| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Black Mountain (Jackson), West Baldface, NH |
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 | Trails: |
East Branch Trail, old roads, bushwhack |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Sunday, August 21, 2022 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
It’s a long drive in dirt roads but should be doable by low clearance cars though perhaps with a little caution as there are some small rocks jutting out of the road. Note that where the road crosses the East Branch there appears to have once upon a time been some washout. It’s been well filled in with rocks such that it shouldn’t be an issue but you’ll need to go slow over it, at least if you’re in a small car. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail, Wet Trail, Wet/Slippery Rock, Mud - Minor/Avoidable, Mud - Significant |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
Easily rock hopped |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
East Branch Trail is overgrown as it is lightly used. If could certainly be trimmed back but unlikely to happen. As such, I wouldn’t recommend the trail for someone new to hiking and not used to following lesser traveled trails. There’s a number of blowdowns that have likely been there for awhile as there’s herd paths around them for the most part, and, as such, the blowdowns were not generally cumbersome. Same goes for some mud pits on trail. Though I wouldn’t describe the trail to be in poor shape I will say that, based upon what little I remember of it from 2019 last time I was on it, it seems to be in rougher shape. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
This would be a pretty long one for some. |
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 | Bugs: |
There may have been some mosquitos, but if so, they weren’t too bad. |
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 | Lost and Found: |
I guess the backside of my SPOT GPS wasn’t screwed in tightly enough as the back came off, and, with it, a battery. Not sure where it is but I’m guessing on or near the summit, perhaps in the huge, steep fern glade just S/SW of the summit. Unlikely anyone would find it but if you did..: |
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 | Comments: |
Day 294, Peaks 273 & 274. 2nd hike and 3rd and 4th peaks of the day after Round and Slope Mtns nearby. Normally I accurately predict how long hikes, even bushwhacks will take, and, if anything, overestimate how difficult they will be. This one was certainly an exception as it was more of an ass-kicker than I imagined.
I walked about 3mi up East Branch Trail to the 2200ft contour line on Gaia where a road is shown as crossing the trail. On CalTopo, this road is only shown going toward Black Mtn. On Gaia, it shows rosds on both sides heading both toward Black and West Baldface. The East Branch Trail to this point was pleasant enough. Overgrown and with some blowdowns but nothing terribly obnoxious. I walked off trail once or twice. Some herd paths around blowdowns and mud pits can make it confusing; wouldn’t necessarily recommend this trail to a beginner who doesn’t have some experience following lesser used trails. First part of the trail is quite pleasant and has good footing, while the second part becomes a bit rougher.
Luckily, I coincidentally met a friend not too far from the jct of the trail with the old roads who’d just whacked to West Baldface. He informed me that the road was totally grown in and very sprucey. Oh goody. What’s more, he found Mary a trace of it going in the direction of Black. Then again he wasn’t headed in that direction. Indeed the jct of the trail with the old road would be easily walked by without GPS and knowing what to look for. Quite hysterically if you ask me, I only became suspicious I was near it as the trail became enveloped all of a sudden, for a short ways, my young growth hardwoods on either side of it. Push through this hardwoods for a bit and I sure enough found myself on an old road headed to Black Mtn. Yippee!!…let the fun begin.
The road was usually reduced to a single lane herd path through young growth and at times more sprucey stuff as it headed S/SW roughly on the contour for about 0.6mi. It opened up in so far as it looked more like a road and less like a herd path, though still very overgrown, as it approached this jct. Here I turned right (west) and followed another road shown on Gaia up toward Black. It was also very overgrown and unpleasant. Often more like a herd path down low, becoming more road like, though still overgrown, higher up. Grades were generally easy-moderate. Easy to lose in its middle section and care has to be taken to follow it, even by someone used to this stuff.
