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Ski
Hiking Trail Conditions Report
Peaks
Peaks Mt. Jackson, NH
Trails
Trails: Webster-Jackson Trail
Date of Hike
Date of Hike: Monday, December 30, 2013
Parking/Access Road Notes
Parking/Access Road Notes: Small lot on Rte 302 was plowed as of 8:30AM (about a foot of snow last night). Was very pleased by that after a long ride up from CT (roads from Manchester or so on were not that great) Only one other car when I hit the trail and they must have taken a different trail. No tracks. Willey Station and Clinton Road were not plowed at all (in fact there was a car buried near the train station). I was dodging some traffic as I left so I didn't notice if they had plowed when I left around 3:30PM or so. 
Surface Conditions
Surface Conditions: Ice - Breakable Crust, Snow - Unpacked Powder, Snow/Ice - Frozen Granular, Snow - Drifts, Slush 
Recommended Equipment
Recommended Equipment: Snowshoes, Light Traction 
Water Crossing Notes
Water Crossing Notes: The one actual river crossing was pretty well snowed over with a few deep holes down to the water. Was OK. There were numerous smaller brooks that had some water an various levels of snow cover. Some actual open patched with shallow water and rocks but were not hard. 
Trail Maintenance Notes
Trail Maintenance Notes: Trail in excellent shape. All the trail signs looked new or near new and there were many new blue blazes that were nearly all visible. One very small duck under toward the top. 
Dog-Related Notes
Dog-Related Notes: Trail is fine for dogs right now. Saw one group with three dogs, although they turned back because they were getting cold (and had sweaters too). 
Bugs
Bugs:  
Lost and Found
Lost and Found: none 
 
Comments
Comments: Another tough day on trails: cold, cloudy and viewless except for a few brief peaks of sun, and over a foot of snow! Wore snow shoes car to car. I had to break trail on the first 1.4 miles to the split for Jackson-Webster and was pretty well exhausted. Thankfully two groups came by shortly after and took over. I'm pretty sure if those 5 people didn't come by I'd have turned around soon because I was way behind schedule. Powder was 12"+ in all but a few spots. The rest of the way up and all the way down was easier going in fresh tracks but the powder stayed very loose and slippery (although a few spots actually became slushy from the foot traffic). The last 100 yds or so before summit has a very tricky ledge and some other awkward areas. I left the snowshoes on but probably should have gone to spikes or crampons (I met another solo hiker just before the tricky ledge and he had spikes on and handled the ledges far easier than I did). It was very clumsy in the snow shoes, especially on descent where I basically did butt slides down the ledges (not all of which were intentional). The last small section above treeline to summit was bare rock and shallow drifts. Winds sustained at 35-45 mph made walking very awkward. Took a quick picture and got out of there. Passed quite a few more people on the way down (some who had sleds) so there should be a pretty good trough in the new snow by tomorrow. Temperature continued to drop all day and back at the car it was maybe the coldest point of day.  
Name
Name: DayTrip 
E-Mail
E-Mail: bblanchette0709@gmail.com 
Date Submitted
Date Submitted: 2013-12-30 
Link
Link: https:// 
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