| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Mt. Liberty, Mt. Flume, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Bike path, herd path, Liberty Spring Trail, Franconia Ridge Trail |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Sunday, April 7, 2024 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Parked at the lot across from the Basin (the northbound Basin lot). This large lot is paved, plowed after storms. It was down to the pavement today. There are two privies, both closed. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Snow - Packed Powder/Loose Granular, Mud - Minor/Avoidable, Snow - Wet/Sticky |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Snowshoes |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
All water crossings simple to negotiate. With the rapidly melting snow, there are several rivulets going over the trail. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
Three new major blow downs on Liberty Springs Trail. One is quite large and takes a minute to figure out how to crawl over it. The others are being hiked around. Some hooligan broke into the metal caretaker fee box at the campsite. For real?!?! Come on, dudes! |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
One dog having a blast. No obstacles present on trail today. |
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 | Bugs: |
A few flying insects down near the bike path. |
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 | Lost and Found: |
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 | Comments: |
Route:
Out and back using the bike/recreation path > Liberty "bushwhack" > Liberty Springs Trail > Franconia Ridge Trail.
Bike path: covered in light snow this morning, slush with pavement starting to show this early afternoon. Wear what you want.
Liberty Springs "bushwhack:" not marked, but clearly travelled. Bare boots should be just fine as it is rapidly turning bony. Snow very shallow or missing. I went up in snowshoes (because they are super heavy on my pack), but bare booted down.
Liberty Springs: this is the AT and is blazed in standard white blazes. It is not well blazed for winter travel, however, it is the most popular winter route and is therefore nearly always broken out or pretty simple to follow. Thank you to the brave soul who broke this out after the last storm!! Lots of shallow snow that most people were spiking/bare booting today in lower elevations. Some open trail as well. This all stops, though, once across the largest water crossing. Then the trough picks up. I elected to use snowshoes and they served me well. All but two other people were in bare boots or spikes. This was churning up the trail pretty bad. Suffice to say that I'm not judging. I really don't care this time of year as I am more than ready to say goodbye to snow until next winter. There were tracks to the water point at the Liberty Springs campsite. Water was flowing slowly. Snow levels stayed consistent from the final larger water crossing topping out at 2+ feet at the ridge. Junction sign has been repeatedly dug out, with the surrounding snow still threatening to swallow it.
Franconia Ridge Trail: well blazed in blue for winter travel. Liberty has a few supplemental carins to help mark the way. Up to Liberty the trail continues to be packed enough for spikes. Again, I elected to stay in snowshoes. I took the winter bypass to avoid those rediculous ledges coming off the summit cone. It was not broken when I went down it this morning. Once on the way to Flume I was met with posthole hell. I was amazed that someone exerted that much energy to put holes all though the trail. It seems as though Flume has seen far less traffic than his neighbor and the trough is soft. I just glided over the holes in my snowshoes. The lady I met coming behind me was also in snowshoes. I cannot tell you what other people wore. Those I saw in spikes had shoes on their packs. Either way, I had the distinct pleasure of knocking off a bunch of snow from branches sticking into the trail. I had to walk semi-hunched in many parts as the branches were at eye level. There is still a substantial amount of snow on branches just waiting for the unsuspecting hiker...
Upon my return to the Liberty Springs junction, I contemplated long and hard about continuing on to Little Haystack, Lincoln and Lafayette. But this part of the trail has clearly not seen a human footstep since AT LEAST the big storm at the end of March. Yes, its "just" 1.8 miles, but I did not have it in me today to negotiate all that snow while trying to route find. I tested a bit of the snow past the junction and it held my weight in snowshoes, but I knew what this trail held for me and I wanted no part of it. I feel like I 've been breaking trail since January. I think I'll wait until May before tackling this beast...
Continue to be safe out there! |
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 | Name: |
Remington34 |
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 | E-Mail: |
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| Date Submitted: |
2024-04-07 |
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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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