| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Mt. Pierce, Mt. Eisenhower, NH |
|
 | Trails: |
Crawford Connector, Crawford Path, Webster Cliff Trail, Eisenhower Loop |
|
 | Date of Hike: |
Friday, December 23, 2016 |
|
 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Lot had some new snow in it on our arrival, but it had been plowed on our return. The access road and parking area aren't sanded. |
|
 | Surface Conditions: |
Ice - Blue, Snow - Packed Powder/Loose Granular, Snow - Unpacked Powder, Snow - Drifts |
|
 | Recommended Equipment: |
Snowshoes, Light Traction, Traction |
|
 | Water Crossing Notes: |
No significant crossings. |
|
 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
There is water running/standing in the Crawford Path in a few places, and crossing it in others. All signs in place. There are some patches of solid ice between Pierce and Eisenhower, those on Eisenhower's summit cone might concern some hikers, especially on the descent. |
|
 | Dog-Related Notes: |
Pepper had fun. The hike to Pierce was easy on a packed trail, but there are quite a few places with open water where paws can get wet so I continually reminded him to stay out of the muck. Between the peaks he had to weave between footprints, especially where the snow had drifted, but he didn't ice up much. I had treated his paws with Musher's Wax and lower legs with some Vaseline. |
|
 | Bugs: |
|
|
 | Lost and Found: |
|
|
|
|
|
 | Comments: |
This hike could be done entirely in spikes, although Hillsounds would be better than microspikes on the ice patches. Crampons were the choice for the one other hiker we met on Eisenhower. He carried snowshoes as did I. I used mine from Eisenhower Loop down quite a ways on Crawford Path on the hike out, originally hoping to turn the trail into a nice trench but parts were just too crusty to break down the high areas between bootprints. The MSRs are fine on the ice pathces. After that they were working going down from the Webster Cliff intersection so I kept them on to avoid a stop and change. When I finally replaced them with the Hillsounds I noticed how my MSRs gripped better and were more stable than the Hs. I think of the MSRs as macrospikes but the snow was getting thinner so the change worked. Later hikers coming up Crawford Path were in spikes mostly. Two guys we passed below Pierce said they planned to hike over to Jackson, but it looked to me like they were in for some hard work, since the trail wasn't broken out, with ice crust over sugar snow, and they lacked snowshoes. They said they might take the Mitzpah Cutoff if things were pretty demanding.
The sun didn't really come out until we were nearing the end of the above treeline part of the hike. The highest summits then seemed to be in and out of clouds. We've seen so little sun for months of hiking, it seemed soooo bright. The winds were steady but not overwhelming in the morning. Those who went up later got better views. We only saw one person over between Pierce and Eisenhower but many were heading up to Pierce later in the day. It was a lovely afternoon. Thanks Pepper for another fine vacation day. |
|
 | Name: |
Pepper and Me |
|
 | E-Mail: |
|
|
| Date Submitted: |
2016-12-23 |
|
 | Link: |
 https:// |
|
|
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. |
|
