| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Ice Gulch, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Ice Gulch Trail, Peboamauk Loop, Cook Path, Mt Crescent Trail, road walk |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Sunday, August 4, 2019 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Plenty of roadside parking. Lovely neighborhood that you get to drive through :) Keep an eye out for the red barn; it’d be easy enough to pass. Only 3 cars there. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail, Wet Trail, Wet/Slippery Rock, Mud - Minor/Avoidable, Mud - Significant |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
Water is low right now so they were short rock hops. That said, the rocks are very slippery. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
All trails were blazed in orange along with some faded old red blaze in the actual gulch. The orange blaze was often faded in the gulch as well. The trails were easily to follow although the orange blazed isn’t always used that frequently. Some parts in or around the actual gulch may be a bit challenging for inexperienced hikers to follow.
Some work could definitely be done to clear some blowdowns in the gulch but I doubt that anybody will be carrying a chainsaw out there anytime soon 😂 |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
Didn’t see any except for two on my road walk back to my car :) Had a nice conversation with the owner about redlining! |
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 | Bugs: |
I saw a bumblebee in the gulch!! I wasn’t bothered by them but we were moving quite fast. Watch out for ticks in an overgrown section of grass that was either along Peboamauk Loop or the section of Ice Gulch that parallels it. |
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 | Lost and Found: |
None |
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 | Comments: |
Great hike with a fellow redliner :) Glad we did this hike when we did it; I can’t imagine doing it when things are any less dry! There is still significant mud on parts of the trail and many rocks are wet and/or slippery. I would only attempt this trail in summer and early-mid fall. Please know what you’re doing before attempting it. Ice Gulch is an incredibly difficult trail. You are boulder leaping/jumping/springing through the gulch and a fall in there could leave you seriously injusred or worse with rough rocks with deep gaps between them. Even as a young (23 years old) and very fit hiker, I must say that this was a bit much for me. Not steep like North Tripyramid Slide or Flume Slide but more difficult in my opinion due to negotiating from boulder to boulder. I lost my footing and slipped 3-4 times luckily without injury. There were only two times when I chose to bushwhack around the main trail due to not feeling able to make the scramble between some rocks. Although the gulch is beautiful I don’t think this is a trail I’ll look forward to doing again... seriously though don’t forget to stop and look up occasionally while in the gulch as it really is a different sort of spot in the Whites :)
Other than some downed trees making the gulch even harder, the trail is in good shape. Other than the gulch the trails are fairly easy and we were able to power through them quite quickly. |
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 | Name: |
Liam Cooney |
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 | E-Mail: |
liamcooney96@gmail.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2019-08-06 |
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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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