Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
| Peaks |
Mt. Cabot, The Bulge, The Horn, NH |
|
| Trails: |
York Pond Trail, Bunnell Notch Trail, Kilkenny Ridge Trail, bushwhack, Unknown Pond Trail |
|
| Date of Hike: |
Sunday, March 10, 2019 |
|
| Parking/Access Road Notes: |
|
|
| Surface Conditions: |
Snow - Packed Powder/Loose Granular, Snow - Unpacked Powder, Snow - Drifts, Snow/Ice - Monorail (Stable) |
|
| Recommended Equipment: |
Snowshoes, Light Traction |
|
| Water Crossing Notes: |
Some needed hopping or long stepping but nothing crazy |
|
| Trail Maintenance Notes: |
|
|
| Dog-Related Notes: |
|
|
| Bugs: |
|
|
| Lost and Found: |
Found a map in a plastic case. Left it at the Unknown Pond trailhead |
|
|
|
|
| Comments: |
Did the loop clockwise so that we could do Cabot and then bail if needed. There weren’t many views to be had because of the heavy cloud cover. Just some snow and a lot of wind.
Despite previous reports of barebooters trashing the trail, the trail from the York Pond East Trailhead to the cabin was firmly packed monorail with minimal postholes. It was very straightforward to follow. We wore snowshoes car to car, but microspikes would have been fine to the cabin or possibly the Cabot summit.
The rest of the hike absolutely required snowshoes. We were able to follow some snowshoe tracks for a lot of the way to the Bulge and the Horn but the tracks were completely covered in a lot of places. In a lot of places, the trail would inexplicably split off only to rejoin the trail later. We found ourselves using our phone’s GPS to help navigate the maze of trails.
After coming down from the Horn and heading toward Unknown Pond, we followed a broken out herd path that bypassed Unknown Pond. It saves some time and rejoins the Unknown Pond Trail after some time near the stream.
We got confused by our maps and decided to hug the stream rather than following the established trail when it went up a hill to the left. This forced us to break trail through deep, sloping drifts and cross the stream multiple times before meeting up with trail again later. We lost all the time we gained from the bushwhack and then some. Don’t follow our tracks! Stay left (east) of the stream the entire time. You shouldn’t need to cross the flowing stream. |
|
| Name: |
Kes |
|
| E-Mail: |
kesyog@gmail.com |
|
| Date Submitted: |
2019-03-10 |
|
| Link: |
https:// |
|
|
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. |
|