| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Mt. Washington, Mt. Clay, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Great Gulf Trail, Gulfside, Trinity Heights Connector, Clay Loop, Sphinx Trail |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Saturday, October 31, 2015 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Plenty of room. There were no cars when we arrived; two others when we left after dusk. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail, Ice - Black, Snow - Trace/Minimal Depth, Ice - Blue, Standing/Running Water on Trail, Mud - Minor/Avoidable |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Light Traction |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
There are a lot of them. Most were rock hops once a good route was found. A couple benefitted from downed logs. There was some black ice but today we could find enough dry rocks to hop across so that basically they were not a problem. There are small cairns to guide one on many of the crossings. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
There are some stepovers and duckunders; most not a significant problem. One new one downstream from the Sphinx on the Great Gulf completely blocks the trail with the stems falling into and running with the trail. I tossed a bunch of broken stag stems out of the trail but there's still a few I had planned on getting out on the return hike, but ran out of time. There is water running in the Great Gulf and Sphinx trail in places, in a couople of places the waterbars have failed. But the major water in the Sphinx is covered in the AMC Guide, and the major water in Great Gulf is above the Sphinx but below the final rocky ascent and it is a major problem right now due to ice formation. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
Except for the Great Gulf section where water and ice are the trail, it was a good day for Pepper. He loves trails that run beside and overlook noisy streams. Temps were comfy for hiking with light winds. But the ice and stream section of Great Gulf was not his cup of tea. He couldn't get any traction, sometimes just standing without slipping was hard enough; trying to leap from that or land after a leap was very tricky. I did a lot of spotting and he never fell but he did get wet. Often he found alternate routes through the willows and krummholz, but squeezing through the dense branches wasn't his favorite thing to do either. Once we got out of that onto the rocks the rest of the hike was easy for him. He had to wait for me a lot on Sphinx and correct me a couple of times when I missed a crossing. |
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 | Bugs: |
None |
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 | Lost and Found: |
There was a orange and blue tarp? roll on Sphinx not too far down from Gulfside. I left it in place in case someone had left it there for later use, although that seemed unlucky. I had no room or straps in my pack even if I decided to do so. There was a solitary Nike trail shoe between Great Gulf and the stream south of 6 Husbands. I left it there. |
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 | Comments: |
This hike was pretty much what I expected except for the section of Great Gulf above Sphinx but below the last rocky ascent stretch. The trail really was a brook, and there was plenty of ice of different kinds, some rotten and some hard, and it often coated all of the boulders in the trail. I put on microspikes but they often didn't bite into the hard ice so I had to be careful for myself. Pepper's claws didn't bite at all.
Other than that there were small patches of ice in the trail, which was avoidable although sometimes care was needed. Sphinx didn't have a lot of problem ice; but it is slow anyway. I had to back climb down in a few spots, but for the most part Sphinx was okay, not much different from any other wet time of year. Great Gulf in its lower sections is a lovely trail.
We didn't see another hiker on Great Gulf, Sphinx or the Clay Loop; or any of the campsites. There were a few people on the summit with backpacks. We saw a dog prints on the Clay loop but that must have been earlier in the day. We saw a couple large flocks of birds on Clay darting around as we moved along the trail. I couldn't identify them but I'm no birder.
The summit building was open with the trails running today, but it wasn't crowded. I was able to eat with Pepper and change out of a wet sock set in the shelter area just outside the main door that doesn't allow dogs in. I was told the road was and had been closed for some time. It was kind of nice to not have the crowds. Several people came over to pet Pepper and asked if he hiked. Thanks Pepper for a tricky and treaty Halloween. |
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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: |
2015-10-31 |
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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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