| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Carr Mountain, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Three Ponds Trail, Carr Mountain Trail |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Saturday, July 4, 2020 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
On the west side of Carr Mt. Trail, the designated parking area is not where you come out of the woods. You'll actually descend through a meadow, past a house, and then road walk a short distance to that parking spot. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail, Wet Trail, Wet/Slippery Rock, Standing/Running Water on Trail, Mud - Minor/Avoidable, Mud - Significant |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
Rock hoppable, drama free. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
Blowdowns on the west side of Carr Mountain not too far off the summit, easy to get around. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
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 | Bugs: |
Following, dive bombing, annoying. Various sizes. Not overly bite-y, though. No ticks today. |
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 | Lost and Found: |
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 | Comments: |
Pom-Pom and I on today's adventure. We staged cars on either end, then proceeded west from Three Ponds Trail to Carr Mountain Trail. CMT is less traveled than TPT, but worn fairly well up to the summit area. Wetter and muddier the higher we got. Mud unavoidable in places, and it's the thick squelchy kind that eats shoes and smaller hikers. CMT is steep--don't underestimate the effort required to reach the top just because it's not a 4K.
The summit is viewless unless you bring a ladder. We didn't. In addition to the lack of views, the Carr summit features concrete pilings, remnants of long gone fire tower. The arrangement of the pilings was such that we called it "Carrhenge". Okay, a bit of a stretch, but we needed to amuse ourselves. The summit area is an indistinct series of knobs. We climbed a few of knobs to be sure we stood upon the true summit and lazed in the sun before descending. No survey markers we could find.
The west side of Carr Mt. Trail is rougher than the east, dropping sharply off the summit cone and descending along (and in) a stream for a long way. Less traveled, the trail was covered in forest debris. The stream was running clear and cold. Lower down, I filtered extra water--refreshing. The descent eventually mellowed, widening into an old logging road and emerging to a junction of a spur trail to Waternomee Falls. The 0.2 spur was easy to follow, crossing a cascade after 0.1 or so. The falls were pleasant with a decent overlook you can scramble down to for pictures. The remaining descent back to the car was well tramped out.
Just before leaving the woods, the trail crossed a fresh skidder road. Once finally emerging from the woods, the AMC book talks about a meadow with yellow-topped stakes. No stakes we saw in the meadow, so we followed a vague herd path towards a white house. The trail exits the meadow at the road (driveway?) to the left of the house. There's a brown hiker sign you'll see the back of in front of you. The resident sitting outside asked us if we'd seen any bears. (We hadn't. Not even scat. Fresh moose pellets, though.) From there, it was maybe 0.1 or 0.2 along the road back to the designated parking area. |
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 | Name: |
ecbanks |
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 | E-Mail: |
020655@gmail.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2020-07-05 |
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 | Link: |
 https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/5188859053 |
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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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