NewEnglandTrailConditions.com
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Ski
Hiking Trail Conditions Report
Peaks
Peaks Mt. Madison, Mt. Adams, Mt. Jefferson, Mt. Washington, Mt. Monroe, Mt. Franklin, Mt. Eisenhower, Mt. Pierce, Mt. Jackson, NH
Trails
Trails: Valley Way, Osgood Trail, Gulfside, Jefferson Loop, Crawford Path, Monroe Loop, Eisenhower Loop, Webster Cliff Trail, Webster-Jackson Trail
Date of Hike
Date of Hike: Saturday, March 1, 2014
Parking/Access Road Notes
Parking/Access Road Notes: Parked at Appalachia, plenty of room (maybe 4 cars when we arrived and 2 when we left), plowed but the wind caused some drifting. We then used a taxi from the Highland Center to return to our car. 
Surface Conditions
Surface Conditions: Ice - Black, Ice - Breakable Crust, Snow - Unpacked Powder, Snow - Drifts, Snow/Ice - Monorail (Stable), Snow/Ice - Postholes 
Recommended Equipment
Recommended Equipment: Snowshoes, Light Traction 
Water Crossing Notes
Water Crossing Notes: Everything is bridged! You didn't even know you were crossing water. 
Trail Maintenance Notes
Trail Maintenance Notes: Everything is in really great shape - one blowdown on the Jackson Br Trail, easily avoidable. 
Dog-Related Notes
Dog-Related Notes: A bit breezy for a pup today. 
Bugs
Bugs:  
Lost and Found
Lost and Found: Found a yellow OR bottle insulator with a nalgene - let us know if its yours and we will send it to you! 
 
Comments
Comments: Great day out! We began at Appalachia and happened to start at the same time as two other men. Getting up Madison went very smoothly. Valley Way is quite drifted on the final 1.4 miles before the hut. We ended up breaking trail for a while.
The summit cones of Madison, Adams, and Jefferson all went well. There was some trail finding confusion on Adams, but with a couple turn arounds we were on the trail as close as possible. Heading to Jefferson there were several snow fields but we traversed without mishap (if a new layer of snow covers the current consolidated layer I think it would be the perfect set up for an avalanche so beware). The trail kept playing hide and seek with us and the two guys behind us hopefully didn't follow our tracks exactly as we went on a wild goose chase several times finding drifts of at least 4 feet.
We opted to skirt Clay as our main objective was to get the 4ks for our winter list. The wind was kicking up from the West at a maintained 60 mph with wind chill in the negative 20-30 if I have my information correct. This made for quite the entertaining time of trying to dance with the wind to place our feet. The wind increased as we summited Washington, at points pushing us around/off our feet. It was refreshing to have the summit free of car-riding summit seekers (no 20 minute wait this time for our picture!).
Off Washington and to Monroe found the wind calming down. There is a fair amount of ice around LOC Hut - several people have broken through and gotten wet feet so use caution as even with the cold temps it hasn't really set. Some may feel more comfortable with crampons, we opted against that as the exposed rock just looked to sketchy for twisting ankles. Monroe, no issues. Franklin posed some more trail hide and seek but nothing too difficult.
Eisenhower brought us a huge delight - a packed sidewalk! We followed that through to Pierce. That stretch between Eisenhower and Pierce has been stomped all over and there are a lot of tracks to sort through, but stick to the most solid one and you should be good. We were thrilled to see that Pierce through Jackson had been broken out beautifully (not a perfect sidewalk, but well tracked). There were no problems summiting our final mountain of the day. Then the best part of the day... the sunset and using our butt sleds down Jackson! It was a blast (hopefully no one from the Highland Center heard our cheers!). We walked out the final stretch as the night descended upon us and made our way to the Highland Center for our ride. An exciting day with incredible views, new experiences, and not enough sleep!  
Name
Name: A & A 
E-Mail
E-Mail: annieo23@comcast.net 
Date Submitted
Date Submitted: 2014-03-01 
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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