Black Mountain (Benton)

Trail: Chippewa Trail

Conditions: Dry Trail, Wet Trail, Wet/Slippery Rock, Mud - Minor/Avoidable, Mud - Significant

“Great day for hiking met 4 other hikers on the trail. A bug net can be helpful. Checked out the Lime Kilns that was pretty cool.”

Trail: Bog Brook Trail, bushwhack

Conditions: Dry Trail, Wet Trail, Wet/Slippery Rock, Mud - Minor/Avoidable, Mud - Significant

“A FINE day in the forest was had. Not many reports on this one due to naming convention, tried to make it stand out a bit. Very uneventful walk in along a very beautiful section of trail. This area is underrated and underutilized by many a tramper, it's one of my favorites. In and around the fishhook just before the second junction w/ Wild River Trail about 2.75m in, we took a bearing and heading more or less for the col between the north bump and the summit proper. The initial ingress (and egress) of the first 500-750 where scrappy which gave way to 'better' woods. This area has some incredibly high moose activity - we where shocked we did not find any treasure. After the initial scrappy stuff its intermixed hobblebush, which likely will make this more challenging later in the season. We did not have much trouble attaining the recognized high point, there is an absolute spaghetti bowl of herd paths in this area. Some familiar names in the register, always the same dozen. It's good to know who also suffers from the same mental affliction we do! Really remarkable and unique views of the Carters, Wildcats, Moriah, the Presidentials. A really great angle to have Mt. Madison framed by Carter Dome and Wildcat A! Old Speck was visible as well as the Baldfaces. Again uneventful on the way out, finishing up just before the rain really started to fall. Not an overly difficult peak navigationally or woods wise, but pack your patience with the hobblebush. You'll likely be looking for treasure while fighting it, so it may be worth it!”

Trail: Ski trails, bushwhack

Conditions: Snow - Trace/Minimal Depth, Wet/Slippery Rock, Mud - Minor/Avoidable

“Had a great day to hit these three 3k peaks. I parked at the Jordan Hotel and hiked up the side of Lollapalooza to the top of the Jordan ski lift then dove into the woods. I encountered mostly moderate woods to the summit of Black. The woods were very wet, as the cloud cover was just disappearing from the peaks and the wind had not yet picked up. From Black to Wheeler was mostly wide open woods. I returned to the beautiful birch-lined saddle between Black and Wheeler then slabbed the SW slope to the saddle between Black and East Bear. Here again was mostly open woods. The ridge to the summit of East Bear had varying woods, but staying on the north side of the ridge was much cleaner (though wetter and snowier). By the time I reached East Bear's summit, the clouds had cleared over me and the wind was doing its drying work. I found a nice thick patch of woods on the way back to the saddle between Black and East Bear by drifting too far south on the ridge. That was fun. I then angled back to the top of the Jordan lift and headed back down to the hotel. Saw only a few skiers enjoying one of what must be Sunday River's last open days, judging by the bare ground on the ski trails I could see. Above 3000', ~10% of the ground had snow cover, mostly <6" depth. On the north side between 2600-3000', there was closer to 20% coverage, but still nothing that low gaiters won't protect against. The ground was still frozen above 3000', but there was lots of standing water, unsurprising given the recent warm stretch, especially at the higher summits. This was very surprising (but convenient!) for mid-April. This marked #429-431 / 457 of the NE 3k's for me.”