches with a bit of scrambling. It was great to be on the Bigelows again and have such terrific views. Last time I was there, they were socked in. Other than one short boulder scramble on Avery Peak, I didn’t find the climb between the two to be too challenging.
I again spent a lot of time exploring the books and crannies of the Bigelow Col Campsite which felt quite large to me. A cool boulder formation/cave is just to the left at its lower jct with Fire Warden’s Trail. The descent was long but not steep other than up high for a bit. Basically just a loooong slab. There was obviously tons of mud throughout the hike but I was pleased to see that some of it appeared to be drying after a few drier days and it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. I was mostly successful in keeping my feet dry! Gaia had me at almost 14mi, 3700ft of gain, and just over 6.5hrs to complete. |
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 | Name: |
Liam Cooney |
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 | E-Mail: |
liamcooney96@gmail.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2023-07-24 |
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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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