| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Ames Mountain, Currier Hill (Wentworth), NH |
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 | Trails: |
ATV Trail, bushwhack |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Saturday, April 30, 2022 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
We parked roadside along Eastside Rd in Wentworth to the west of the peaks. We parked opposite the ATV road. Not too hard to fit 2 cars. |
|
 | Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail, Snow - Trace/Minimal Depth, Mud - Minor/Avoidable, Mud - Significant, Snow/Ice - Small Patches |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
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|
 | Water Crossing Notes: |
None |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
There were 3-4 blowdowns some of which were a pain along the ATV trail; it was not overgrown. |
|
 | Dog-Related Notes: |
Sure |
|
 | Bugs: |
Some are out but not yet annoying. |
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 | Lost and Found: |
None |
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|
 | Comments: |
Day 181, Peaks 171 & 172. A sunny but windy day that took a bit longer than anticipated to warm up!
There’s a road shown on Gaia to the west of the peaks that’s roughly due west of Currier Hill. That’s the ATV road you want. Though Gaia doesn’t show it ascending all the way to the summit of Ames, it does. It ends at a nice lookout just to the south of the true summit with a view east toward the southern ridge of Carr Mtn. It’s a very short bushwhack from there to the true summit of Ames which had a register. The ATV road starts off at easy-moderate grades, then goes through a flat-ish section, then ascends moderately again until the point on Gaia where it’s shown to stop. From there to the summit, the trail switchbacks but is relatively steep, especially for an ATV trail. Mileage to summit was 2-2.25mi with nearly 1500ft of gain.
From the summit of Ames Mtn, I favored the east side of the summit ridge, trying to get a good glimpse of Carr. This led to me hit the swampy area just east of the col rather than the col itself. I think this happens frequently enough to bushwhackers on these peaks. I recommend going over the small knob north of Ames and down to the true col. The swamp is swampy enough I wasn’t going to deal with it and I had to scramble up a steep back to get above the swamp and closer to this knob. There was some erosion on this mini-scramble which is what made me think many hikers made the same mistake I did. This wet area is shown on CalTopo. From the col, I followed the minor and very steep S/SW ridge of Currier Hill. I signed in noting that I missed a fellow bushwhacker by just 30min!! This would mean that we somehow missed each other in between the peaks as he said he was headed to Ames. He must’ve been smarter than me and stuck to the true col/ridge rather than descend to the swamp, lol. That said, further to my surprise, my parents, who stayed on top of Ames for lunch, then descended the ATV road, didn’t run into him. So, chances are, this guy didn’t know about the ATV road.
From the summit of Currier, I descended S/SW very steeply for a ways before the grades moderated. When I hit roughly 1600ft, I contoured S/SW to intersect the ATV road just south of a switchback roughly 2/3mi from the summit along the road. A quick but ankle-rolly sort of hike down the ATV road back to the car. Total hike was about 4.75mi with 1600ft of gain. There was only a light dusting of quickly melting snow here and there up around the summits. The woods were never real thick, generally pleasant enough.
184 more days and 193 more peaks to go… |
|
 | Name: |
Liam Cooney |
|
 | E-Mail: |
liamcooney96@gmail.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2022-05-03 |
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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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