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Ski
Hiking Trail Conditions Report
Peaks
Peaks West Baldpate Mountain, East Baldpate Mountain, ME
Trails
Trails: Appalachian Trail
Date of Hike
Date of Hike: Monday, March 2, 2020
Parking/Access Road Notes
Parking/Access Road Notes: Plenty of parking at the lot on the west side of Route 26. 
Surface Conditions
Surface Conditions: Ice - Blue, Snow - Packed Powder/Loose Granular, Snow - Unpacked Powder, Snow - Drifts 
Recommended Equipment
Recommended Equipment: Snowshoes, Light Traction, Traction 
Water Crossing Notes
Water Crossing Notes: Not an issue. 
Trail Maintenance Notes
Trail Maintenance Notes: A couple of blowdowns, easily walked around or stepped over. 
Dog-Related Notes
Dog-Related Notes:  
Bugs
Bugs:  
Lost and Found
Lost and Found:  
 
Comments
Comments: Lovely hike, with no one else of the trails. Snowshoes the entire day except on the icy summit of East Baldpate.

Corridor is reasonably well defined/consolidated early on, and was packed powder with a few inches of new snow on top. Further along, new snow amounts increased, and in some sections, the track was quite powdery and wind-drifted.

About 0.2 miles west of the summit of West Baldpate, the track splits into two -- take the right fork. The left fork follows the actual AT for a bit, but then loses the trail and becomes a bushwhack through spindly, dense softwoods, before connecting with the trail about 0.1 miles later.

The ladder heading east off of West Baldpate is completely snow-covered, and easily managed as a controlled slide, with chopped snowshoe steps for the ascent back.

The exposed section of the route up East Baldpate was alternating thick, crusty blue ice with drifted snow. We used snowshoes up, and traction/light traction down, as the latter helped keep us on the trail with the 50-60 mph winds at the time.
 
Name
Name: Pancks and Tesco Heaney 
E-Mail
E-Mail:  
Date Submitted
Date Submitted: 2020-03-04 
Link
Link: https:// 
Bookmark and Share 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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