As the road began to contour S/SW just above 2600ft I began my whack to the NW heading up through hardwoods and overgrown shrubbery at a very steep grade. I’d expected more open woods. Oh well. I attained an eastern ridge partway up which I then followed up to the summit. Again, not thick woods but thick undergrowth like raspberry bushes and such. Not pleasant. Summit area was overgrown too, a bit like Chandler Mtn except more prickly. Highpoint is obvious as it’s a large boulder that you can scramble up on with care. Jar right next to it but was unfortunately waterlogged. I took the old register with me, left the old, broken bottle, and hung one of my water bottles in its place with some cardboard in it. Perhaps the next person up could bring a notepad and an actual jar if they wish (if so, and you wouldn’t mind carrying my water bottle down, that’s be swell). My track down was about 0.1mi SW of my ascent line. Still very steep but no cliff bands on either route. My route down had thicker woods at the top. Probably wouldn’t recommend.
After following this awful road back to East Branch I figured I’d try my luck on the other side of the street. For a ways, I merely paralleled the road. I actually got a huge kick out of how easy it was to follow alongside it in the sense you just had to follow the young growth hardwoods that stood out in the forest. It looked ridiculous. Woods and footing were no treat alongside it either so I came onto the road, which, while overgrown, had a herd path, and I made very good time along until I turned left on another road (shown on Gaia) and followed almost 0.4mi to the next jct on Gaia just east of the river. Getting off the road, however bud a PITA it was, was probably a mistake here. Woods and footing weren’t great alongside it. Just bite the bullet and push through the spruce whipping your shins. I came to a wetlands in this next jct. luckily it was mostly dry but still a little tricky to get across with losing the road, intersection, thick woods, water, etc. I had trouble finding the road, and, once I did find it, it was quite unpleasant.
I finally gave up on the road and began whacking east, then northeast toward the peak. Woods were semi-thick to start. I seemed to pass through an inordinate number of different woods as I slabbed my way NE up toward the peak. Some softwoods, some younger growth hardwood, some wet, brushy areas, but none of them really nice. Passed over the tip of the end of the road on Gaia. Even though the woods weren’t great, grades were easy-moderate until 2600ft at the base of the steeps. Here, I somewhat remarkably came to an absolute monstrosity of a fern glade, and, not only was it the largest I’ve ever seen, it was also, by far, the steepest I’ve ever seen. I slowly trudged my way up through it. The ferns were high; sometimes a game path through them to help you a bit, sometimes not. You know you’re getting close when you climb out of the ferns into softwoods agin, nearing the summit ridge on the south side. I walked the ridge north to the highpoint coming out on to the nice ledges. Easy to find the register. I signed in, enjoyed the views, and down I went. I tried coming down the south side of the summit instead of the S/SW but got pushed west by cliff bands and after contouring around them, basically came down the same ginormous fern glade. From the base of the fern glade, I followed my ascent line fairly closely for a ways before gradually bearing further south away from it as I wanted to avoid the old road this time and figured I could just whack back to the trail in open woods a little further south.
WRONG!!! Even though I was at a low elevation, open hardwoods are to be found nowhere around the East Branch (perhaps I ought to have expected this?!) and the last 1/2mi back to trail was slow going. On the west side of the drainage closer to the trail, you could usually find at least semi-decent woods, but on east side of the drainage it was thick softwoods often enough riddled with blowdowns. Thought I got into an open area once or twice and was rid of them but they soon came back. The trail was a welcome sight and I boogied out.
My usual tolerance for thick whacks may have been substantially less than normal Sunday as I did something I almost never do; wear shorts on a bushwhack. What was I thinking… anyway, these peaks ARE cool peaks just be aware that the “roads” are very grown in and it’s not going to be pleasant following them. And, in my experience on West Baldface, the woods near them verbally weren’t so hot either. Alternative approaches from Bog Brook for Black and Eagle Link for West Baldface may be preferable but based on reports here these seem to be the most popular route.
12.75mi with roughly 2500ft of gain, taking me 8.5hrs to complete. 71 more days and 91 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: |
2022-08-23 |
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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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