| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Cowen Hill, Cowen Hill - North Peak, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Bushwhack, road walk |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Friday, July 15, 2022 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
From Rt 3 in Pittsburgh: Back Lake Rd —> Moose Pond Rd —> Indian Stream Rd —> right onto spur road that heads toward peaks. Back Lake Rd is paved and suitable for any vehicle. Moose Pond could be done by a low clearance car but gets a bit rough toward Indian Stream Rd so if you’re concerned just come in Indian Stream Rd from Rt 3. Indian Stream Rd is in good shape. Can be done by any car with caution around the potholes and divots. You’re going to want at least mid-clearance for the spur rd. Grassy raised centerline and some washout that was a little tricky jo negotiate with my car. I usually had two wheels on the centerline and two wheels on the side of the road. I parked at a grassy flat spot where I knew my car wouldn’t get stuck about 1mi into the road. Walking back along the road, if didn’t look like the road got any rougher so you could continue further if you wished as well. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail, Wet Trail, Mud - Minor/Avoidable, Mud - Significant |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
Nothing more than hop across drainages alongside the road |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
N/A |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
Sure but make sure they don’t get lost in the mud and brush ;P Watch out for the ATVs as you cross the ATV trails too. |
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 | Bugs: |
They weren’t too bad |
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 | Lost and Found: |
None |
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 | Comments: |
Day 257, Peak 252 & 253. 1st hike of the day. A late start at 11am in the 60s and sunny. I didn’t like the idea of coming in from Day Rd and then having to cross Perry Stream. This approach seemed shorter and more straightforward.
From where I parked along the spur rd, I headed into the woods on a bearing to the main peak. As is often the case on these 2000 footers in Pittsburg, I trampled through high brush with very wet footing through a ways. I perhaps should have anticipated this considering Gaia showed me going right through an open area. Oh well. Grades were easy. I crossed the ATV trail NW of the peak just below 2000ft at the 3-way jct. From here on the woods were mostly open hardwoods and the brush disappeared (yay!). The grade steepened but nothing crazy. Not hard to find the register. Though I’d originally planned on doing each peak as an OAB, I didn’t want to return the way I came so I made this into a loop hike instead.
From the summit, I headed N/NE down toward the col. Steep at times, but tho thing crazy and good woods. I hit the west side of the col and crossed the ATV trail. Much like I was afraid of, the col was a swamp. Thanks to dry conditions it was pretty reasonable to walk through but it did get me a bit off bearing. I was aiming for the SW ridge of the peak and while I did end up hitting the two tiny knobs shown on Gaia I hit them from the south rather than the SW which was much steeper/scrambly. Oh well. At least the wet footing was now gone. I’m now noticing what appears to be a short spur road on the far west side of the col a little west of where I crossed the ATV trail. Maybe take that to get you off on a better foot? I followed the SW ridge up to the summit. Took me wandering over a few different bumps before I finally reached the actual summit.
From the summit, I aimed to hit the road at about 1750ft heading generally west but zig-zagging a bit to avoid the open and presumably brushy and wet areas shown on Gaia. I still hit them a bit (mostly the large one close to the peak that I tried to skirt just south of) but was mostly successful and was certainly better than the way I ascended the main peak. Got into a bit of hobblebush mixed in with some of the brush but generally good woods. About 2/3mi road walk back to my car.
The hike was about 4mi with 1000ft of gain. Took me 3.5hrs to complete. 108 more days and 112 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: |
2022-07-16 |
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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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