Trails Used

Rattle River Trail

Trail Conditions

Notes

Other than the blowdowns and overgrowth around the summit, the trail is in good shape and fast (no snow, no ice). Mostly wanted to share the one big blowdown in case anyone wanted to team up with a few chainsaws (I own no equipment for maintenance, unfortunately). There's another piece of deadfall that's also obstructing the trail pretty well about 4 miles in from the Rattle River Trailhead. That one's somewhat annoying as it's on a steep incline; but the one in the pic just beyond the shelter will be the major impediment for thru hikers.

Water Crossings

All could easily be rock-hopped

Trails Used

Shelburne Trail, Kenduskeag Trail, bushwhack

Trail Conditions

Equipment

Notes

I lucked out with a really nice day for these two peaks. I parked at the end of Losier Road in order to avoid the extra roadwalk involved with the winter parking area of the Shelburne Trail. I was able to cross over East Brook and follow Corridor 19 (snowmobile trail) until it met up with the Shelburne Trail. This was about 2 1/4 miles. A light dusting of snow had fallen overnight, which made for some tricky footing where the ice had recently re-frozen. However, snow and ice was patchy until I met up with the Shelburne Trail. From here to the col, snow depth gradually increased from 2-4 inches at the snowmobile trail to perhaps 18-24 inches just before the col in the north-facing ravine. Everything was hard-packed and there was essentially no ice, so I was able to bare boot this stretch. The bushwhack to Howe was open with gentle terrain. Oddly, I found the south side of the ridge to have more open woods. Nice views from the summit ledges. Snow depth was minimal along the ridge with many areas of bare ground. The Kenduskeag Trail to the summit of Shelburne Moriah was a beautiful ridgewalk with many nice views. Routefinding required some care in a few places as I only saw a few old blazes and the trail was fairly grown in around the alpine areas. Snow depth remained fairly minimal - most places only had a few inches and there were a number of areas of bare ground, even in the woods. There were a few short stretches where spikes would be helpful. I returned the same way. Shelburne Moriah completed my NHHH, was #428/457 of the NE 3k's, and made #205/207 of the NH200.

Water Crossings

I found a lucky spot to hop across East Brook with some lingering ice and snow. Water levels weren't terribly high