| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Chickwolnepy Mountain, Chickwolnepy Mountain - South Peak , NH |
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 | Trails: |
French Hill Road Extension, bushwhack |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Thursday, August 18, 2022 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Drive French Hill Rd off of East Side River Rd in Milan for almost 2.5mi where you’ll see a gated road on left. This is the French Hill road extension. Park here. Plenty of room for a car or two without blocking the gate. Do not be a doofus like myself and continue all the way down French Hill Rd until you’re in someone’s driveway ;P The road is dirt most of the way but residential and suitable for any car. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Wet Trail, Wet/Slippery Rock, Standing/Running Water on Trail, Mud - Minor/Avoidable, Mud - Significant |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
None but beware that the Berlin/Gorham/Milan area seemed to get more water than everywhere else at 2+ inches so everything is chocked full of water. I’d anticipate stream crossings being high the next few days especially up north. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
Would be great if someone wanted to brush out the road ;P |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
They’d be one wet, stinky dog after today. |
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 | Bugs: |
A couple mosquitos but not bad at all. |
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 | Lost and Found: |
None |
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 | Comments: |
Day 291, Peaks 266 & 267. Since getting back from CO I’d been wanting to get back out before I fell any further behind but had things to do Mon and Tues. Wednesday I was a little concerned about the weather plus I still had lots I could do. So today I figured I’d wait until the rain was done, then head out. I’d get a little wet at least, but how bad could it be?
Pretty horrendous. First time I’ve poured water out of my waterproof boots at the end of a hike. Anyway, what’s evidently called the French Hill Rd Extension is the last road shown diverging from French Hill Rd on Gaia, traveling north, then east. Where it’s shown on Gaia as curving south again near its end, the actual road continues straight. Also, note that CalTopo doesn’t seem to have the start of the road on the right place or shows something different though it eventually merged with the road shown on CalTopo and followed it from there.
The road is nice for a ways. Many puddles but not muddy. If it wasn’t gated I would’ve taken my mid clearance 2WD beehive down it for at least a mile or so. Some other roads diverge from it, one of which some have used to access Bald Mtn. I stuck to the main road and if I had a doubt, just checked my bearing on Gaia to make sure I was going the way I wanted to. The road gradually becomes brushier then seems to end at a clearing just shy of 1600ft or so. You can still sort of follow the road on game paths but this is where I got sopping wet pushing through the brush and the rain I thought was done began to really come down. Unpleasant but still technically followable though not really rosd like anymore from here to the col. Very wet, muddy footing with a good deal of standing water too. I took a new bearing and headed SE toward the summit of South Chick just shy of the col. Woods were young as others have noted but not right or really whippy. Quick 1/4mi at a moderate grade to the summit. Not hard to find the jar.
I headed NW off the summit with a little too much emphasis on the N and crossed just north of the true col. I slabbed right on up to the summit of Chick at easy-moderate grades. Same sort of woods as on the south summit. I did hit some wet areas in here though unlike South Chick. That may be the discoloration at 1800ft shown on Gaia south of the summit. Certainly not a new logged/brushy area (thank goodness). Not hard to find the register though the summit area is relatively flat and long.
I considered going to Bald but ultimately decided to avoid the nasty logged stuff and approach from the north instead. I returned the same way and, while still soaked, at least it stopped raining on my way out. The hike was about 6.75mi with 850ft of gain, some of which, though very minor, was on the road on the way out. 74 more days and 98 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: |
2022-08-18 |
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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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