| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Mt. Madison, Mt. Adams, Mt. Jefferson, Mt. Washington, Mt. Monroe, Mt. Eisenhower, Mt. Pierce, Mt. Jackson, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Valley Way, Osgood Trail, Airline, Gulfside, Jefferson Loop, Gulfside, Crawford Path, Monroe Loop, Crawford Path, Webster Cliff Trail, Webster-Jackson Trail |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Sunday, February 17, 2019 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Appalachia is plowed (miserably) |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Ice - Black, Ice - Blue, Snow - Packed Powder/Loose Granular, Snow - Unpacked Powder, Snow - Drifts |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Snowshoes, Light Traction, Traction, Ice Axe |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
What few there are are bridged nicely |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
Blowdowns are disappearing, but the corridor keeps getting lower and lower.. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
I left Piper at home for this one. He would've been fine on the Southern Presis, but negotiating all of the ice flows between Adams and Eisenhower would've been tricky. I didn't see any other dogs until I got back to Pierce, and that dog was my dog. |
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 | Bugs: |
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 | Lost and Found: |
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 | Comments: |
Madison & Adams - Well packed to the hut, but snowshoes were helpful with the overnight drifting. Wore snowshoes 80% of the way up the cone, then ditched in favor of micro spikes--it's wicked boney right now. Lots of very hard ice where there isn't exposed rock. Adams was more of the same, but we wore our snowshoes to the summit as there was less ice. Took them off for the descent to Thunderstorm Jct., then put them back on to cruise down Gulfside. Put spikes back on at Israel Ridge jct.
Jefferson/Clay/Washington - The stretch from Israel Ridge to Jefferson is an icy mess. Snowshoes were useless and spikes weren't very effective. We all agreed that we would've felt more comfortable in K-10s or something similar..bigger, heavier spikes would've been helpful. The climb to Jefferson loop was the sketchiest I've ever experienced and crampons of some sort and an axe would've been nice. Cest la vie, I suppose. Regardless of wishes, we made it across in one piece and pretty much bee-lined to the summit of Jefferson. It feels very exposed right now due to the lack of snow and prevalence of very hard snow/ice. Take care up here. Gulfside to and around Clay is a river of ice and very little actual snow. Climb to Washington along the cog was pretty icy so I stuck to the areas where there was hard snow instead of ice.
Monroe & Eisenhower - More ice down to and over Monroe, but not to the same extent. This continued all the way along the southern ridge until the descent of Eisenhower, at which point I put the snowshoes back on. Crawford Path has seen a lot of feet, but the snow is soft and snowshoes were good to have. Came across Todd, Larisa, Erinn, Nicole, and PIPER near the summit of Pierce, at which point they informed me that they had broken from Jackson to Pierce, which made my day. However, a group of 8-10 new guys grenaded the trail right after my friends broke it out beautifully, so first .6 mi or so from Mizpah on Webster Cliff trail got destroyed. As long as there is no freeze thaw and a few more people stamp it down with snowshoes, it should be fine. Once they turned around, everything was gravy. Webster-Jackson Trail is very packed out, but again, snowshoes were nice to have to prevent sinking/slippage. |
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 | Name: |
Nate Weeks |
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 | E-Mail: |
npweeks@Gmail.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2019-02-18 |
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 | Link: |
 https://www.strava.com/activities/2158063255 |
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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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