| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Mudgets Pond Peak, Pollard Hill, Thompson Hill, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Cummings Pond Road, Norris Hill Trail bike trail, bushwhack, unknown roads, Sanborn Trail, Ridge Trail, Corridor 24 |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Friday, April 29, 2022 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
The roads here are confusing when looking at Gaia. 1/2-3/4mi north of Dorchester as shown on Gaia, turn left off of North Dorchester Rd onto what’s shown as Cummings Pond Rd and drive to drivable end where Gaia goes from a solid white line (usually drivable) to a grayish line (usually a woods road). There’s parking for several cars here and it’s easily drivable. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail, Snow - Trace/Minimal Depth, Wet Trail, Standing/Running Water on Trail, Mud - Minor/Avoidable, Mud - Significant, Snow/Ice - Small Patches |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
Nothing of significance |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
I’m sure there were some blowdowns along the roads/snowmobile trails. I think Gaia has the jcts with the bike trails in the correct place but they’re all so smooshed together that the jcts are still confusing. I recommend consulting Gaia when you arrive at one if you’re looking for the shortest distance route. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
Sure |
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 | Bugs: |
Yes but not annoying yet |
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 | Lost and Found: |
None |
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 | Comments: |
Day 180, Peak 167, 169, and 169. 1st hike of the day.
We walked in on the extension of the road, then bore right, then left to stay on what’s shown as Cummings Pond Rd on Gaia, now headed north toward the hike trails. We curved around the north side of the mountain along Cummings Pond Rd, then took Norris Hill Trail and Captain Norris Climb to cut off some distance. We connected back with a road that’s along the north ridge of Mudgets Pond Peak and followed it briefly before starting our whack up to the summit. We reached the “summit area” or summit ridge within just a couple hundred feet but then you have to walk along it for about 0.1mi to reach the highpoint and jar wishing wasn’t hard to find. Woods were fine.
We came off the summit sort of awkwardly. Rather than follow a minor ridge down to the west, I got off the summit ridge too soon and sort of contoured below it on a sidehill, with some steep, rocky descent along the way. Very doable but not a nice line. Open woods. We hit the road just to the east of Mudgetts Pond at a switchback. We followed the road south to a jct with another unnamed road on Gaia. We followed this other road for about 1/3mi west. The plan was to turn left and follow an unnamed road that eventually becomes ridge Trail and Corridor 24 on Gaia but we missed the turn for it (sometimes Gaia says there’s a road but there’s not or it’s very overgrown) and ended up bushwhacking to the west of it. Anyway, we eventually get on Ridge Trail and Corridor 24 and follow it through the col of Pollard Hill and Thompson Hill. The plan was to descend slightly from the col to a road that travelled W/NW partway up the SE ridge of Pollard. Unfortunately there was no road so we just whacked from where it was supposed to start. Decent woods and grades up this SE ridge to the summit of Pollard.
From the summit, we took a more direct line to the col, heading just north of east. I’d heard that this could be thick toward the road and wet but this is only the last 0.1mi to the road. The rest of the walk is pleasant enough. We walked north along Ridge Trail for a couple hundred feet, then turned right, and headed E then SE to the summit of Thompson Hill. A bit steep at the start but not as bad as I thought it might be given the contours. Some cool woods around the summit. We signed in and headed (foolishly) NW off the summit in fine woods. Given that we were heading east back toward the car, we should’ve headed NE off the summit but I may have gotten my directions confused. Anyway, we hit Sanborn Trail and followed it E/SE to a jct shown on Gaia. The road that travels 1.2mi from this point north back toward our cars was not obvious as it’s not overgrown. We managed to follow it but it wasn’t good walking with young hardwoods and some brush along the way. It gets better as you head north. We finally turned right back onto Cumming Pond Rd and reached our cars in 0.4mi.
Overall, this hike was a lot longer than I realized. Then again I didn’t plan too much for this one, took us to a starting point I didn’t mean to (had only planned on Pollard and Thompson but given where we parked it made sense to get Mudget too). Gaia had us at 12.5mi with about 1600ft of gain, taking 6hr20min. Also, many of the roads, especially Ridge Trail/Corridor 24 through the Thompson/Pollard col, were wet and no fun. There’s probably a much more efficient way to get these than the way we did.
185 more days and 196 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: |
2022-05-02 |
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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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