| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Peak Above the Nubble , NH |
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 | Trails: |
Little River Road, herd path, Haystack Road, FR304A, bushwhack |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Monday, December 20, 2021 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
We parked at 7 Dwarves and left $10 on the windshield. My friend was kind enough to drive me from the public parking at the info center in Twin Mtn (across from Yaya’s - School St) as I was worried about what Little River Rd and the 7 Dwarves parking would look like. While the road would’ve been easily passable for my FWD car, the parking area would’ve been a bit more challenging. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Snow - Trace/Minimal Depth, Snow - Packed Powder/Loose Granular, Snow - Unpacked Powder |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Light Traction |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
I believe you’re supposed to take off your spikes when you cross the bridges over Little River. None beyond that. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
I’d keep them leashes down low since you’re near houses and I think private property for awhile, but most hiking dogs could probably handle this hike. |
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 | Bugs: |
None |
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 | Lost and Found: |
None |
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 | Comments: |
Day 50, Peak 46. First hike of the day. Got a late start just after 9:30am. We finished at about 2:15pm. The hike was about 5.5mi with 2200ft of gain. Partly sunny and beautiful blue skies. We didn’t feel the wind though we did have a cold start.
Some blowdowns along the summit ridge to work around. If ascending, go around to your right. We tried left on our way up and it was much more difficult. I believe there were a handful of other blowdowns as well but these were the most significant. The herd path to PATN is only marked very occasionally with yellow surveyors tape but the tape isn’t frequent at all. The path was followable when shown on Gaia and a bit more of a bushwhack when it doesn’t show a path on Gaia. I imagine it’s much easier to follow in summer when there’s not snow obscuring the footbed.
From the 7 Dwarves lot, continue up the road, and just before the end of it, take a right onto a road shown as a dotted line on Gaia; I believe it’s a snowmobile trail. You cross a bridge over Little River here and I believe that the landowners ask you to remove your spikes when you cross it. On the other side of the bridge, you’ll see a small sign that says “Trail†and points you left into the woods. Follow this trail to Haystack Rd. For the North Twin Trailhead, take a left, for Peak Above the Nubble (PATN) take a right. Then, almost immediately, take a left onto FR304A. After about 1/4mi, turn right onto the herd path that will lead you to PATN.
The herd path was narrow through the brush but easy to follow. The forest transitions from brush to young growth hardwoods. Unlike a true bushwhack though, this was actually quite pleasant as there was a clear path between them. Plus, the snow on them and the morning light shining through them was absolutely gorgeous! This was my friends favorite part of the hike :) While the snow was beautiful, there was not nearly as much of it as I expected. My iPhone’s weather app said that the town of Twin Mtn got about 7in of snow but there was only about 3-4in here. On Gaia, it shows this path as 0.6mi. For almost the first half of this 0.6mi segement, the grade is easy-moderate. It becomes steeper in its second half as it works to attain a northern ridge of the peak. Around when you gain the ridge, 1) the forest transitions for hardwood beauty to softwood beauty, and 2) the path on Gaia stops and the hike becomes a bit more bushwhacky. That said, I think we were still on a path sometimes, it was just harder to follow through this section. I didn’t use a compass and didn’t check Gaia much if at all either. Very easy “bushwhackingâ€; just follow the ridge.
At about 3100ft, we came to a beautiful view on our left. Some of the views from this peak seemed somewhat unique. I really enjoyed them! Rarely do I feel like a get a clear view of Hale and Zealand :) This is a view spur though which we didn’t realize at first so we had to backtrack to find the trail. This happened a few other times as we worked our way to the summit ridge as well. I believe one of them was one of the other herd paths to the summit. Anyhow, you gain what I’d call the “summit ridge†at just above 3400ft and I over a series of bumps before hitting the summit. Some blowdown messiness here and this section took awhile. A couple of “which way do we go?†moments but Gaia also shows you regaining a path here and there was definitely a followable trail to the summit. We signed in, checked out a nearby view, and returned the same way.
Surprisingly, there was no more snow at elevation than there was down low. If anything, it felt like there was a bit more in the hardwoods than up high. The trees must’ve caught it all ;) Footing was a little tricky of course with snow covered rocks and roots but that’s all part of the game. Some steep parts and a bit of east scrambling but all in all, I wouldn’t call this a steep hike. I think I would quite like it in summer :)
315 more days and 319 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: |
2021-12-22 |
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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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