| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Prospect Mountain (Pittsburgh) , NH |
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 | Trails: |
Road walk, Cohos Trail |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Friday, December 17, 2021 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Route 3 was clear of snow/ice. The dirt roads off of it in Pittsburgh, were sometimes clear at the start, but would soon become at least somewhat icy so I’d take care. I took a left off of Rt 3 (headed north) onto what’s shown on Gaia as “Hill Danforth Rd†and what’s shown on my iPhone’s maps app as “Danforth Rdâ€. According to Gaia, this road ends before too long and go access the CT, you take a left before it’s end. At this point the road becomes rougher and you’ve got to go up a VERY steep hill. My FWD vehicle struggled more than I thought and barely made it up over this hill. Without AWD I would not recommend going up that hill given that my car was barely able to. This hill was clear of all snow/ice. If it wasn’t, I’d recommend even more caution and I surely wouldn’t have gone up it. Beyond that, the road is flatter but then the ice appears. I shortly pulled off on the side of the road in a wider spot before I got myself into trouble. The road is somewhat narrow and I wasn’t able to get completely off the road but there was a enough room for a car to get by. No notes left on my windshield when I returned but it still may be smart to park below the steep hill unless you’re confident you can make it all the way to the trailhead parking. Though the trailhead wasn’t far at all from where I parked, parts of the road in between here and there were a complete sheet of ice. Note that this was done before yesterdays and todays snow storm. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail, Ice - Black, Snow - Trace/Minimal Depth, Wet Trail, Ice - Blue, Wet/Slippery Rock, Ice - Breakable Crust, Snow - Wet/Sticky, Snow/Ice - Small Patches |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Light Traction |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
None |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
The CT is blazed in yellow. In general, I find that they are making a good effort to blaze the CT very well, however the trail corridor through woods is often very narrow and, at times, seemingly random with odd twists and turns, thus can be easy to lose if you aren’t paying attention to the blazes. This section of it, however, mostly followed roads thus was easy to follow. There is a little cluster of blowdowns near the start of the trail but there is a very well established herd path (or perhaps legit reroute, though without blaze/flagging) around them. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
There’s a dog that’ll bark at you from one of the yards as you head up. A good trail for dogs though I’d probably recommend keeping them leashes at least down low as the trail weaves through the neighborhood especially in summer when more people are likely to be around. |
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 | Bugs: |
None |
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 | Lost and Found: |
None |
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 | Comments: |
Day 47, Peak 43. 1st hike of a trifecta done in Pittsburgh on Friday. I started at about 10:45am and the hike took just under an hour, spending some time around the summit area. Not too cold but of course incredibly windy. Didn’t feel too bad until around the summit and then on the way down when I was facing into it. Bad enough that I almost stopped to get out my balaclava even though I knew I’d be out of it in just a few mins.
I didn’t bother to use my spikes though this involved some very careful tiptoeing and walking along the edges of the road to get to the trailhead. They would’ve taken a beaten on the trail at times but other times they would’ve been useful. So I’d say, in an ideal situation, rock beaters would be the best. I continued up the roads, then took a left crossed the very icy section of the road, then the trail was immediately on my right with the parking area on my left. No one else was around.
The trail starts off as a footpath through the forest, then, as it nears the end of the neighborhood, comes onto a road. It ascends at mostly east-moderate grades. You’ll come to a jct around the summit area. Go to the “view†ahead which is also GP BLVD as shown on Gaia and iPhone maps app and may offer an alternate way to ascend the peak though I think it’s for ATVs only. The true high point (not recognized) is just behind (to the left of) this view a few yards. Not hard at all to find. I explored the area around the summit a wee bit before heading down the same way.
The hike is roughly 1.75mi round trip with about 500ft of gain. 318 more days and 322 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: |
2021-12-19 |
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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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