brobichaud
Member
Instead of posting trail conditions here, I figured I'd actually do a little trip report. I planned this hike for the Meetup group, Random Group of Hikers, and was joined by Mike (NH Tramper), Maher, and Jesse. The plan was to do a south to north traverse (Eastman to East Royce). The small group led to us making a quick assault on the initial summits, and left at least some of us, with less gas for the final peaks. The day started out bright, sunny, and cool, but we quickly warmed up in the initial 0.7 to the loop split, and especially on the approach to the Eastman/Baldface Knob col. I can liken the eastern half of Slippery Brook Trail to Mt. Tecumseh Trail from the ski area, just a relentless grind to the top. Eastman features great views to the south, to the Kearsarge Group, Chocorua and the Sandwich Range, and to the north, towards our remaining targets for the day. Retreating, we hit Baldface Knob, and South Baldface in quick succession, even pushing on to North before we took an extended break. The clouds dominated during our stay on north, and a stray raindrop or two was felt. Dropping off north, we ran into a few areas with lingering snow, but it would be overkill to even be carrying traction on these trails at this point. The ridge over to Eagle Crag is awesome, with far reaching views, and striated rocks. Meader Ridge Trail off of Eagle Crag was blowdown ridden, with many step overs, climb overs, duck unders, and whack arounds. We found a clear running stream just off of Mt. Meader, and filtered some extra water here, it sure was tasty. Basin Rim Trail to West Royce was more of the same, a bunch of blowdowns, some tricky, but some nice smooth sections too. We ended our traverse on East Royce, with rays of light blasting through the clouds over the Wild River Wilderness, a truly special moment.
All in all, we had a great day, with lots of mileage, elevation gain, and views. This is one I'll be doing again.
Trail conditions are HERE.
My blog post and pictures are HERE.
All in all, we had a great day, with lots of mileage, elevation gain, and views. This is one I'll be doing again.
Trail conditions are HERE.
My blog post and pictures are HERE.
