| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Big Bickford Mountain, NH |
|
 | Trails: |
Skookumchuck Trail, bushwhack |
|
 | Date of Hike: |
Tuesday, June 23, 2020 |
|
 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Parked at trailhead, 3-4 cars at a time there, plenty of room today during the week. |
|
 | Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail, Mud - Minor/Avoidable |
|
 | Recommended Equipment: |
|
|
 | Water Crossing Notes: |
No issues |
|
 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
A little mud on the Skook here and there, but easy to get around. (Note I never was higher than 3100 ft on this trail today) |
|
 | Dog-Related Notes: |
|
|
 | Bugs: |
Yep, but only occasionally getting aggravating. I was wearing long pants, hat and long sleeve shirt, and used Deet 15 spray twice. Intermittent breeze helped.
No ticks encountered. And I waded thru tons of deep ferns. Plenty of spiderwebs; you learn to look for them and swing your poles thru them. |
|
 | Lost and Found: |
|
|
|
|
|
 | Comments: |
After reading the reports, it seemed there were two popular ways to bushwhack this peak, both of them start the bushwhack off the Skook. Either start at Jordan Brook, or start at around 3000 ft. Given I'm teaching myself how to do this, I did both: I started at Jordan Brook, went up and over the peak, and returned back to the Skook at 3100 feet.
For the Jordan Brook start, I measured a 96.5 bearing off the map, and added 14 to it for a declination, for a 110 bearing. It took me, tree to tree, directly to the peak. I stayed right on the line, pretty much irregardless of what was in front of me, because this is only the second time I've relied on just the compass. I checked myself with Gaia every half hour or so, but I really wanted to do the climb by compass alone and start getting that shit down. So I was pretty tickled to see this little device really does work!! Now, because I stayed right on the line, I found cliffs with clearly recently used big den activity. Not wishing to be 10' from a bear, esp after reading the Teal One's recent Kinsman's report!!, I was vewy quiet passing thru this area. Vewy quiet. This is around the 3040-3060 foot contour.
I also learned from the reports that this is an 'easy' hike. So I've come to the conclusion that if I'm going to keep doing this stuff, I probably will have to toughen up!!
I found the canister and signed in, enjoyed the views, and used Gaia to head towards Lafayette, popping out back on the Skook at 3100 feet. I relaxed and had lunch and then limped on down.
And now, time to crack open a Cherry Garcia, to close down an awesome day.
|
|
 | Name: |
Steve Marion |
|
 | E-Mail: |
swampfoxsteve@gmail |
|
| Date Submitted: |
2020-06-23 |
|
 | Link: |
 https:// |
|
|
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. |
|
