| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Cotton Mountain (East Peak), Mt. Livermore , NH |
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 | Trails: |
Cotton Mountain Trail, Crawford-Ridgepole Trail, Prescott Trail, Old Highway |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Saturday, November 23, 2019 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
No snow/ice anywhere. There’s only about 3-4 defined parking spaces but you could easily fit double that, possibly more before overflowing onto the main road without blocking people in. Two cars when we got there and a third pulled in around 9:45am. Two there upon our return around 2:30pm. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail, Ice - Black, Wet Trail, Ice - Breakable Crust, Snow/Ice - Frozen Granular, Mud - Minor/Avoidable, Leaves - Significant/Slippery, Snow/Ice - Small Patches |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Light Traction |
|
 | Water Crossing Notes: |
Just a very small one or two done on a big bridge. |
|
 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
All trails were blazed in yellow diamonds and often times faded yellow blaze (the latter primarily along Cotton Mtn Trail and southernmost portion of Crawford-Ridgepols Trail I think). The trails were generally obvious and easy to follow given that you could usually see at least one yellow diamond/blaze at any point on the trail but in the rare cases you couldn’t, it mah be hard to see where it goes as the footbed is obscured by leaves. The trails are signed well and blowdowns were minimal. A widow maker fairly early on in the hike likely along Cotton Mtn Trail is shortly thereafter, a stepover blowdown along Crawford-Ridgepole as you begin to ascend Livermore, and there’s a big pine tree down along Old Highway that’s been cut up and de-limbed. There’s a path around it. Probably a few more I’m forgetting about. |
|
 | Dog-Related Notes: |
Should be a fine hike for dogs. Saw three. Two on or near the summit of Livermore and a third near the jct of Old Mtn Rd with Old Highway that barked at us from a distance. The owners took awhile to get it to listen and come back to them. One of the two in top didn’t listen to its owners and came over to us but was just friendly. |
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 | Bugs: |
None |
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 | Lost and Found: |
None |
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|
 | Comments: |
Nice day out redlining with mom and dad :) Been about a month since we’ve hiked together! We all took one fall and while there was no injury, my mom did hurt enough that she went down Prescott Trail without summiting Livermore (3.7mi about
1100ft of elevation gain). We are very slow hikers and it took her about 3.5hrs. The original plan was for mom and dad to do an out-and-back to Mount Livermore as well (4.5mi 1350ft of elevation) but my father felt good and ended up going down to the jct of Crawford-Ridgepole Trail with Old Mtn Rd and doing the 0.2mi of Old Highway I needed between Old Mtn Rd and Prescott Trail with me which I’d planned on doing alone and catching up with them. That was 5.7mi with about 1500ft of elevation gain.
There was significantly less snow than I anticipated! When I did my Percival-Old Mtn Rd traverse two weeks ago there was consistent snow cover bud today there was very rarely consistent cover and essentially no snow until you gained elevation. The trails were primarily dry. If not, they were most likely covered with patchy frozen granular that could be slippery. We didn’t use microspikes because it was so thin and often brief but they would have decreased the chance of falling particularly between the summit of Livermore and Old Mtn Rd. Lots of leaves, mostly dry on the surface but sometimes wet underneath, and minimal wet trail and minor mud.
We started and ended with sunny blue skies. Don’t think I saw a cloud all day :) 30F when we arrived around 9:30-9:45 and 37F when my father and I got back at 2:20pm so the hike took us 4.5hours. |
|
 | Name: |
Liam Cooney |
|
 | E-Mail: |
liamcooney96@gmail.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2019-11-23 |
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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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