| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Dry River Shelter 3, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Dry River Trail, Dry River Falls spur, designated campsite spurs |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Wednesday, July 3, 2019 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Spotted a vehicle at Dry River trailhead, one other when we left it, ours was the only one on our return. |
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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 one major crossing of Dry River (0.7 below the shelter) was an easy hop on Tuesday, refreshed the cairns to simplify navigation once across, since you drop in to a side channel of the river, and it was a bit confusing as to where the trail itself went. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
Do I have some maintenance notes for you! Rachel and I are the new volunteer trail adopters for the upper 7.4 miles of Dry River Trail (from the suspension bridge to the junction with Crawford Path just north of Lakes of the Clouds Hut). Tuesday we brushed out the 1.4 miles northbound from our campsite to the shelter, cleared a few blowdowns, cleaned out some drainages, and refreshed cairns along the way. There are still plenty of step-over blowdowns, but none are show stopping. Today (Wednesday), we did more of the same, except heading southbound 3.2 miles to the suspension bridge. It took 4:30 for Tuesday's maintenance activities, and 5:15 for Wednesday's, if you're wondering what section was in worse shape. We met 3 guys from New York at the shelter, who had come down from Lakes, and said the upper section was "wild", brushy with spruce regrowth, with one blowdown where they lost the trail briefly. So we haven't gotten to the upper ~3 miles, YET. But we will get to it very soon. That said, the lower ~4.6 are in significantly better shape than when we found them. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
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 | Bugs: |
Abysmal, especially Tuesday, black flies particularly. They calmed down some after the sun went behind the ridge (about 7:30pm), and went away almost entirely after 8:30pm on each of our two nights. SO MANY WELTS!!! |
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 | Lost and Found: |
I haven't lost any anxiety over too many bugs. |
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 | Comments: |
Our first Dry River maintenance cruise, and a realization that we may have bit off more than we could chew. That being said, we're happy we adopted this trail! We say that now, but haven't even gotten to the upper section yet. Checked out the gorgeous Dry River Falls on our way up Tuesday, and stopped in to each of the three designated campsites (one just north of Isolation West, which we stayed at, and two between Isolation West and Mt. Clinton Trail). The one closest to Mt. Clinton Trail was the nicest site (even though it's right next to the trail), the middle one was just ok (hammocks would probably work best), and the upper one was in a pretty spot, but had lots of junk trees ripe for falling, and only a couple of decent tent sites. Bailed out a day early due to the bugs, and will come at the upper section from above sooner than later! |
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 | Name: |
Bill Robichaud |
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 | E-Mail: |
bill.robichaud@gmail.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2019-07-03 |
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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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