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Ski
Hiking Trail Conditions Report
Peaks
Peaks Mt. Pierce, Mt. Eisenhower (attempt), NH
Trails
Trails: Crawford Path, Webster Cliff Trail
Date of Hike
Date of Hike: Saturday, May 11, 2019
Parking/Access Road Notes
Parking/Access Road Notes: No issues at Crawford Connector trailhead. The trailheads of Webster-Jackson and Webster Cliff trails on Route 302 also had plenty of parking. The roads to Garfield, Gale River, North Twin, and Zealand trailheads were all still gated. 
Surface Conditions
Surface Conditions: Dry Trail, Wet Trail, Wet/Slippery Rock, Standing/Running Water on Trail, Snow/Ice - Monorail (Stable), Mud - Significant, Snow - Spring Snow, Snow/Ice - Postholes 
Recommended Equipment
Recommended Equipment: Snowshoes, Light Traction 
Water Crossing Notes
Water Crossing Notes: The ones on Crawford Path are all easy step-overs. 
Trail Maintenance Notes
Trail Maintenance Notes: The lower part of Crawford Path (i.e. the part that wasn't covered by monorail) was very wet from the melting monorail. Webster Cliff Trail between Crawford Path and Mizpah Hut had some blowdowns. We heard from other hikers that Webster Cliff Trail between Jackson and Webster was so full of blowdowns that trail-finding was very difficult. 
Dog-Related Notes
Dog-Related Notes: If they're nimble and have good balance, they should be fine. They should also be trained to step aside and let hikers go by on narrow elevated monorails. 
Bugs
Bugs: Only saw a few, and none at the higher elevations. 
Lost and Found
Lost and Found: The hiker who told us about the gnarly conditions on Webster Cliff between Webster and Jackson mentioned that he had lost a micro-spike somewhere in that stretch of trail. 
 
Comments
Comments: What a fun and exhausting hike! Starting up Crawford Path Saturday morning, there was a little bit of avoidable monorail on the Connector as well as in a few spots on the lower part of the Path, but nothing serious until part-way up (don't know the exact elevation). Other people donned spikes at this point - I used snowshoes because I didn't want to posthole (postholing on much of both Crawford Path and Mizpah Cutoff meant a 4-foot drop into running water). The monorail was just wide enough for snowshoes to work, and was stable the whole time. Past Mizpah Cutoff, the monorail remained in pretty good condition up to the junction with Webster Cliff just below Pierce. However, the wind was howling for most of that stretch, and it was even worse once we got into the open. The stretch of Crawford Path between Webster Cliff and Eisenhower Loop was about half sheltered 3-foot monorail and half exposed bare rock, with more of the former going down into the col and more of the latter going up toward Eisenhower. Due to the extremely strong wind that was blowing from the NW, we turned around at the junction with Eisenhower Loop.

Going up to Pierce on Webster Cliff was bare rock, but in the woods there was still 3-4 feet of snow. We were warned that there were lots of blowdowns between Pierce and the Hut, but we didn't find them too bad. What we did find difficult was the final steep descent to the hut - the trail constantly alternated between steep, soft, deep monorail and steep rock. Bare boots would be very inadvisable for that part, however my snowshoes were annoying in places and spikes wouldn't have been ideal either. In addition, some areas of that trail are heavily postholed by a large group that was staying at the hut.

Our original plan was to follow Webster Cliff over Jackson and Webster and down to Route 302 the next day. However, after we heard from other hikers of massive blowdowns and unbroken 3-foot-deep snow on Webster Cliff, we decided to just take Mizpah Cutoff and Crawford Path back down on Sunday. Mizpah Cutoff had a solid monorail in most places but major postholing in a couple areas. However, due to the aforementioned large group that hiked there this weekend, the trail was easy to follow (in contrast to my visit there in March).

Thanks so much Diane and Frank for accompanying me, and thanks Kate for being a great caretaker!  
Name
Name: GN 
E-Mail
E-Mail:  
Date Submitted
Date Submitted: 2019-05-12 
Link
Link: https:// 
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