| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Sachem Peak, Acteon Ridge , NH |
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 | Trails: |
Smarts Brook Trail, bushwhack, herd paths, unknown trails, Yellow Jacket Trail, Pine Flats Trail |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Saturday, October 15, 2022 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Large paved parking area for a couple dozen cars on Rt 49. I was surprised how busy it was when I returned shortly after 12:30pm. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail, Wet Trail, Wet/Slippery Rock, Standing/Running Water on Trail, Mud - Minor/Avoidable, Mud - Significant, Leaves - Significant/Slippery |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
I came prepared with my precipitation pants, waterproof boots, and gaiters on in case I had to wade on the drainage crossings. This was overkill though as the drainage crossings are small and I think were a submerged rock hop at worst so waterproof boots alone would’ve been fine. Even with some more rain yesterday, I imagine water levels have still lowered significantly. For my bushwhack down, I did intentionally avoid having to cross drainage between Sachem and Acteon which I thought could be difficult down low. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
I don’t recall the blazing or blowdown situation; Smarts Brook May have been blazed in yellow, at least where it was a footpath. I don’t think the other trails were blazed. Trails were generally east to follow but note that 1) leaves are down now and obscuring the footbed, and 2) Smarts Brook Trail isn’t marked where it hits the grassy road and turns left as described in the guidebook thus making this a very easily missed turn if descending. Also, is the guidebook’s description correct here? I don’t think Tri-Town Trail continues ahead. Smarts Brook just turns left onto a road at a sort of T-jct. to the right is just the unnamed road. Maybe I’m misremembering though. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
Smarts Brook Trail would be a great trail for dogs but I’d be careful with them on the bushwhack with all the ledge. You can probably do much less scrambling than I did though. |
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 | Bugs: |
None |
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 | Lost and Found: |
None |
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 | Comments: |
Day 349, Peaks 333 & 334. Someone told me that Sachem should be on the list so I’m counting it. I was worried about hiking today after all the rain, especially on such a ledgy peak but it worked out terrifically and was a delightful hike.
Made my way up Smarts Brook Trail. No running water on the trail and surprisingly not a ton of mud either. Perhaps the leaves were just covering it but it was mostly just wet. I think the only other time I’ve been on this trail was in October of 2017 after another big rain but I remember elevation had snow and I was in snowshoes up high. Anyway, a nice trail with pretty nice grades and decent footing. I decided to start my whack earlier than most do, at the brook crossing at 3.9mi I believe. I whacked just west of north right up to the Sachem side of the col Sachem-Jennings col. As others have noted, the large boulders in these woods are pretty cool. They did make the whacking a little tough though. A decent amount of blowdowns too so the going wasn’t great. Perhaps I ought to have started my whack a little further up. Grades were mostly moderate. The woods tended to open up the further I got away from the trail. Lots of small drainages through here to what the recent rain.
As I neared the ridge I angled a little more NW’ly and hit the cliffs at the base of Sachem. Pretty cool. I found my way up some dirt and onto the ridge, just west of the col. Though I probably would’ve loved much faster if I went further into the woods toward the spine of the ridge, I stayed on the edge of the cliff band and enjoyed the views. The cliffs are south facing and had mostly dried out. That said, the scrambling here was pretty tricky. Maybe Class III at worst. I eventually made it on to the spine of the ridge and ran into the herd paths others have spoken of. The highpoint is on the far east side of the highest contour, not on the west as shown on Gaia. Terrific views from here even if some of the peaks around me were partially obscured by clouds. No register here.
I enjoyed the walk along the ridge to the SW end of it. I again walked along the left (south) end of it to stick to the views. When I was in the woods, they were pretty too though. Some large puddles of water from the rain. There seemed to be somewhat consistent herd paths through it. The herd path was a bit hard to find as it dropped off the ledge and into the woods to drop to the Sachem-Acteon col. I followed herd paths on and off between here and the summit of Acteon. The woods were fine between the two. There’s a small ledge just east of the highpoint of Acteon Ridge. It’s just outside the highest contour on Gaia. Not hard to find the register.
Due to time constraints, I did not visit Bald Knob. I whacked in a verbally SW direction off of the summit. I aimed for the jct of an unnamed trail shown on Gaia and a trail that connects it to Yellow Jacket Trail. The woods were pretty cocnskrentky hardwoods and were decent to whack down in. I swung south around a job that I think was around 1900ft. Not shown on Gaia as it hardly has any prominence but it’s actually steep on its SW side so that contouring around it was a pain. Took me off my bearing to which I had to adjust for. I hit some minor cliff ands around 1400ft. Came to a nice small view ledge too but it actually took me a little while before I found a way down. I hit the unnamed trail shown on Gaia right at the jct. The jct is a bit confusing though as the trail doesn’t seem to continue to the north as shown on Gaia. So I assumed I was on that portion when looking for the short connector before realizing that’s actually what I was on. Anyway, I followed the connector trail to Yellow Jacket and Yellow Jacket to Pine Flats which took me to my car. A very pleasant walk out. I was surprised just how many people I saw our walking!
Gaia had me at about 8.25mi with 2300ft of gain. It took me almost 5hr45min to complete. 16 more days and 31 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: |
2022-10-19 |
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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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