| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Mt. Eisenhower, Mt. Pierce, Mt. Jackson, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Crawford Path, Webster Cliff Trail, Webster-Jackson Trail |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Sunday, April 9, 2017 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Plenty of parking at Crawford Path cut-off |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Snow - Unpacked Powder, Snow - Drifts, Snow - Wet/Sticky, Snow/Ice - Small Patches |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Snowshoes, Light Traction |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
Blowdowns in some places between Pierce and Jackson; bigger issue was ice/snow laden branches creeping into trail between Pierce and Jackson |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
Our Berner did great, and we saw about 6 other dogs that were having a blast |
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 | Bugs: |
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 | Lost and Found: |
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 | Comments: |
We couldn't help but hike something but wanted to avoid any summits with major water crossings. We took Crawford Path and there were a couple groups ahead of us and the trail was well packed out - mostly dry snow with just a few fresh inches. We passed folks along the way and were the first to the junction by Pierce. We kept going to Eisenhower and could not see any tracks - whether from little traffic or blowing snow. We could mostly find the trail but there was enough (4-12 inches) new and drifting snow that we had to do a couple very small backtracks. We had been wearing snowshoes from the car, but at the base of Eisenhower we put on microspikes to help with some of the exposed hard ice. You could get around it, but we definitely needed spikes coming back down. Wind was moving along the ridge and at the summit of Eisenhower, but you could see forever! Beautiful! We turned around and headed over the Pierce (putting snowshoes back on at the base of Eisenhower). Lots of people on Pierce and Bernie met some other pooches. We wanted to head to Jackson and could follow some tracks from a group that had come from the campground, but there were some bushwacking going on which made us stop and evaluate before blindly following. The trees were heavy laden with snow and ice from the recent snow but by now the temps were rising and the snow/ice was falling and melting. We got wet for sure and put our shell jackets on. At the Mizpah Hut, we were on our own for breaking trail the rest of the way to Jackson. Sometimes we could make out the faint traces of trail and white blazes and sometimes not, and the snow was getting sticky to break through. But, it went ok and we made it to Jackson just a bit slower than if it had just been "normal" and packed out. Folks had been up to Jackson so coming down the Webster-Cliff trail to Rt 302 was a piece of cake. Great day and Bernie got a couple hamburgers on the way home so we were all happy! |
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 | Name: |
KT Soukup |
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 | E-Mail: |
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| Date Submitted: |
2017-04-09 |
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 | Link: |
 https:// |
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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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