Current trail conditions in Maine

[mainebob]

I went out for an overnight yesterday. I started out of Andover, on East B hill road. I had planned to hike north over Hall mountain and camp at Sawyer brook. The blowdowns on Wyman Mountain were so bad after on hour of trying to crawl under them or find a way around them, the blowdowns were so thick I almost got turned around twice. I decided to turn around and try hiking south. I was afraid I was going to lose the trail or injure myself climbing over to blowdown. Being alone I did not think either were good options. When got just south of East B Hill road I met two guys hiking north. They had stayed at Frye notch last night and it took them 7 hours to hike the 4 miles to the road. That 4 mile section after you hike straight up and out of Frye notch is a pretty easy downhill hike to the road. I just I ended up doing the cascade trail loop up to Dunn falls and back down the A.T. southbound to the road. That part of the trail was in good shape with only a few blowdowns to get around. I think the problems will be on the tops of the Mountains. thought any early southbounders should know it was a hard winter here in Maine. Kaboose "13

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNsWeU2_wek

[chiefduffy]

Did a few steps into the 100 Mile Wilderness yesterday, in a coupla locations....blackflys are out in force. Trail is mostly dry, water levels normal, not particularly high.

[Doc]

I just returned from a couple of days in the Bigelow area for MATC training. The trail maintainers said the blow downs seemed to be much worse this year and that it would take some time by the volunteers to get everything cleared. In my hiking around Bigelow Lodge I encountered numerous blow downs that made a simple walk a real challenge. Black flies have appeared at low elevations. Also some snow reported at higher elevations but no real issue.

[egilbe]

The GF and I spent the weekend clearing the western part of the Grafton Notch Loops trail Memorial Weekend. Yes, the blow downs are bad. Its going to take awhile to clear the trails since most hikers would rather go around then take 5 minutes to clear out the brush.