| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Mt. Adams, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Air Line, Gulfside, snowfields, Valley Way |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Saturday, November 24, 2018 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Appalachia was plowed, but not overflowing. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Snow - Unpacked Powder, Standing/Running Water on Trail, Snow - Drifts, Snow - Wet/Sticky, Snow/Ice - Postholes |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Snowshoes |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
Minor |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
Blowdowns on both Air Line and Valley Way, the latter of which has a one with a herd path around it. Removed a few on Air Line. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
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 | Bugs: |
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 | Lost and Found: |
Found a pair of old loppers perhaps 2/3rds of the way up Air Line. Hung them up on a blowdown. |
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 | Comments: |
Mid winter conditions; snowshoes roundtrip.
Lower Air Line had seen some booters this morning. They made it up to the Randolph Path junction before realizing the trail wasn't packed out enough. Not only that, but Randolph wasn't broken out, so they decided all the way to Beechwood to get over to the Valley Way. Snowpack was only about a foot to a foot and a half up to this point. A few random water perks.
Above the Randolph Path hadn't seen any use since the most recent snowfall. There was a good snowshoe track under about 2-3" of powder to begin with, though the powder got sticker as the morning progressed. Further up, the new powder had drifted deeper, leaving multiple feet of powder. Prior to reaching the alpine zone warning sign, the snowpack was deep enough to swallow a pole. Though broken out now, the trail is not well packed.
No recent traffic on Scar/Upper Bruin/Airline Cutoff.
A little bony from treeline up to Gulfside. Enough to use snowshoes, and deep enough drifts to make booting a nightmare.
A bareboot track led up Adams from Gulfside. I didn't like it and saw the snowfields had filled in better than in some recent winters, so we weaved our way up. Very nice snowshoeing with solid snowpack; roughly retraced our steps on the descent.
Gulfside from Air Line down to the hut wasn't great - lots of postholes, footbed deviating from the trail into brush, rocky in places, etc.
Valley Way was gross. Ridiculous amounts of urine on and along the trail. Vomit along the trail. What appeared to be human feces on the trail.
The footbed was relatively solid, however descending booters in the warming afternoon temperatures installed quite a few postholes. We smoothed what we could with our snowshoes, but there was only so much we can do. A few random open water perks. Plenty of snowpack for snowshoeing all the way down, even along the brook (which can be thin in other winters).
Unfortunately, the majority of hikers we encountered today were neither wearing nor carrying snowshoes. Some even hiking in bareboots and jeans. Some even attempting to hike secondary trails (that see no use in winter) without snowshoes. When the snowpack is multiple feet deep, it is extremely risky to you and others to go above treeline without bringing snowshoes.
Seasonable temperatures today with reasonable winds. Summits in the clear with some blue sky during the day, however the clouds came in very quickly just before sunset, swallowing the peaks. |
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 | Name: |
rocket21 |
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 | E-Mail: |
rocket21@franklinwebpublishing.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2018-11-24 |
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 | Link: |
 https://www.franklinsites.com/hikephotos |
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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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