| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Big Coolidge Mountain , NH |
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 | Trails: |
Abandoned Osseo Trail, bushwhack, herd path |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Thursday, September 1, 2022 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Parked at the visitor parking at the Clearbrook Condo Association in back. Gaia shows the trail as starting from the Village of Loon Mtn but I’ve never started from there. That said, at the three way intersection about 1/3mi in, I think the path that comes in from the left does start from there. So Gaia shows that path instead maybe? |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail, Mud - Minor/Avoidable, Mud - Significant |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
Rock hopable and/or logs down to help you cross Clear Brook along the abandoned Osseo Trail. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
The abandoned trail is not officially maintained. That said, after it’s jct with other nearby paths down low about 1/3mi in, it becomes occasionally blazed in yellow. Harder to follow than regularly maintained trails in the Whites. No blowdowns that I recall on the section I was on. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
Sure |
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 | Bugs: |
I don’t recall any |
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 | Lost and Found: |
None |
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 | Comments: |
Day 305, Peak 283. 2nd hike of the day after a great whack of Liberty Slide with Larry. I walked up the abandoned Osseo Trail for about 3/4mi to 1600ft or so before starting to whack NW. Woods started out open and grades easy around the drainage of course before becoming more moderate. I didn’t start at the true end of the SE ridge of the peak but once I attained it around 2000ft or so after gaining a few hundred feet the grade became steep. This was 1/4-1/3mi from the trail. I don’t think it was until 1/2mi+ into the whack above 2400ft that the woods began to change and thicken up as others have noted. The grade again becomes steeper. That said, I didn’t find it that bad and was able to mostly pick my way around the blowdowns and thicker stuff. Around 3000ft or so, the terrain becomes less of a very steep ridge and more scrambly. I never found it too hard to find my way up these minor cliff bands though. Some beautiful green woods too :) Not hard to find the canister.
Upon signing in, I followed a herd path to the south, hoping it might take me around the cliff bands and still dump me out on the ridge; not quite - instead, it took me to a now rather obstructed view to the SE toward Scar Ridge and the Osceolas and their slides and/or cliffs on their north side. This was just a couple hundred feet south of the summit. Unfortunately, and quite naturally, this view was on top of a little cliff band so it wasn’t easy to get down. Being lazy and not wanting to retrace my steps back toward the summit I found a little spot to sit down on that requires a jump of only a foot, if that, down to the ground. From here I continued down but soon found myself in thicker woods. Checking Gaia, I realized I was off the ridge and beginning to fall down into the drainage with the slide. I contoured E/NE for a couple hundred feet and found myself pretty much back on the ridge and on my ascent line and just below the scrambles I believe. I followed my same route down to 2000ft at which point I decided to try and follow the remnants of the ridge back down to the trail about 0.1mi below where I started my whack. This was a waste of time. I had trouble staying on bearing, it was a slightly longer whack, and there was no real advantage to this. Starting your whack from here would make a negligible difference.
I followed the abandoned trail back out to my car clocking in at nearly 4mi with 2100ft of gain taking me just over 3.5hrs to complete. 60 more days and 82 more peaks to go… |
|
 | Name: |
Liam Cooney |
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 | E-Mail: |
liamcooney96@gmail.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2022-09-05 |
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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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