Goose Eye Mountain

Thinking of hiking Goose Eye on Sunday and was wondering if anyone can give me an idea of what the road to the Wright Trailhead is like this time of year. Given the warm temperatures I'd guess it would be mostly free of snow and ice by now. Maybe not? Perhaps it's gated? I saw a recent post in trail conditions stating that York Pond Road is gated. I'm not sure where this is in relation to the road to the Wright Trail. I do know the trailhead is pretty far down a gravel road and don't want to show up and have a really long road walk.

I have a 4wd Ford Ranger so ground clearance isn't really an issue. Any help or observations from that general area (Bethel?) is greatly appreciated.

arm said:

you probably meant that Success Pond Road is gated ... the road on west side of Mahoosuc Range ?

Success Pond Road was open and plowed most of this Winter, but they probably closed it because it's soft and muddy ... when you drive on soft muddy roads this time of year, the freeze > thaw > freeze cycle really screws up the roads when folks drive on them ... leaving hardened ruts when the roads refreeze at night

no idea whether the road into Wright is gated ... if you can't get up there, you can always fall back on hiking some other local peak (Baldpate, Puzzle, Old Speck) which are accessible from Grafton Notch

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Good point about back up options. I've been looking for an excuse to return to Baldpate anyway. Perhaps this will be it! Thanks for the reply and suggestions.

Wright trail

I'd expect some very serious mud getting to the trailhead for the Wright trail and a fair amount of ice up high. The right hand (up the cirque headwall) loop is pretty shaded and might well be very steep ice while the left hand (ridgeline) descent might be ice but a less hazardous route.

The stream crossings per se won't probably be too bad but there are some sections of wet rock that could be dicey. If you want to do Goose Eye rather than the Wright Trail, the Goose Eye trail from Success Pond Road is a less eventful alternative

closed road

http://www.vftt.org/forums/showpost.php?p=134824&postcount=12

arm said:

you probably meant that Success Pond Road is gated ...

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If I recall correctly, the sign for Success Pond Road at Route 26 says "York Pond Road."

The road in to the Wright Trailhead is usually plowed as far as the last big bridge over the Sunday River. Two miles from the trailhead proper. It is a rather pleasant roadwalk, so if you were excited about Goose Eye, I wouldn't write it off just because you can't drive all the way.

I haven't been up there this winter but I'm guessing you can drive right up to the trailhead. There's no gate unless it was installed in the last 6 months or so. Snowline around here is well over 1500 feet so the road ought to be clear. If not, as was mentioned before, it's a nice walk up the road from twin bridges.
-vegematic

Thanks everyone for all the info!