| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
North Lafayette, Mt. Lafayette, Mt. Truman, Mt. Lincoln, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Skookumchuck Trail, Garfield Ridge Trail, Franconia Ridge Trail |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Sunday, May 11, 2014 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Good sized parking largely empty. |
|
 | Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail, Mud - Minor/Avoidable, Snow/Ice - Monorail (Unstable), Snow/Ice - Postholes |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Light Traction |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
Only minor drainages easily crossed. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
4 significant blowdowns remain on Skookumchuck, two beech complexes on the new section, one stag stem part way up and one in the upper section. In addition one of those I took out still had branches in the ice so I had to leave it in place after cutting it, but when the ice melts someone can pull it out of the way. There was some broken branches on the trail; I tossed some to the side but there's still more. It was much better than many other trails we've been on recently. The waterbars were working. There are a few wet/mud spots in flat sections, and a few slightly eroded stretches cutting across a slope, but there are a lot of waterbars all working that keep it from getting away. All in all this trail was in pretty good shape. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
Good day for Pepper. There were plenty of sip n dips down low, up high there were small pools of meltwater or snow to get water. The snow/ice sections were no problem. |
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 | Bugs: |
None |
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 | Lost and Found: |
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 | Comments: |
I barebooted up all the way to Lincoln. The trail was mostly dry and clear until around 3600', then a rotting monorail of ice and/or snow went almost all the way to North Lafayette. The monorail varies from thin ice to roughly 2' of snow. The snow areas had postholes of various ages mixed in with crusty old rail, but I found by using pre-existing holes I could avoid adding any on the hike up. Going down Skookumchuck I put on microspikes to get through the snow/ice sections, and modestly deepened a few postholes as the snow had softened some. Snowshoes could be used in the 3800' and above section, but given how late it is in the season and how choppy it is now, they aren't needed to protect the trail.
There are just a few pockets of snow on Franconia Ridge. We ran into fewer hikers between L & L than I expected given the weather. There was a pretty strong wind from N. Lafayette to Lafayette, enough to get me to put on gloves and three top layers, but from Lafayette to Lincoln it was much less and I was if anything too warm.
We didn't see a soul all day on Skookumchuck. It is a wonderful trail with a nice footbed, modest slopes, nice woods along a stream down low, and it leads to a great open ridge hike up high. It is now my favorite way to get to L&L. I can't believe I forgot how nice a trail this is. Thanks Pepper for a great hike. |
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 | Name: |
Pepper and Me |
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 | E-Mail: |
windriversjohn at gmail dot com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2014-05-11 |
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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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