| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Mt. Jefferson, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Castle Trail, Gulfside, Randolph Path, Gray Knob Trail |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Saturday, October 26, 2019 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Only ones at Bowman at 0800. Only ones there upon return Sunday at 1030. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Snow - Trace/Minimal Depth, Wet Trail, Wet/Slippery Rock, Snow - Drifts, Snow - Wet/Sticky, Leaves - Significant/Slippery |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Light Traction |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
First crossing on Castle Trail (Israel River) required a few minutes of scouting to find a good route across. Long legs helped, as did having poles. We didn't get wet, but it was close. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
A few big blow downs higher up on Castle (above 3500') but nothing that a quick walk around or step over didn't take care of. looked like they'd been there for more than a bit. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
In decent weather/conditions this would be OK for experienced puppers. The Castles would require some boosting or a harness-pick up. Also, above treeline the talus would rip up un-prepared paws. |
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 | Bugs: |
None |
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 | Lost and Found: |
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 | Comments: |
A different route up to Jefferson Saturday morning was not without it's challenges. To be truly comfortable today would have require at least 3-4 wardrobe changes. Down low things are pretty buried under leaf cover, as the trees are 90% bare. With the previous night's rain it was quit slick in spots. Snow made its first appearance at about 3800' and started piling up around 4400'. We saw someone who had turned around at the first castle telling us that at least spikes and an ice axe was required to go further. We ventured forth to check it out, and didn't think it was all that bad. Yes, the scrambles required time and full use of hands, but an axe wouldn't have helped because there was no "real" ice, more just a layer of 2-3" of snow. After the first, the rest of the scrambles were doable. Above treeline, the snow cover deepens a bit and made trail finding difficult; along with the clouds we were in. Visibility was down to a couple hundred yards at times, so we were going cairn to cairn. The wind really picked up at the summit cone, so we spent just a few minutes there. Back down via Gulfside and Randolph Path to Gray Knob, and on to Gray Knob Cabin for the night. Footing on Randolph was quite bad. More snow on the north side, 6-8" with drifts over a foot in spots. Combined with the rocky foot bed, this made us slow down to basically 1 mile/hour. Snow below 4700' was basically a thin crust by the time we got there. Not a bad day, especially with the views north over Castle Ravine showing the snow line and clear skies stretching into VT. |
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 | Name: |
captinicebeard |
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 | E-Mail: |
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| Date Submitted: |
2019-10-28 |
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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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