| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Round Mountain (Milan), NH |
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 | Trails: |
FR106, bushwhack, herd path |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Saturday, December 4, 2021 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Well, FR105 wasn’t gated and there wasn’t anything prohibiting public vehicular use, so up I went! This will get you an extra 150ft higher and take off about 1/2mi of walking, each way. The road was a bit iffy with FWD but minimal snow and there were tracks on it. The fact that the grade was very gentle was very helpful too. So my car made it. At the jct with FR106, I looked for a place to park. I parked at the start of FR106, pulled off to the side, but I came back to my car with a note politely asking that I not park there as a tractor trailer wouldn’t be able to get around me. They said I was welcome to park on the other side of the road where there was a pullout. Very kind and very reasonable. Just surprised that I wasn’t pulled off far enough. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Snow - Trace/Minimal Depth, Ice - Blue, Snow - Unpacked Powder |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
One small drainage crossing while bushwhacking back to FR106. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
N/A |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
Sure, if you trust them bushwhacking. |
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 | Bugs: |
None |
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 | Lost and Found: |
I’d like to congratulate myself on forgetting my poles on the summit and actually recalling this soon after leaving the summit and going to retrieve them and finding them. I think that’s a first 😂 |
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|
 | Comments: |
Day 34, Peak 32. 1st hike of the day. I was anticipating a very cold and windy day but it wasn’t quite as cold as I thought by the time I started (9:30am) and the wind wasn’t quite as bad either. Furthermore, I didn’t account for the warm sun of the day which was very much appreciated :)
I walked up the easy grades of FR106 enjoying the views toward the Mahoosucs along the way until 1700ft where there was a clearing on my right. I walked into the clearing and there seemed to be a road or two heading out of it, one of which was going my direction. So though I planned on following FR106 to near its end, I hopped off here instead and entered the woods, heading north to the peak. The “road†of course wasn’t much of anything and the bushwhacking began! Nice hardwood forest. Grades were easy-moderate at first, then got steeper. After they got steeper, the forest began to transition too. I started to hit lichen covered ledges and such. I soon hit the summit area and swung around some ledge, to the back side of the high point and walked up to the bright orange canister :)
I signed in, then explored the summit area. I found the viewing ledge on the south side of the summit (shown in blue on Gaia) that a herd path led to. Not far at all from the summit. Just outside the second highest contour line on Gaia. Along the way, I passed some wooden structure and wondered why it was there. Definitely some evidence of human traffic here. I followed one of these herd paths down and wondered if this was the abandoned trail Beth talked about and found on her way down in her report. This headed southwest off of the summit down closer to where I had planned on leaving FR106. Similar to Beth though, I lost it as soon as I hit the hardwoods. I was able to follow it even with snow on it though!
The hardwoods started at about 2000ft southeast of the summit though so I only followed this path for maybe 0.1mi. I was just below the summit ridge here and thought it looked like I might get some views in north if I went back up to the ridge so I took a quick detour but no such luck. I continued southeast in the hardwoods back in the direction of where FR106 ends in the saddle. I crossed the drainage and came back to what seemed like a road shortly before popping out on FR106. There was some blue surveyors tape at the jct of this road I was one and FR106. I walked back down FR106 to my car. The spot I popped back out on FR106 on was about 1/4mi and 150ft above where I left it.
FR106 was icy and I could’ve (should’ve?) used microspikes on it. The hike was about 3.5mi, took just over 2hrs and I gained roughly 750-800ft of elevation. 331 more days and 333 more peaks to go… |
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 | Name: |
Liam Cooney |
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 | E-Mail: |
liamcooney96@gmail.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2021-12-06 |
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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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