Recent content by Barkingcat

We don't file winter reports on NETC any more for many of our snowshoe hikes, in particular those local to us, unless it's for a very commonly used trail -- been burned too many times by making public a nice snowshoe track only to come back a few days later and find it wrecked with frozen...

Exactly. In fact, the four or five times we've done that particular section of the trail have been in mid- or late April, and twice with significant run-off -- creating some spectacular effects with the falls at and below the bridge. All sorts of spray and mist -- it's almost worth it just to...

No; there are not. While there might be some wet sections of trail, any water crossings that might be an issue are bridged.

They are still there, in many places. Between those and the axe blazes, you can follow the trail relatively easily in the winter, through deep snow, in the open birch glades at lower elevation. (The trail borders or is in wilderness, so there are no paint blazes, or at least there weren't a...

...and, one final one -- Rainbow Trail, heading up Carter Dome.

...Great Western Trail, Dixie National Forest...

Les Sentiers de l’Estrie, Quebec...

A New Hampshire Fish and Game officer I spoke with several years ago said that small reflective blazes on some trails are very helpful for route-finding -- and possible hiker rescue -- in the dark.

There is plenty of water right now along the Greenway -- you should not have a problem.

If you head south on the AT past the Priest, you can pick up a woods road that connects you to the trail to Crabtree Falls -- spectacular. Out and back from the AT trailhead to the falls (going over the Priest twice) is just over 14 miles -- but it's a gentle 14 miles, at that. You'll find that...

The depressions and artifacts may well be related to another (not-so-happy) backstory for construction of the estate: when Tom Plant bought the property (Ossipee Mountain Park) where Castle in the Clouds/Lucknow is now built, he also bought many smaller adjacent properties, in order to increase...

Well, perhaps -- but many of the roads were originally constructed as carriage roads by Tom and Olive Plant, the people who built the estate in 1913-14. They reportedly drove their "mountain car" on many of the roads, as well. Many of these roads are still in use now as hiking trails and, as you...

The Lincoln Trail is in fine shape now for the spring -- just some wet patches/muddy sections down low. And, yes, the trailhead is always accessible. It's even plowed in winter; we use it frequently then. It's now our go-to approach to the summit to avoid the often-busier Winslow and Barlow...

Some of us hike solo simply because we are misanthropes.

Yes -- done these trails many a time, more often to head up to Carter Dome via the Rainbow Trail. Best to do them in drier conditions, and even better when frozen. It's a treat to see that ridge and Carter Notch from a different perspective.