Trails Used

Shelburne, Kenduskeag, Highwater

Trail Conditions

Notes

Dropped a bike at the Highwater TH then started hiking from the Shelburne TH. Shelburne starts as a flat walk on a former road (and current snowmobile trail?). The grass gets taller as you go until the trail takes a left into the woods. The Kenduskeag trail has some good views just prior to the open summit of Shelburne Moriah. It was hot but the wind was steady, which was cooling and kept any bugs away. The downhill hike from the Shelburne / Kenduskeag junction and the 5.3m section of the Highwater trail was boring. It wasn’t difficult, but aside from the parallel river on Highwater, there’s nothing to see. There were two river crossings that required wading - both were on the Highwater trail and both were not long after taking a left onto Highwater from the Shelburne trail. It was easy to see where the trail picked up on the other side for the first crossing, but more difficult for the second. At the second crossing, someone has tied some ribbons on the far side to indicate where the trail restarts. I wasn’t sure that was what those ribbons were all about until I got over there.

Parking

Plenty of parking at both the Shelburne and Highwater trailheads.

Water Crossings

Had to wade across the river twice on the Highwater trail. Depth just over the knee, decent current, easy to see where the trail picks up again on the other side for one crossing - not so much for the other.

Wildlife

Some bugs but not too annoying.

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