| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Mt. Passaconaway (attempt), Mt. Whiteface, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Dicey's Mill Trail, Blueberry Ledge Trail |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Saturday, December 1, 2018 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Lot plowed |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Snow - Packed Powder/Loose Granular, Snow - Unpacked Powder |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Snowshoes |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
First water crossing on Dicey's mill had a log across it with at least a foot of untouched snow on top and no obvious trail in sight beyond it. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
Several blowdowns on Blueberry Ledge trail, most can be walked around, one awkward one that's easier to crawl over |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
Passed 3 off leashers that were all rude to my two, no attempts from owners to prevent the behavior. Trail savvy dogs will be fine on blueberry ledge though might need a boost on the scrambles, mine enjoyed themselves. |
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 | Bugs: |
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 | Lost and Found: |
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 | Comments: |
Original plan was to do an out and back on Dicey's Mill to Passaconaway. Followed one single snowshoe track about a mile in through increasing snow depth until the first water crossing where the tracks stopped. Didn't have it in me to attempt to break trail by myself all the way up, so I turned back. Passed two pairs of barebooters coming down the trail behind me and warned them, but unknown if they ended up turning around or if they decided to persevere. If so, trail will be in rough shape from post holes.
Opted to ascend Blueberry Ledge instead which had seen a little more traffic, but I was very obviously the only person in snowshoes. The trail was a mess the whole way up due to barebooters and downright obliterated near the top, very difficult to walk on without my snowshoes trying to slip into 2 ft deep post hole chasms. It took a considerable effort to get to the summit primarily due to this. A couple of the steeper sections were quite challenging, but doable with care. Shortly after starting my descent I finally passed one other snowshoer coming up and found that the combination of both our efforts had started to form a track. I attempted to smooth out the post holes as best I could on the way down apart from a handful of spots where I was genuinely concerned about twisting an ankle and had to walk around them. The lower portion of the trail where the snow is not deep is becoming packed (and there's a section in the middle that must get a lot of sun because the rock slabs were bare), but the top half of the trail really could use more snowshoe traffic. Summit was beautiful and warm with no wind. |
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 | Name: |
MR |
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 | E-Mail: |
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| Date Submitted: |
2018-12-02 |
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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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