| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Mt. Flume, Mt. Liberty, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Whitehouse Trail, Flume Slide Trail, Liberty Spring Trail, Franconia Ridge Trail |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Sunday, February 23, 2014 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Plenty of space |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Snow - Packed Powder/Loose Granular, Snow - Wet/Sticky, Snow/Ice - Postholes |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Snowshoes, Light Traction |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
All easily crossable |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
none |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
Didn't see a single canine though the slide was in very dog-friendly condition. |
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 | Bugs: |
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 | Lost and Found: |
Dropped one black "Head" liner glove by the car as we were leaving the parking lot. |
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|
 | Comments: |
Hiked this loop with a group of 5 people: Paul-William, Kyle, Denise, Howard, and Coral.
From the trailhead, the snow was firmly packed, except for the short walk on the road, so we started in. Switched over to snowshoes shortly after the intersection of Liberty Spring with Flume Slide and remained in snowshoes until after summiting Liberty. One person in the party remained in snowshoes for most of the hike.
The low elevation of Flume Slide was all crust with tracks of one barebooter and some hip deep postholes. Trail breaking of this section proved to be extremely tiring, sucking up a good chunk of our energy before we even hit the vertical. Kyle was awesome leading the trailbreaking. Even in snowshoes, we had a couple of thigh-high postholing. As we got to the exposed, vertical section the snow softened and started clumping to snowshoes… However, from the top to the slide and all the way to the end of the Liberty ridge, the trail condition was perfect for snowshoeing and quite reasonable for spikes. I had one regret - not carrying with me the butt sled – Liberty Spring would’ve been just perfect for it.
With the current trail condition, Flume Slide can be a better descending option than ascending. Even though the trail is broken, it's still not firmly packed though at this point - very approachable. |
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 | Name: |
Inna |
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 | E-Mail: |
innaradzi@yahoo.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2014-02-24 |
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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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