| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Stratford Mountain - South Peak, Stratford Mountain - North Peak , NH |
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 | Trails: |
Roads, snowmobile trails, bushwhacks |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Sunday, May 1, 2022 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
My dare-devil friend was going to drive down the road to the north of Perham Rd that diverges from it closest to its end, but a blowdown turned the car around. Perham Rd is doable for FWD though I’d recommend mid-clearance. Low-clearance sedans would be going real slow. We turned around and parked off on the side of the road in the brush almost back to the jct with this road and Perham Rd. Wasn’t too soft. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail, Snow - Trace/Minimal Depth, Wet Trail, Standing/Running Water on Trail, Snow/Ice - Frozen Granular, Mud - Minor/Avoidable, Mud - Significant, Snow - Spring Snow, 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: |
The occasional blowdown along a road/snowmobile trail. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
Sure |
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 | Bugs: |
Some are out but not annoying yet |
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 | Lost and Found: |
None |
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 | Comments: |
Day 182, Peaks 173 & 174. 1st hike of the day. A warm, sunny day, just what Liam’s like hiking in best ;) Bring on the sweat and bugs so long as the icky white stuff and cold temps stay away!!
When we got turned around on the easternmost road diverging north from Perham Rd shown on Gaia, we had to walk this road. We followed it for about 1mi heading north, then east, then bore right onto a road that headed SE and would take us a little closer to South Stratford. This road, unlike the first, was rather wet, muddy and had moderate water running down it. Ew. From the end of this road we headed due east toward the north end of the col between South Stratford and a southern subpeak. Woods were open and grades were easy to start, becoming steeper the closer you got to the ridge. We followed the ridge NE to the highpoint of South Stratford, passing over some locally high points along the way. Not hard to find the highpoint. I enjoyed the varied woods along the ridge. Very characteristic of the woods I’ve seen around the Nash Stream Forest Peaks. Some peek-a-boo views toward the Percy’s and Long Mtn. Interesting to see the northern ledges on North Percy. I often see the southern ledges from the road which have been largely snow free for some time but the northern (well NW actually) were still snow-covered.
From the summit, we descended NW off the peak, intersecting the road that roughly parallels the East Branch as shown on Gaia just above 1800ft. We followed this road N for about 1/3mi before bearing left onto a road that headed north to the west of the East Branch. Gaia shows this road coming to a T-jct at 1.6mi. The plan was to go right (east) and follow this road to the peak but there was little remains of a road here. Alas, we followed roughly the same line though, heading east along the western ridge of North Stratford in open woods and at moderate grades. A few small bumps around the summit but not too hard to find the right one and the register.
From the summit, we decided to head due S toward a road shown on Gaia about 1/3mi away. Easy going for most of the way, then we hit thick spruce with some snow in it as we got close to the road. We fought through it slowly to get to the road. It’s doable but certainly not the highlight of the hike. Some wetness in here too. We then followed this road all the way back out to our car, passing a nice water pump and picnic bench for the snowmobilers along the way. The hike was about 9.5mi with 1600ft of gain, taking 6hrs at a relaxed pace with a few longer breaks along the way.
183 more days and 191 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: |
2022-05-03 |
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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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