| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Mt. Lafayette, Mt. Truman, Mt. Lincoln, Little Haystack Mountain, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Old Bridle Path, Greenleaf Trail, Franconia Ridge Trail, Falling Waters Trail |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Wednesday, March 13, 2019 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Plenty of room well plowed and not icy today |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Snow - Packed Powder/Loose Granular, Snow - Unpacked Powder, Snow/Ice - Frozen Granular, Snow - Wet/Sticky |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Snowshoes, Light Traction |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
Coming down FWT, the first big crossing (left to right) and the second to last crossing without a man made bridge (right to left) have open water and/or a very unstable snow bridge and won't be long for this winter season, all of the other big crossings were still completely bridged no issues |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
A few duck unders but otherwise no major issues - plenty of chest and face high branches mostly on upper OBP and in the scrub between the hut and Lafayette, like everywhere else this winter the snow pack is crazy high |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
Hannah had a great day - no major issues for winter hardy dogs and less ice on the ridge than I've seen on previous winter trips - also saw one other dog having a great time |
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 | Bugs: |
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 | Lost and Found: |
Saw a black and gray knit hat on the ridge, was going to bring it down but half of it was firmly encrusted in ice and snow and wouldn't move so it will be up there for a while longer |
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 | Comments: |
Did the loop clockwise as is our preference - started in snowshoes, fairly consolidated snowshoe track up most of OBP though the snow was softer in places where it had drifted a bit and where the sun had poked through - few awkward side hill areas but navigable with care. Track became a bit more unconsolidated just below the Agonies but powdery snow was easy to traverse with snowshoes - fortunately the one group I passed were all in snowshoes as well. Once you break out of the scrub past the hut it's mostly hard packed styrofoam snow with some exposed rock, a few areas of drifting and a few small areas of more solid ice but easy to go around them - spikes probably would have been ok in this section but I preferred to stay in snowshoes mostly for the televators. There are a few sets of tracks just below the spring near the summit, we ended up meandering to the right of the large rocks for a short ways then found our way back to the trail, no issues though as there's enough snow cover between the rocks to allow for travel almost anywhere. Switched to spikes on Lafayette summit for the ridge which was a good choice - I felt like I had better traction than I would have in my snowshoes and it was easier to navigate around the exposed rocks and occasional bare patches. There were a few short areas of drifted snow where we sank a bit but they were short and very far between, not worth swapping out to snowshoes. Once on Little Haystack I switched back to snowshoes for the trip down - unlike OBP though, FWT was unfortunately a choppy mess from people hiking it earlier in the day in spikes - snow was very soft and unconsolidated - I tried to smooth it out as much as I could but there's only so much one set of snowshoe tracks can do. The track did firm up further down closer to the falls and the snow became sticky a few tenths below the falls, snowshoes definitely still needed and wore them back to the car. With the upcoming warm up over the next few days, anything less than snowshoes will beat up the track on OBP and FWT and make for a difficult hike and lots of deep post holing - if taking this route in the next several days please wear your snowshoes!! Beautiful day up high, just a slight breeze on Lafayette but no wind on the ridge and views forever - thanks Hannah for another great day! |
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 | Name: |
Hikes with Hannah |
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 | E-Mail: |
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| Date Submitted: |
2019-03-13 |
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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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