| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Crotched Mountain, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Shannon’s Trail |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Thursday, December 23, 2021 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Parked at the lot on Crotched Mtn Road. The lot was icy and a bit rutted so wheels will spin if you give it too much gas but any car should be able to get in and out of the lot. Room for at least a dozen cars but never more than three there on Thursday morning. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Ice - Black, Snow - Trace/Minimal Depth, Ice - Blue, Ice - Breakable Crust, Snow/Ice - Frozen Granular |
|
 | Recommended Equipment: |
Light Traction |
|
 | Water Crossing Notes: |
The brook crossing at 1.1mi was an easy rock hop. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
The trail, as the guidebook notes, is not signed at its start, though it’s signed at some later jcts but then not again coming off of the summit. The guidebook says that it’s blazed in yellow but in addition to yellow diamonds I also saw white ones. No blowdowns that I recall. The guidebook describes the section after the clearing at 0.4mi as needing care to follow and overgrown. The later is certainly true but not hard to follow in my opinion. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
Two well behaved dogs seen that seemed to be doing fine. Seems like a fine trail for dogs. |
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 | Bugs: |
None |
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 | Lost and Found: |
None |
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|
 | Comments: |
Day 53, Peak 48. 1st hike of the day. A cold (low 20s) and very windy day. Started at 9:45am and finished almost 2hrs later. Sunny blue skies and nice views :)
I recommend starting with microspikes from the car. The lot is icy and the trail is all hard snow: the kind where footprints become icy. Though spikes aren’t needed at the start they are later and there’s pretty consistent snow cover so you won’t damage them. Some thicker exposed ice in a section or two; I slipped on it on my way down even with microspikes.
As noted above did, the trail isn’t signed at its start but isn’t hard to follow. When I made it to the view near the summit where most people turn around (there’s a picnic table here) I had a bit of trouble figuring out where the spur path was to the true summit. There was a path behind the “Upper Link Trail†sign that seemed like it went the right direction but I knew Upper Link Trail didn’t take you to the summit. Turns out that I was facing the sign the wrong way and what I was seeing was the spur trail and Upper Link actually went a different direction. The spur path was packed at first and followed what Gaia calls “Peak Trail†for a bit but then did its own thing. It took me to the service road and I walked around the towers which seemed to be around the high point to me. I made sure to explore the summit and convince myself I hit the high point and rocks/boulders near the towers seem to be it. It’s not really in the woods and while there’s not an open view, you do have some “peek-a-boo†views.
I made my way back down the same way leaving my microspikes on the entire trip down. 3.5-3.75mi with 850ft of gain taking a little less than 2hrs. 312 more days and 317 more peaks to go… |
|
 | Name: |
Liam Cooney |
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 | E-Mail: |
liamcooney96@gmail.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2021-12-24 |
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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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