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Hiking Trail Conditions Report
Peaks
Peaks Mt. Roberts, Faraway Mountain, NH
Trails
Trails: Mt. Roberts Trail, High Ridge Trail, herd path, Faraway Mountain Trail, Cold Spring Trail, Cold Spring Road
Date of Hike
Date of Hike: Saturday, May 23, 2020
Parking/Access Road Notes
Parking/Access Road Notes: Many different spots to park. The closest seemed to be a grassy area below the barn just past the trail signs but I wasn’t so sure we could park there so we parked further back and walked. There was one car there at 9am though. A few more around 2:15pm. The various parking areas were not very full at all when we arrived but were definitely hopping by the time we left.  
Surface Conditions
Surface Conditions: Dry Trail, Wet Trail, Mud - Minor/Avoidable, Mud - Significant 
Recommended Equipment
Recommended Equipment:  
Water Crossing Notes
Water Crossing Notes: None that I recall.  
Trail Maintenance Notes
Trail Maintenance Notes: Overall, these trails are in great shape in many ways and well maintained. There is a mid-sized widow maker leaning across the trail on Faraway Mtn Trail not far from its jct with High Ridge Trail. If there were other blowdowns, then time has erased my memory of them several days later unfortunately. Mount Roberts Trail, Faraway Mtn Trail, and Cold Spring Trail (and road) were all marked by orange diamonds. High Ridge Trail was I believe had blue diamonds. The unofficial trail to Faraway Mtn was not marked as far as I recall but was still on a wide road and obvious so no problem at all following it to its end. I don’t remember if the loop around the summit of Roberts had markings on it but it was unsigned. It seemed insignificant as it didn’t really pass any viewpoints although just off trail seemed to be the true high point of the mountain?? The blazed were relatively frequent but the trails were all very easy to follow anyway due to them mostly being on wide roads. Cairns marked the Mt Roberts Trail on ledges. The sign for Cold Spring Road along Cold Spring Trail was placed in a confusing manner. It is placed in the woods at least several dozen feet before the actual road where there doesn’t appear to be a trail or road.  
Dog-Related Notes
Dog-Related Notes: Saw several and had no problems. These trails should be fine for most dogs but the loop I did may be long if they aren’t used to hiking. Beware that there’s no very little water anywhere on the loop and that this area is well known for proliferating ticks.  
Bugs
Bugs: The bugs were out but not terrible or as bad as the day before in the Evans Notch area. I think all of us used spray and I few still opted to use their head nets at time.  
Lost and Found
Lost and Found: I think my head net may have fallen out of my pocket somewhere along the Mount Roberts Trail. It probably would have been towards the middle of it. Dad packed out some trash as always :)  
 
Comments
Comments: Did this as mom’s celebratory birthday hike #1! My mother, father, our friend, and I did an out-and-back to Roberts. I continued on High Ridge Trail, doing the out-and-back to the true summit of Faraway Mtn along the way, then took Faraway Mtn Trail, and Cold Sprinf Trail/Rd down. The out-and-back to Roberts is 5.4mi with about 1400ft of gain and Gaia had my hike at just over 10mi with about 1600ft of gain.

The Mount Roberts Trail is VERY dry. Some spots of minor mud but it had mostly dried. No major mud, puddles, wet rock, etc. Very impressive! The lack of rain recently has really dried things out nicely where there wasn’t still more snow to melt (this continuing the endless mud cycle in those areas). There are just one or two spots of more significant mud on the High Ridge Trail around the swampy area but really not bad at all. Everything else was dry except for two sections of Cold Spring Trail that were all clogged and mucked up with wet leaves and water and presumably some bad mud underneath. There are paths around these areas but I tried to just rock hop through and not contribute to the trail creep. Not a sign of snow anywhere.

I think I only saw six people once past Mt Roberts. Two trail runners presumably doing the loop I was doing or something very similar as were another two pair we met on Roberts and I played leap frog with a bit between there and Faraway Mtn. Then a couple that was looking for a lookout somewhere along Cold Spring Trail (they didn’t seem to really know what they were doing and I couldn’t really help them as I didn’t recall any viewpoint on the trail). Mount Roberts Trail was much busier of course but really not that bad. Pretty easy to social distance as it wasn’t overcrowded, had wide trails, and no one was totally oblivious or rude. It did seem like the Pond Loop was pretty packed upon our return though.

Can’t believe this was my first time hiking in the Ossipees!! Looking forward to more hikes and redlining in this area :) The trails were all very easy to follow although note my comment about the trail sign in the trail maintenance section.  
Name
Name: Liam Cooney 
E-Mail
E-Mail: liamcooney96@gmail.com 
Date Submitted
Date Submitted: 2020-05-27 
Link
Link: https:// 
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