| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Mt. Jackson, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Webster-Jackson Trail |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Saturday, October 29, 2016 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
There were just a few cars at the parking area on arrival and departure. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Standing/Running Water on Trail, Snow - Wet/Sticky, Slush |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Light Traction |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
No problems. |
|
 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
New multi-stem blowdown at the intersection of Elephant Head and Webster-Jackson forcing a short whack around it. On the Jackson branch there is a new 6+" fir blowdown across the trail, which can be stepped over. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
Pepper had to work harder than me in the upper parts of the trail, as he was in snow above his chest on the hike up, especially on the boulder/ledge sections. It snowballed on him some on the way up in the untouched snow between my footprints, but on the hike down our prints and others coming up packed the snow and so his body snow melted off. He wore his softshell and it kept his back and sides fairly dry while the rest of him became soaked. He was warm on the hike up and on the descent while we were moving, but if we stopped long enough in the slushy areas he would shiver a bit and start heading down. |
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 | Bugs: |
None |
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 | Lost and Found: |
None |
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|
 | Comments: |
There was maybe 1" snow just past the trailhead, gradually increasing with elevation to around 6" of wet snow in the upper sections, with some drifting between boulders. We started during a lull in the rain. On the hike up the trail was wet in places, the snow low was very wet but it wasn't especially slippery on the boulders as it packed. Up high it would have been better for Pepper if I had used snowshoes on the hike up to pack out a larger area. The ledges weren't icy, the dense snow tended to hold to it and one could create some steps of sorts in it going up. These may be gone from descenders. It started to rain steadily as we neared the summit cone, and there was some wind with some interesting views. The hike down was quite different, the combination of other hikers packing the snow down, the steady rain (from clouds and from melt of snow off branches) and the warmer temps as we got lower, turned the trail into a lot of slush and pools, and we got pretty wet. It was comfy in my multi layered synthetics though. I had put on my rock microspikes for the upper ledges and they helped some on the ascent, and left them on for a good part of the descent because I didn't want to stop in the rain, but they provided less traction than by boots in the lower part and I took them off. We met a couple who planned to go on to Mitzpah. We met two other groups. My guess is multiple descents combined with added rain there will be more pooling of water and slush on the trail up to the branching of the trails and probably a ways beyond that. After that it might be packed wet snow. The ledges might be icy if temps drop below freezing for long. The one nice thing about lousy weather days is the most popular trails provide lots of solitude and freedom, which is why we did Jackson today. |
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 | Name: |
Pepper and Me |
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 | E-Mail: |
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| Date Submitted: |
2016-10-29 |
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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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