| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Shoal Pond Peak, South Shoal Pond Peak, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Ethan Pond trail, Shoal Pond trail, bushwhack |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Wednesday, March 18, 2026 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Parking for a few cars right off 302, then walk up the road to trailhead. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Ice - Blue, Ice - Breakable Crust, Standing/Running Water on Trail, Snow/Ice - Frozen Granular, Snow/Ice - Monorail (Stable), Snow/Ice - Monorail (Unstable) |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Snowshoes, Light Traction |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
Many small crossings, and two major crossings of Shoal Pond Brook. We avoided the big one on the bushwhack to the first peak, but had to cross with trash bags coming down from the second peak. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
Only a few minor blowdowns that I remember. Plenty of water in the trail on both trails as usual. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
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 | Bugs: |
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 | Lost and Found: |
Two thermoses found and left at the Willey Range trail junction. They were found just up the trail close together. Some stuff at the trailhead - a key fob, gloves, stuff sack. |
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 | Comments: |
With concrete snow off trail we decided to make the 16 miles total round trip journey to the Shoal Pond peaks. The trail took a hit from the big thaw, but froze hard overnight. Collapsing monorail with water underneath had us bushwhacking 10 feet in the woods on the side for many parts. We started our whack east of the peak, just before the trail heads downhill to a brook crossing around 2000’. Gentle open woods over here and an uneventful but pleasant bushwhack across the ridge, then we tried to slab back to our starting point, but ended up down near the trail and thick steep woods prevented us from staying west of the brook. So, we put on the bags (grocery bags was all I had) and crossed quickly on rocks submerged about 4”. There were two more crossings after this, we managed to keep our feet dry with the bag trick. Very cold out so there was no melting of the trail, and snowshoes got a free ride today, microspikes were all we needed. It took about 10 hours. |
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 | Name: |
Carl G |
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 | E-Mail: |
calxjohnson@gmail.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2026-03-19 |
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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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