Mt. Monroe, Mt. Washington - Ammonoosuc Ravine Trail, Crawford Path, Monroe Loop - 12-14-2014

Hiking Trail Conditions Report
	Peaks	Mt. Monroe, Mt. Washington, NH

	Trails:	Ammonoosuc Ravine Trail, Crawford Path, Monroe Loop

	Date of Hike:	Sunday, December 14, 2014

	Parking/Access Road Notes:	The cog lot was plowed, but not since the last couple inches of snow fell. The road still had 1-2" of snow on it as well, but was fine with 2WD and good tires. Watch yourself going downhill though.

	Surface Conditions:	Snow - Packed Powder/Loose Granular, Snow - Unpacked Powder, Snow/Ice - Frozen Granular, Snow - Drifts, Snow/Ice - Postholes

	Recommended Equipment:	Snowshoes

	Water Crossing Notes:	A few snow bridges, a few open, but none too troublesome. A barebooter/spiker had punched through the snow bridge on the Gem Pool crossing all the way down to the water...not even a hint of trouble if you wear snowshoes!

	Trail Maintenance Notes:	A large duck-under blowdown not far into the woods from the cog log (don't recall if it was before or after the spur trail met the main trail), and a few minor blowdowns here and there. The broken trail missed a few turns into the woods, but got there just the same. No visible cairns from treeline to the hut which would have been useful given the lack of visibility. The cairns were also mostly invisible on the way up Monroe. The cairns on the Crawford Path were large and easy enough to follow.

	Dog-Related Notes:	Marlie had a good day today, though she didn't seem to appreciate the winds on Monroe.

	Bugs:

	Lost and Found:


	Comments:	The forecast was for clearing skies, mild temps, and stiff but not crazy winds. Well, 2/3 of that was right, the skies though never really cleared. We got a brief bit of clearing as we left Mount Washington for the hut again, with some hints of undercast, but even that only lasted for less than an hour. The Ammo was broken out by snowshoers, but that only appeared to last until the first open spot a ways below treeline, from there to the hut it was broken only by barebooters/spikers with many crusty postholes. Great snow cover on the trail, very little ice. Snowshoes are the way to go. Above treeline there was plenty of snow so we were able to snowshoe the entire day with only a few rocks hit here and there. Some fairly deep drifts in places, but overall the depth was a solid 1-2', and a mix of wind-packed and loose snow. Not many folks came up the Ammo on this day, but among those that did, our group of 3 was the only one in snowshoes aside from one gentleman who wore them above treeline to Monroe and it appeared for at least a while on the descent back down the Ammo. Lots of postholes above treeline, hard to imagine how some of those didn't result in a leg injury. Visibility was pretty poor on the way up Monroe from the hut, we used a combination of memory of the trail, some dumb luck, and a GPS track to ensure we stayed in roughly the right spot. Not many cairns seen, but we got up and back just fine. It was pretty windy on Monroe, probably low-to-mid 30s gusts. Once past the hut on the ascent to Washington, we had practically no wind until reaching the junction with the Gulfside below the summit, and it actually felt a little less windy up there than on Monroe (supported by the MWOBS wind plot for the day). Visibility was also a bit better on that ascent. Our plan was to descend via Jewell, but with the North/Northwest winds still pretty strong, we didn't want to head upwind in all that for several miles, so we returned to the hut and descended the Ammo, which was fairly easy going. Thanks Theresa, Ian, and Marlie for joining in on the fun on this day, even if the promised-for partly cloudy skies never materialized.

	Name:	madmattd

	E-Mail:

	Date Submitted:	2014-12-15

	Link:	https://mattshikes.blogspot.com/
		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.