| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Bacon Ledge, Round Mountain (Stoddard), Trout Pond, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Trout-N-Bacon Trail, snowmobile trail |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Saturday, January 8, 2022 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Shedd Hill Rd is certainly much wider than Old Antrim Rd but actually had less places to park. No plowed pullouts near the snowmobile trail. The road was wide enough you could park right on it and cars could get around but it was a busy enough road that we weren’t sure if people would like that. Just beyond the gated road, on the left, there were tracks just off the road that allowed me to get partially off of it. So we spotted a car there. Other options would’ve been to park just beyond, at the bottom of the hill, at the jct of Shedd Hill Rd and Fox Run Rd. I’d imagine there’s room there. If you’ve only got FWD, I’d recommend making sure you’ve got a little momentum on the big hill you crest just before reaching the snowmobile trail. Old Antrim Rd was much narrower but well plowed and sanded and my FWD without snow tires did surprisingly well on it. There’s a large plowed spot at near the start of the road and another one a few tenths of a mile in where we parked and started. I wasn’t paying attention but I don’t think there was any room to park at the actual trailhead. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Ice - Black, Snow - Trace/Minimal Depth, Ice - Blue, Snow - Packed Powder/Loose Granular, Snow - Unpacked Powder |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Light Traction |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
None but the snowmobile trail goes through a marsh as seen on Gaia. In very high water I imagine this could flood…or beavers could flood it. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
Trout-N-Bacon Trail was surprisingly well blazed in yellow most of the way to Bacon Ledge. Just before the ledge scramble, it was a bit hard to know which way to go as there wasn’t as much blaze but that’s likely because it’s underneath the snow on the rocks. Beyond Bacon Ledge, the trail is lightly used and overgrown at times as the guidebook mentions but there’s still regular (just not frequent) blazing. Often in faded yellow, sometimes in newer yellow (may have been the plastic yellow kind). A few blowdowns on this section between Bacon Ledge and Trout Pond. The trail went around most and I think we only actually clambered over one. Hopefully they’ll get removed at some point. Someone had come up to Bacon Ledge from the Trout Pond side (and gone north on the snowmobile trail rather than south) so we had tracks to follow which of course made following the trail trivial). |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
Sure |
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 | Bugs: |
None |
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 | Lost and Found: |
None |
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 | Comments: |
Day 69, Peak 64: Round Mtn in Stoddard. Cold and windy but a beautifully sunny day. We got a ridiculously late start at 1pm so temps had risen plenty at least 😂 And, we were pleasantly surprised to experience very little wind.
A short and pleasant hike with easy-moderate grades with one little scramble. Nice views from the summit and some nice forest before and after Bacon Ledge. Shortly before the boulder that many think is the high point, and just before where Gaia has the summit icon, start looking to your right for what looks like a high point. Wasn’t hard to spot at all and the jar was visible from the trail.
Trout Pond was scenic with Nancy Mtn behind it. Coming out the snowmobile trail was a bit of a pain as it’s rather long and actually a good portion of it is uphill as you climb near the col of Proctor and Stacey Hill, then contour along the side of Stacey. Not exactly scenic either. From where we parked the loop was about 5mi with about 900ft of gain. One might consider doing this loop the opposite direction, getting the snowmobile trail over first this not going uphill at the end, and also cut out a couple hundred feet of gain.
296 more days and 301 more peaks to go… |
|
 | Name: |
Liam Cooney |
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 | E-Mail: |
liamcooney96@gmail.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2022-01-09 |
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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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