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Hiking Trail Conditions Report
Peaks
Peaks Mt. Cabot, The Bulge, The Horn, NH
Trails
Trails: York Pond Trail, Bunnell Notch Trail, Kilkenny Ridge Trail, Unknown Pond Trail, bushwhack
Date of Hike
Date of Hike: Saturday, April 30, 2011
Parking/Access Road Notes
Parking/Access Road Notes: Plenty of room at the end of York Pond Rd. The gate was still open at 7pm when we left. 
Surface Conditions
Surface Conditions: Dry Trail, Snow - Wet/Sticky, Snow/Ice - Monorail (Stable), Mud - Significant, Snow/Ice - Monorail (Unstable), Standing/Running Water on Trail, Snow/Ice - Postholes, Snow - Spring Snow 
Recommended Equipment
Recommended Equipment: Snowshoes 
Water Crossing Notes
Water Crossing Notes: Rivers and streams are moving good. Stepping in the water was unavoidable but doable with gaiters and quick steps. 
Trail Maintenance Notes
Trail Maintenance Notes: A few blowdowns here and there nothing major. Many less bendovers than I was expecting. The yellow blazes along the Kilkenney Ridge Tr are faint and few. 
Dog-Related Notes
Dog-Related Notes: Marlie and Brewer had a great time. Except for the lower river crossing on Unknown Pond Tr where Brewer would not cross due to the fast moving water. My friend had to walk through the water and carry his dog. 
Bugs
Bugs: I saw a swarm of something along the Unknown Pond Tr basking in the sunlight. 
Lost and Found
Lost and Found: We fond a glove, a pole basket, a bottle cap, numerous pieces of wrappers, a Hershey Nugget, a shredded balloon, 2 sandwich bags, a hat and two condoms still in the wrappers. 
 
Comments
Comments: Going into this hike I knew we could be in for an adventure. I had not seen a trip report going from Cabot to Unknown Pond since January and wasn't sure how the trail would be. We headed in on a very wet York Pond and Bunnell Notch Tr. The first brook we came to was running high but we crossed just upstream on a log. The snow started halfway up to Bunnell Notch with a very unstable monorail. By the time we reached the Kilkenny Ridge Tr there was several feet of snow still on the ground but then it go back to bare ground then snow again. We held off and finally decided to put on the snowshoes about a half mile before Cabot Cabin. It wasn't the easiest snowshoeing as the monorail was 8-10 inches above the snowpack. At the viewpoint just past the cabin there was about 10 road flares that someone had burned and left the spikes all over the ground. I'm not sure what that was about.

After visiting both summit signs on Cabot. The small stick was unreadable we headed north and immediately lost the trail. It was obvious that no one had travelled this way in quite some time. I would find faint tracks for a moment, only to lose them just as fast. The woods were fairly open so we just headed for The Bulge in a zig zag pattern looking for anything that might be the trail. About half way up I plowed through a few thick stand of spruce and found a hallway with a yellow marker. We then followed the trail north and took the spur up to The Horn. The snowshoes came off for the final 100 feet and we were rewarded with excellent views of the Pilot Range, Presidentials, and far into Maine. After leaving The Horn we headed north on the Kilkenny Ridge Tr and as the trail circled around the northern base of the cone we came to a large birch glade where we lost the trail again. We found some moose tracks and some blood. Apparently we weren't the only one having a hard time. The woods were open so we headed in a northerly direction only to discover that we headed to far east of the ridge. When I realized this I followed a small stream back up the ridge and found the trail near a sag with a rotten bog bridge. Sorry to anyone who tries to follow these tracks. We soon made it to the mostly still frozen Unknown Pond and descended along the Unknown Pond Tr.

Just after the pond the snowshoes came off and the snow almost completely disappeared leaving a very wet and muddy trail. The brook was running high but since we were on the way out I didn't hesitate to step in the water when necessary. Total time was about 10hr 15min.  
Name
Name: IQuest 
E-Mail
E-Mail:  
Date Submitted
Date Submitted: 2011-05-01 
Link
Link: https:// 
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