| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Mt. Whiteface, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Blueberry Ledge Trail, Rollins Trail |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Friday, February 17, 2017 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Nicely plowed. Plenty of room. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Snow - Unpacked Powder, Snow - Drifts |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Snowshoes |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
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 | Bugs: |
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 | Lost and Found: |
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 | Comments: |
Another tough day breaking trail and regulating! The temps were on the warm-side, but the biting NW wind forced me to put on a hardshell and goggles once above 3000'. Alternated between zipped up and totally opened up, and still ended up pretty soggy. Laundry time!
Got excited when I saw tracks at the start of the Blueberry Ledge Trail. They stopped about a mile in, so it was breaking from there on out. Snow was a different consistency than last week--starting to set up some, which was nice because it limited backward sliding. Yay!
Still, the snow was DEEP. This was nice because it made the upper ledges easier. They were ramps. Still required a full upper body workout to ascend but not technically difficult. It was not so nice when it came to route-finding and descending.
Indeed, going down was almost as much of a workout as going up, except when there was an ample gradient. I found the flatter "downhill" sections tiring, the more so since my uphill tracks had, in many cases, entirely drifted in. Near the summit, I couldn't believe my tracks had drifted in in less than ~30 minutes!
There was no trace of the trail in many spots above 3000'. I didn't even see the Tom Wiggin Trail junction, either going up or going down, and the Rollins Trail was really hard to follow. I think I was on it about 90% of the time in the short 0.3mi section to get over from the south summit to the main summit.
No one had been on any of the connecting trails (Pasture Path, McCrillis Path, Blueberry Ledge Cutoff, Tom Wiggin (obviously!), Rollins, McCrillis Trail, or Kate Sleeper), so prepare for a real battle if you're going to try to loop in Passaconaway. Bring lots of friends! |
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 | Name: |
icegulch |
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 | E-Mail: |
icegulch [at] gmail |
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| Date Submitted: |
2017-02-17 |
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 | Link: |
 https://www.dropbox.com/sc/pyrnjz1qafenszt/AACO6BKsP3n0XKZJG8nFhUJia |
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Disclaimer: Reports are not verified - conditions may vary. Use at own risk. Always be prepared when hiking. Observe all signs. Trail conditions reports are not substitutes for weather reports or common sense. |
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