| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Mt. Jackson, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Webster-Jackson Trail |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Saturday, March 15, 2014 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Very full at 11:30, though if a few people didn't take up 2.5 spaces for their car it wouldn't have been as bad. I parked on the side of the road well off the main road over the white line, as many others did. Starting to thin out a few hours later. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Snow - Packed Powder/Loose Granular, Snow - Wet/Sticky, Snow/Ice - Postholes |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Snowshoes |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
The one crossing is well and solidly bridged. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
In good shape, no issues. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
Saw a few of all sizes, all seemed to be happy. Easy conditions now for dogs. |
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 | Bugs: |
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 | Lost and Found: |
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 | Comments: |
I saw clearing blue skies while driving up from Waterville, so instead of Waumbek which was the plan, I decided to hit up Jackson. Well, the blue skies went away long before I reached the summit (figures the weathermen would be right this time...) but the cloud deck was at about 5500 feet so there were still some OK views.
A well established snowshoe trench made for fairly easy going the whole way. The snow was sticky as it was near 50F in the notch when I started, and stayed sticky the whole way but it did not ball on the snowshoes so not bad. The ledge at the top was an easy shoe up with a few short pieces of exposed rock. Coming down it took a little more care but it wasn't too bad at all.
Lots of folks out, most appeared to snowshoe up, but many took them off for the descent??? Lots of folks sledding down, they were having a hoot though they tended to posthole a bit higher up when they stood up to get to the next good run. Some impressive postholes high up, down low the trail was in decent shape. Might freeze in an interesting way tonight, though there were still a bunch of snowshoers on the mountain, so it might have gotten smoothed out a little first. Just be ready for a few hidden posthole surprises!
A nice quick afternoon hike, though I wish the blue skies had stayed, I would have lingered at the summit much longer. Instead, there was a minor snow squall during the second half of he descent. Can't win them all. |
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 | Name: |
madmattd |
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 | E-Mail: |
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| Date Submitted: |
2014-03-15 |
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 | Link: |
 https://mattshikes.blogspot.com |
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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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