| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Cave Mountain, Mt. Langdon, The Crippies, Mt. Pickering, Mt. Stanton, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Mt. Langdon Trail, Cave Mountain Path, Mt. Stanton Trail |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Sunday, May 30, 2021 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Good amount of roadside parking on Covered Bridge Lane for Mt. Stanton Trail - a half-dozen vehicles when I arrived, two when we got back. Nice parking area for Mt. Langdon Trail on Cobb Farm Road (right next to River Road) in Bartlett. Only vehicle seen all day. No issues with either lot. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail, Wet Trail |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
One or two small, easy ones on Mt. Langdon Trail. Nothing on Mt. Stanton Trail. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
Lots of blowdowns on all of these trails. Some were in the Wilderness area but most were not. At least a half-dozen blowdowns required bushwhacking around, and several more needed unusual contortions to get by. There were a particularly large number of blowdowns on the west slope of Mt. Langdon, but all sections of the trails had some. Some portions of Mt. Stanton Trail were heavily eroded and others required care to follow. Some of the steep sections on Mt. Stanton and Cave Mountain were very gravelly and slippery. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
Didn't see any, but they'd probably be fine as long as they're OK with steep, gravelly trails. |
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 | Bugs: |
For most of the hike, there were none. The only places where we saw bugs were 1) Where we stopped for lunch, in the col between Mt. Langdon and the Crippies, and 2) At the Mt. Stanton Trailhead at the end of the hike. |
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 | Lost and Found: |
Nada. |
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 | Comments: |
This was an enjoyable traverse. We started off this hike by doing Cave Mountain. There's a steep, gravelly section just before the cave that is quite challenging to ascend (and descend). The path heading up to the top of the cliff is also gravelly in spots, so watch your footing, but the view is very good. There seemed to be more beaten paths in the area, maybe going to the summit of Cave Mountain, but I didn't explore them because I still had almost my whole hike ahead of me.
We then continued up Mt. Langdon Trail. This trail is gentle for a while and then becomes a moderate climb, but is never steep, and the footing isn't too bad. Once we passed the junction with Mt. Parker Trail, Mt. Langdon Trail clearly became less used, but was still followable. Soon we passed the Mt. Langdon Shelter, where we met one of the two other hikers we'd see on the hike. He was carrying an enormous backpack and said that he'd planned to do Isolation but decided against it because of the incoming rain. While we were there, we also made use of the privy. It served its purpose (and a note said that it had been sanitized on May 21), but it has no TP and the door is hanging from only one hinge (the other hinge has detached from the wall and is hanging from the door).
Next we started the climb up Mt. Langdon on Mt. Stanton Trail. It was a moderate climb most of the way, but there were a lot of blowdowns. Views from the summit of Langdon are very limited. The descent down the east side of Langdon was steep at times, and the trail was narrow, rough, and on a steep sidehill. This section is also clearly lesser-used, eroded in places, and could definitely use some TLC. Eventually we reached the Crippies - they had some nice views, and the trail wound up and down them in a rugged way, frequently utilizing ledges. Some of the Crippies looked like they would have lots of blueberries in season. The climb up Pickering wasn't too bad, and the descent of it was quite steep and rocky, requiring concentration. In the col between Pickering and Stanton, we met the other of the two hikers we saw, who said he was planning to head all the way to Langdon and was aware that it would start raining soon.
The climb up Stanton was similar to the climb up Pickering - sometimes steep but not too bad. In the vicinity of Stanton are several lookout ledges that would have great views in good weather, but considering that it was clouding up and rain was clearly imminent, we did not linger. Stanton has several steep, gravelly sections of trail that require major caution, particularly descending like we were. We had descended the first section and were walking along the top of Whites Ledge, probably about a mile from the trailhead, when it started to rain in earnest. The rain seemed to make the greens of the leaves and shrubs even more vivid, and I thoroughly enjoyed hiking that last mile out through the rain. The gravelly sections below Whites Ledge also required caution but weren't horrible, and the rest of the descent was mostly gradual.
I should note that I only clicked Wet Trail because of the rain near the end of the hike. The rest of the trail was almost completely dry, and there was very little mud anywhere. Definitely a fun hike! |
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 | Name: |
GN |
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 | E-Mail: |
ghnaigles@gmail.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2021-05-30 |
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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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