Eagle Crag

Trail: Spruce Brook Tentsite spur, Wild River Trail, Eagle Link, Meader Ridge Trail, Baldface Circle Trail, Bicknell Ridge Trail, Eagle Cascade Link, Emerald Pool Spur

Conditions: Dry Trail

“This was Day 2 of a backpacking trip in the Wild River area - Day 1 is here: https://www.newenglandtrailconditions.com/nh/viewreport.php?entryid=78154. The jaunt back up Wild River Trail to the junction with Eagle Link was uneventful, but we were already sweating profusely by the time we got to the junction - even in the morning it was getting hot. Eagle Link is faint and brushy in places, but we never had much trouble following it. While it crosses a few streams above its crossing of Wild River, those streams were all dry today. The lower half of the trail is pretty easy, with gradual grades and mostly good footing. As the trail starts to contour around North Baldface, it gets rougher, and in some places is brushy and overgrown. From a few points near the top, there are views up to North Baldface. Eagle Link was an adventure, but it's really not bad overall for hikers experienced with wilderness trails. When we finally reached the top of the ridge and the multi-way junction there, we did the short hop over to the true summit of Eagle Crag - it has exceptional views in almost all directions. We then took the short jaunt in the other direction to the junction with Bicknell Ridge Trail. This trail winds around and descends many steep, open ledges with excellent views - the ledges were dry today and provided good grip, but I wouldn't want to do this trail on a rainy day. The open ledges also radiated the heat back to us, making me drink a lot of water (more than I had expected to drink). When we finally reached the junction with Eagle Cascade Link, we descended that trail, which I needed since it was my final trail for redlining in Chapter 9 of the WMG. The upper section is steep, descending about 400 vertical feet in the upper 0.3 miles, but the footing wasn't too bad - we just took our time. I was hoping to filter more water when we reached Eagle Cascade, however unfortunately the cascade was almost completely dry today, with just a few tiny drops of water dripping down from the bottom. I was nonplussed by this, since I really needed more water by this point. The lower section of Eagle Cascade Link is more gradual. We made good time descending Baldface Circle Trail, and about 0.1 before the lower junction with Bicknell Ridge Trail, Baldface Circle Trail crossed another brook, and this one had water. We stopped there for a good while and filtered it for our water bottles and bladders, and I felt much better. The next section of Baldface Circle Trail is heavily eroded, and muddy even in normal conditions, however today it was completely dry so we could just walk down the exposed dry rock. When we reached Emerald Pool, it was a scene of organized chaos, as people from multiple different groups tried to jump off into the water without getting in anyone else's way. Everyone seemed to be having a good time though. This trip not only finished Chapter 9 of the WMG for me, but also brought me over 99% complete on the Redlining Spreadsheet. Only 6 more trails and 12 more miles to go!”

Trail: Baldface Circle Trail, Meader Ridge Trail, Eagle Link, Wild River Trail, Wildcat River Trail, Nineteen Mile Brook Trail, Wildcat Ridge Trail

Conditions: Dry Trail, Wet/Slippery Rock, Standing/Running Water on Trail, Mud - Minor/Avoidable

“For the most part trails are extremely dry. There were a few places on Wild River trail that had mud and standing water, these were avoidable in general. As previously mentioned, the Eagle Link trail has a lot of brush encroaching on the trail. The path is clear enough to follow most of the way, but there are one or two sections where the brush is so thick that you can lose the trail. A few sections on Baldface Circle trail, particularly between the Baldfaces, is mildly overgrown. Overall I was pleasantly surprised by how good the trail conditions were. Signs were in good condition, a lot of blowdowns, but most are easy to maneuver around. Canadian smoke has finally been starting to clear, so I had views up to 60 miles on the Baldfaces.”

Trail: Baldface Circle Trail, Meader Ridge Trail, Bicknell Ridge Trail

Conditions: Dry Trail

“This completed James’ 52WAV list and Margaret’s second round. At four years and four months James beat his big sister’s first round time by 16 months:) Uneventful hike up to the ledges-James and I loved them and he cruised right up. Margaret and my better half did not appreciate them quite as much but they were dry and safe and they persevered! It was a gorgeous sunny day up there and the trails were not very crowded. Margaret presented her little bro with his official patch on Eagle Crag and we backtracked to take the magnificent Bicknell Ridge Trail down. Really love this route! We cruised over to Great Glen afterwards for the Seek the Peak expo where the kids had a blast, we pigged out on awesome BBQ, and enjoyed some ice cream. Great way to wrap up another memorable milestone day with the kiddos!”