| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Mt. Eisenhower, Mt. Pierce, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Crawford Connector, Crawford Path, Eisenhower Loop, Webster Cliff Trail |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Saturday, December 6, 2014 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
There were no issue the lot was recently plowed. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Ice - Blue, Snow - Packed Powder/Loose Granular, Snow - Unpacked Powder, Standing/Running Water on Trail, Snow - Drifts, Snow - Wet/Sticky |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Snowshoes, Light Traction |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
There are no real crossings to worry about (the bigger ones have bridges) but many of the smaller "step overs" are still "open water". They pose no issues. |
|
 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
There were no trail maintenace issues but the sign at the junction on Crawford Path for Pierce was laying on the ground. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
Saw a dog along the way and it seemed to be doing fine. |
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 | Bugs: |
No bugs. |
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 | Lost and Found: |
Lost one black smartwool liner glove either on 302 between the Crawford Path trailhead and the Highland Center or in the parking lot of the Highland Center. |
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|
 | Comments: |
The original plan was to do this one with Monica and the Random Group of Hikers but as the week progressed and the weather forecast worsened people dropped out. We changed the start time (two hours earlier) to try and beat the bad weather and I think we did a fairly good job. It ended up being just me and Steve - even Monica sat this one out.
The forecast was for snow early and sleet late. The snow was falling when we started and kept falling almost all day long. There were a few moments where there was sleet but not many.
There was about 6"-8" of fresh snow down low and knee deep drifts up top. While we could have barebooted up to the Mizpah Hut Cutoff I figured since we have the snowshoes why not wear them so we put them on and took them off at the trailhead. Down low there are still some rocks that get in the way but they are easily avoided. Once the trail gets about 12" more of snow it will be a very fast ascent/descent.
While our trail breaking efforts down low may survive (they were reinforced by two pairs of bare booters and a snow shoe wearer) I doubt the work done beyond the Crawford Path/Webster Cliff junction will survive the day/night. Our steps were refilling within about 20 minutes of us putting them there.
Bumped into two guys (Dan and Mike) who were finishing up a two day presidential traverse. They had orgibally planned for a three day trip but made better time on day one than they expected to so they were able to finish in two days. They were barebooting so we were able to help them out a bit between Eisenhower and Pierce by breaking out the trail for them. |
|
 | Name: |
Michael & Monica |
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 | E-Mail: |
michaelfblair@gmail.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2014-12-06 |
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 | Link: |
 https://www.meetup.com/random-hikers/events/218989209 |
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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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