Mt. Success and the road to it.

Anyone drive the Success pond road this spring? I am planning on Mt. Success in the next month or so and the road sounds long and my Impreza while ambitious, is not as tough as it thinks it is. By the way, the description of the hike itself sounds amazing, I cant wait to climb this one. The 52 wav list is the gift that keeps on giving. I have the first 10 days of July off and its dedicated to these peaks.

Recent NETC reports indicate the road is in good shape. It was in excellent condition last year.

It's a nice moderate hike and the views from The Outlook are the best. The road is notorious for potholes and washboard. Drive accordingly.

Its not that much farther to visit the DC wreck. Even if you do not go to the wreck its worth taking a walk south on the AT to the other patch of alpine zone.

peakbagger said:

Its not that much farther to visit the DC wreck. Even if you do not go to the wreck its worth taking a walk south on the AT to the other patch of alpine zone.

Click to expand...

I am quite curious in the wreck and will try and make it to the site. I will go south a bit on the AT, thanks for the tip.

The road's fine and it's a terrific walk. I staged my mountain bike a little further up the road and made a loop past the outlook; then south on AT to Success; backtracked north on AT to Carlo, Goose Eye, and whatever the next little peak to the east is called; then back over Goose Eye and out via the Goose Eye Trail. 11 miles, 3500', and nothing especially strenuous. As I remember there were awesome views all over the place, especially north of Success on the AT!

While you're in the neighborhood, I'd recommend another day hike through Mahoosuc Notch. I spotted my bike about a mile up North Pond Rd. from Success Rd. and then parked at the Notch Trailhead. North on the AT through the notch and up Mahoosuc Arm (1500' in one mile) and down via the Old Speck Pond Trail. 8 miles, 2400' (most of that's gong up Mahoosuc Arm!) and I slept really well that night.

Have fun!

Ah yes. "All vehicles must yeild to logging trucks. Logging trucks use center of road bed."
I love that sign.

John H Swanson said:

Ah yes. "All vehicles must yeild to logging trucks. Logging trucks use center of road bed."
I love that sign.

Click to expand...

Vividly remember driving the Kanc in Winter back in the 70's. The road had only been actively plowed for 10 years or less and traffic was typically low in those days except for the logging trucks. Those guys definitely owned the road. Being passed by a Logging truck in the middle of a snowstorm with a major vapor trail swirling behind it was a rights of passage as long as you didn't land up in a snow bank.

The DC 3 is on the AT boundary swath. I have not been there for years but once the yellow blazed boundary is reached via heard paths go west. One wind is directly on the swath.

https://www.conwaydailysun.com/outd...cle_9da02a70-afc8-11e9-925a-733b69b048b2.html

peakbagger said:

The DC 3 is on the AT boundary swath. I have not been there for years but once the yellow blazed boundary is reached via heard paths go west. One wind is directly on the swath.

https://www.conwaydailysun.com/outd...cle_9da02a70-afc8-11e9-925a-733b69b048b2.html

Click to expand...

Excellent, thank you for the information on that, looking forward to seeing the wreck.

The best way to describe the beginning of the herd path to the swath is leave the summit sign and walk across the bog bridges to the other side of the bog to a patch of woods. At one point the bog was 2 to 3 foot deep so stay on the bridges. Go through the woods and then come out of the woods on open ledges with patches of trees and bushes here and there (nice views towards Mt Washington and the main mass of the whites). The AT then heads into the woods on a distinct path at the other side of the ledges. Just follow the edge of the clearing from that point south and there are usually signs of a herd path or at least healed over cut branches. It could get scratchy and then comes out on very wide roughly cut boundary swath with lots of yellow blazing. Go west and slightly downhill until you step out on a wing. There was ammo box in the back of the fuselage with info about the crash. Contrary to popular belief the plane was partially salvaged via bulldozer road from down below but reportedly there is no trace. The Shelburne Trails group would like to hook up their trail network to this point but pure speculation is that the paperwork to build a side trail into the AT corridor would be extensive.

Unless is has been rebuilt, the section of Success trail near the AT was a flooded path between trees. Hopefully it has been reworked but it was impossible to go through without wading 10 to 15 years ago.

Update: Me and my dog Shay successfully climbed Mt. Success over the weekend. The road was not bad at all, parked near the trailhead and was the first car there. The trail up is pretty bland, the loop over the outlook is short, but pretty cool. peakbagger you were right, the section of bog bridges is wet, I wear Solomon Quest boots, so I don't get wet feet, my dog could care less. The section of trail on the ridge is excellent, I really enjoyed that area and the summit is quite open and very nice. I did not explore the plane wreckage as the weather was somewhat inclement. Maybe next time, if I ever go back. It's a quick hike, car to car in sub 4 hours.

If you have a chance, the ridge line between Goose eye and the entrance to the notch is a remarkably open ridgeline hike. Hard to beat in the fall.

peakbagger said:

If you have a chance, the ridge line between Goose eye and the entrance to the notch is a remarkably open ridgeline hike. Hard to beat in the fall.

Click to expand...

Funny you mentioned that. When I finish the 52wav, I do plan on coming back and heading that way. I traversed the range back in the early 80's over 3 days and I was quickly reminded how nice it is in many sections. I was studying my map ahead of time and noticed from the road you can access various points on the range. I want to hit Goose eye for sure. I still need Hayes too, that and Rogers ledge are both coming up soon. I do list in sections and right now the Western section is it. Thanks again for your help.