| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Two Grants Peak (Southeast Horne Brook Peak), Hellgate Mountain (East Horne Brook Peak), NH |
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 | Trails: |
Abbott Brook Road, snowmobile trails, bushwhack, road walk |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Thursday, March 10, 2022 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
I parked at a large, plowed area at the jct of Abbott Brook Rd and Parmachenee Rd. One other car there (snowmobiling) when I arrived and returned. Room for many cars here. Parmachenee Rd was a bit slushy on my drive in. Better than being muddy soft though. Took it slow on my drive out but it was okay. There are two, maybe three, washout/drainages in the rosd. They aren’t that large so you don’t need a lot of clearance but they’re very sharp so make sure to watch out for them and go slow. They are toward the beginning of the road. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Ice - Blue, Ice - Breakable Crust, Snow/Ice - Frozen Granular, Snow - Wet/Sticky |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Snowshoes |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
None |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
The snowmobile trails were clear of obstructions as far as I recall. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
Grades are steep enough going up Hellgate/East Horne that some dogs may struggle. |
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 | Bugs: |
None |
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 | Lost and Found: |
None |
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 | Comments: |
Day 130, Peaks 112&113. 3rd hike and 3rd&4th peaks of the day after Square Mtn and Halfmoon Mtn a bit south of here. I started around 2:30pm in the heat of the day so the snow was quite soft/wet when I started.
I walked N/NW along Abbott Brook Rd until another road/snowmobile trail diverged SW which I followed to its end partway up the NE drainage between the two peaks. The road has been snowmobiles at some point but no snowmobiles out today. It was a quick walk at flat/easy grades. From near the end of this road I began whacking W/SW toward the peak in an open area on some overgrown roads. I came to the base of the very steep east and southeast side of the mountain and began climbing SW briefly to attain what I looked like a minor SE ridge of the mountain. I got on that and continued to climb, still quite steeply west, curving north. The woods became thicker and thicker too, transitioning to every bushwhackers favorite: spruce!
I was lucky enough however to find some snowshoe tracks of a fellow bushwhacker that had done these peaks not that long ago. I was mostly able to follow their tracks to the summit which was nice as they navigated me through the spruce. Things leveled out shortly before 2400ft and the woods opened up. It was quite beautiful actually. Still some fir stands to walk through though and with them came some spruce traps. Crunchy snow and a low snow depth test meant they were pretty mild but still a PITA and something to be cautious of. I found the register easily, signed in, and headed down. I made the decision to not follow my tracks down but aim for the saddle between the peaks. The contour lines seemed no closer than my ascent, and, if anything, a bit more spread out. I made my way over toward a knob just south of the peak, diving into some more spruce traps, then headed down. While there were occasionally nicer grades (2 spots to be exact), they were also cliff bands/large boulders which I had to carefully negotiate my way through to get down to the col. Can’t recommend that route. Maybe better luck if you head due south toward the subpeak??
In any case, I made it down to the saddle, then began whacking up SE through some young growth toward the summit of Two Grant. You might call this a NW ridge of the mountain. I got out of the young growth as I started to ascend though the woods became a bit thick. As I got close to the summit ridge I began slabbing more easterly to the peak. I eventually ran into the snowshoe tracks of a fellow bushwhacker again and followed them to the summit. It took me a little over an hour to get between the summits. From the summit, my plan was to whack down the NE ridge back to Parmachenee Rd. I had to fight through some thick woods around the summit but soon found better woods and a good line down the ridge, generally staying a bit below and to the east of it. At 1800ft, I turned right and headed more easterly toward Parmachenee Rd through some young growth. I hit Parmachenee Rd and had a 1/4mi road walk back to my car. While snow depths throughout this hike were more than I saw elsewhere this day and the day after on my hikes, the snow on this ridge was deeper and particularly crunchy. The descent wasn’t a terribly fun time. Part of the crunchiness of the snow could’ve been due to the setting sun and cooling temps as I made it back to my car just before dark!
The hike was about 4.5mi with 1400ft of elevation gain, taking me about 3.5hrs to complete. 235 more days and 252 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: |
2022-03-12 |
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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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