| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Mt. Cube, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Baker Road, Quinntown Road, Kodak Trail, Cross Rivendell Trail |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Sunday, December 16, 2018 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Room for several cars at parking area on Baker Road a hundred yards north of the Cross Rivendell Trail trailhead. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Ice - Blue, Ice - Breakable Crust, Snow - Unpacked Powder, Snow/Ice - Frozen Granular, Snow/Ice - Postholes |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Snowshoes, Light Traction |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
Water crossings were frozen over; not an issue. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
Trails are in decent shape -- quite a bit of deadfall and debris to clear, as well as a few small, hand-sawable blowdowns -- but nothing major. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
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 | Bugs: |
A few mosquitoes -- yes, really. |
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 | Lost and Found: |
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 | Comments: |
We did a loop hike over Mt. Cube -- using current and old AT routes.
We parked a car near the Cross Rivendell Trail trailhead on Baker Road, walked south on Baker Road (old AT route), and then east on Quinntown Road until it intersects with the current route of the AT -- the Kodak Trail. We then went up the Kodak Trail to the summit of Mt. Cube before taking the Cross Rivendell Trail (old AT route) back to the car.
Trail conditions notes:
Light traction worked on Baker Road and Quinntown Road.
Kodak Trail has seen no one for some time, and was broken only by our snowshoes and one barebooter. A foot or more of crusty snow, plenty of ice, some open sections melted out from the warm temps recently. But snowshoes were the way to go; enough snow to walk around the open sections and icy ledges. We tried getting by without them for a bit for the first few feet, but postholed a foot or so; would have postholed more higher up, with the deeper snow. Crust was firm enough in most places to support one in snowshoes with barely any sinking.
Cross Rivendell Trail was another story -- it's a bit of a mess, pretty chopped up with postholes. The snow is plenty deep enough for snowshoes for about 90 percent of the trail, but the track is so uneven now that light traction was the only to go -- even so, a bit tedious trying to find good footing with soft snow atop hardpack.
(We thought it was easier climbing the unbroken Kodak Trail than heading down the choppy Cross Rivendell Trail.)
Nonetheless, a fine route -- we saw just one person all day, in spite of the numerous cars we passed earlier parked at the Route 25A trailhead (AT) north of Mt. Cube, we had the summit to ourselves.
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 | Name: |
Pancks and Tesco Heaney |
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 | E-Mail: |
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| Date Submitted: |
2018-12-16 |
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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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