| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Shrewsbury Peak, Smith Peak, VT |
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 | Trails: |
Black Swamp Trail, Shrewsbury Peak Trail, old Black Swamp Trail, bushwhack |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Saturday, August 23, 2014 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Parking lot off CCC Road. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail, Wet/Slippery Rock, Mud - Minor/Avoidable |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
Bridged |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
Trail has been recently relocated in the vicinity of the shelter. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
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 | Bugs: |
Mosquitoes were out and biting below 3,000 feet. |
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 | Lost and Found: |
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 | Comments: |
Black Swamp Trail was relocated a few decades ago, so the USGS maps don't show it accurately. The first half of the trail follows a gated logging road. In the vicinity of the swamp, the trail departs from the logging road and becomes more footpath like. It briefly rejoins the trail displayed on the USGS I believe around 3,300 or so feet, but soon departs as it nears the shelter, due to a new reroute. On the whole, there was some slippery rock and occasional mud, but otherwise it wasn't too bad.
From the south bump (generally displayed as the highpoint on maps), there were two directional views (east/south), though trees are starting to overtake them. It wouldn't take much to improve. According to the altimeter, the wooded north bump is very similar in elevation. There is a directional view a short bushwhack beyond it to the northeast courtesy some blowdowns.
We then descended back to the old trail crossing (there's also a random sign pointing up the trail to Shrewsbury Peak, and if you look down hill, the faded blazes are visible) and hopped on it. The footing is quite good and it appears it still gets a decent amount of use. It too is not quite correct on the USGS, as it nearly climbs up the small 3,000 or so foot bump, then slabs the south side of Smith around 3,000 feet in elevation. We opted to bushwhack up from the south side to the wooded summit in generally open woods with subpar footing. For the descent, we descended toward the col in open woods with better footing, then retraced our steps (assuming that perhaps the lower part of the old trail must be bad enough to warrant a reroute, since the portion we took was excellent, if not superior to the current route) back to the current trail. |
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 | Name: |
rocket21 |
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 | E-Mail: |
rocket21@franklinwebpublishing.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2014-08-23 |
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 | Link: |
 https://www.franklinsites.com/hikephotos |
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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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