| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Mt. Madison, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Valley Way, Osgood Trail |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Friday, March 7, 2014 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Appalachia was well plowed and only 1 car there when I arrived about 7:10AM. There were about 9 cars when I left about 3:15PM but I only saw one group of 4 all day. Based on how full Lowe's store lot was I assume many people took advantage of the relatively calm SW winds to do Adams and Jefferson. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Ice - Black, Snow - Trace/Minimal Depth, Snow - Packed Powder/Loose Granular, Ice - Breakable Crust, Snow - Unpacked Powder, Snow/Ice - Frozen Granular, Snow - Drifts, Snow/Ice - Postholes |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Light Traction |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
Couple of small brooks toward bottom were open to brook bed but had adequate bridges for easy crossing. Everything else frozen solid and covered. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
Valley Way is very well blazed with many older as well as many fresh blue rectangles. All were well above snow level. There were two high duck unders that just barely hooked my pack. Several high leaners that look like they may come down at some point. There were a ton of piss holes in the snow pretty much right on the trail and a few spots where used toilet paper was just left tangled in the branches of trees (one right by the hut). Was fairly annoying. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
Very easy for dogs. Footing on summit cone may be a little tricky for dogs, especially smaller ones, but still very doable. |
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 | Bugs: |
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 | Lost and Found: |
The purple Nalgene bottle mentioned in prior posts is still there stuffed in summit cairn. |
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 | Comments: |
Trails in really good shape. Wore microspikes car to car. Valley Way is a very firmly packed powder track all the way to junction with Upper Bruin, with occasional post holes. From Upper Bruin to just below the hut it is a less packed powder which was a bit awkward in microspikes in some spots, particularly descending. There were more frequent post holes here and a few small patches of gray, grippable ice. Osgood Trail on summit cone had a little bit of everything: loose powder, some small drifts, hard packed snow, ice covered rocks and bare rock. The first 0.2 miles or so had some steep areas of this loose powder which were again a little slick on descent but OK overall. Winds only 5-15mph until last 100' of vertical ascent, where it ramped up rapidly to 15-25mph with frequent sustained gusts of 33-34 mph so walking across the narrow rocks was a bit awkward, especially with the "sail" my snow shoes made lashed to my pack. (Leave the snow shows in the car as prior reports indicated). I guess also of note is that many of the other trails that branch off Valley Way had no evidence of a track or a very old one (with the exception of Beechwood Way at bottom and Upper Bruin. If you're planning a connection of one of these you'll be breaking trail. |
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 | Name: |
DayTrip |
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 | E-Mail: |
bblanchette0709@gmail.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2014-03-07 |
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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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