| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Pollard Hill, Thompson Hill, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Woods roads, snowmobile trails, bushwhack |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Friday, March 27, 2020 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
From route 118 in Dorchester we took Cross Road .8 miles to its plowed drivable end |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail, Snow - Trace/Minimal Depth, Wet Trail, Wet/Slippery Rock, Standing/Running Water on Trail, Snow - Drifts, Snow - Wet/Sticky, Snow - Spring Snow, Snow/Ice - Small Patches |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Snowshoes |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
lots but no issues |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
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 | Bugs: |
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 | Lost and Found: |
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 | Comments: |
From our parking location we started hiking southwest on a wood’s road. Some maps have it as Lower Sheep Farm Rd and others have it as See-It-All Rd. Anyway, this road climbs and skirts to the south of a bump, then drops crossing some drainage and then climbs again. Lots of moose activity on the way. There were several older woods roads baring right, we kept on moving forward. At about a mile we hit a junction with a snowmobile trail and turned south, crossed some drainage and at about a third of a mile we hit a four-way intersection and turned west on another smowmo trail.
As we walked I glanced to the north and spotted an unexpected find, Big Pasture Cemetery which is also known as King Cemetery. This cemetery had almost been taken over by the forest, but folks had placed small American flags by some graves. We spent some time looking at the very worn engravings on headstones dating back into the 1700’s. We could read some of the engravings that lead us to believe they may have been in the revolutionary war. After getting back and doing a little research we discovered there was 29 souls and one of those folks was John Woodworth, born 1748, died 1798, a revolutionary soldier, battle of Bunker Hill an in a siege of Boston under Gen. Putnam.
After thanking them for there service we set off, crossed Indian River, started climbing at moderate grade with lots of moose activity along the way and at another mile or so we hit a junction. At this junction we turned north northwest that was taking us to the col between our first destination Pollard and our second peak, Thompson. At just over a mile as we started to hit the col, at this point we jumped off the smowmo trail and started bushwhacking west following some recent moose tracks through some thick pine. These moose tracks also had several fresh drops of blood near them. This typically is one of two things. A recent antler drop or sometimes it’s from ticks sucking blood and hanging on them.
As we kept following, they started turning into a lot of drops and then a freshly bedded down area that was just blood everywhere and another bedded area with the same. Okay so now we’re thinking it’s not an antler drop, maybe it’s thousands of ticks but we didn’t see any on the snow. Then we’re thinking did this moose just give birth somewhere else and that calf is tucked away nearby. With deep snow in thick woods and concerns of not knowing what was around the corner we thought it best to move along not to irritate momma if that was the case.
After more of the thick and nasty woods we broke out into nice woods and started to climb at moderate grade still heading west toward the summit and recognized high point. After signing in we dropped east back down in nice woods to start, then that same thick stuff to the col further north onto that smowmo trail.
We then followed the smowmo trail north for a short distance, turned east and started our ascent to the summit of Thompson. The climb at first was steep and then turned moderate as we picked up someone’s footprints heading towards the summit. Once at the recognized high point and summit jar we read that Eric H had signed in the day before and mentioned that he was chased by a moose. Was this the same moose?
After signing in we jumped off the summit heading east and about 1800 feet of elevation we picked up an old wood’s road heading south. This woods road faded way and we continued bushwhacking following drainage between Thompson and a bump to its east. After a half mile or so we came upon a smowmo trail, took it southwest, followed that for a short distance picking up another smowmo trail turning southeast bringing us back to one of the smowmo trails we previously were on. From here followed it for just over a mile and a half back to the truck.
This was quite the adventure with my beautiful bride clocking in 9-1/4 miles and 2100 feet of elevation gain +/-
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 | Name: |
Brian Bond |
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 | E-Mail: |
brianbond@comcast.net |
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| Date Submitted: |
2020-03-29 |
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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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