| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Hurricane Mountain, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Road walk, Glencliff Trail, Hurricane Mountain Trail, bushwhack |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Saturday, December 14, 2019 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
I was surprised to find two other cars shortly passed noon at the Glencliff parking area. Room for at least a half dozen if not closer to a dozen more cars before you’d start to overflow which I’m sure it does over the summer as it’s a popular trailhead. No parking signs at the true trailhead just a few dozen yards south on the road. Mid-high forties when I started and returned. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Snow - Trace/Minimal Depth, Wet Trail, Ice - Blue, Wet/Slippery Rock, Standing/Running Water on Trail, Snow/Ice - Frozen Granular, Mud - Minor/Avoidable, Mud - Significant, Leaves - Significant/Slippery |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Light Traction |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
The guidebook describes a bridged crossing at the beginning of the true trail (before the farm road comes in from the parking lot that most people take) but I don’t recall a bridge. It was small but with all the recent rain water was high and it was really flowing. I’m sure it was much wider than it normally is as well. It was rock hoppable but I wouldn’t wanted to have slipped in shin deep. It’s possible there was also a bridged crossing here that I forgot about and this was all runoff. Would be hard to believe with the volume of water though. The bridged crossing after the farm road joins and the one on the farm road that I took on the way out both had ice on them (the one on the farm road was covered so you might want to avoid that route if you don’t have spikes). Only one other unbridged true crossing I remember that I think was on the western side of Hurricane Mtn. Flowing real good but not as bad as the unbridged one at the beginning. Many more unofficial sort of crossings with flowing water in/out and down the trail as well as large pools of water. Hiking after big rain events really is an eye-opening experience. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
Although Glencliff Trail is part of the AT all I remember is blue blaze. Perhaps the lower portion isn’t blazed? In any case, Hurricane Mtn Trail was well blazed in blue. There was a small blowdown right at a little water crossing that forced you to cross up/down stream slightly. Some other small brush scattered along the trail. I don’t recall any larger blowdowns but that doesn’t mean that there weren’t any. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
None seen but I imagine they’d do fine on these trails. Be careful with all the water now though. There was enough water just flowing down the trail at some points to sweep a small dog away I’d think. |
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 | Bugs: |
None |
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 | Lost and Found: |
Found a hiking pole’s snow basket along Hurricane Mtn Trail and carried it out. |
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 | Comments: |
Was too tired to plan a big hike Friday night or get up real early Saturday morning so I slept in (a wee bit) and planned this little redline :)
I didn’t realize until recently that I hadn’t technically redlined Glencliff Trail before because I’d taken the farm road that starts at the parking area instead of heading down the road a few dozen yards to the true trailhead that you pass just before the parking area as you drive in from 25. I hadn’t been on Glencliff Trail since the first time I climbed Moosilauke (my first ever solo hike) in August 2016 so it was cool to be back :)
Very weird to be hiking in such warm conditions. I had a base layer, fleece, and a hard shell rain jacket on and
Immediately overheated and was down to just my short sleeve base layer and rain jacket which was even too much at times and was often left unzipped. Rain pants over hiking pants also came off quickly. It was also nice to only hike with glove liners or bare hands for the first time in awhile. Best of all it never really rained on me! Even so it was a very wet hike...
The trail was very wet and even though these trails have no major water crossings, the small brooks were chocked full of water and raging but still rock hoppable. Lots of standing water on the flatter parts as you got closer to the height-of-land. Although there was a little running water on the western side of Hurricane Mtn, there was significantly more on the eastern side. In fact, there was so much that you wouldn’t want to step in it without at least gaiters. Not much snow but the snow cover did seem slightly more significant on the eastern side. Although there was some mud on the flat part on the western side before the summit it wasn’t very noticeable except for when I slid and fell in it.
I threw on microspikes at the viewpoint and used them until I was partway back down the western side. I was hesitant to use them as the ice/snow cover was so spotty and I knew I’d be dulling them but I was having to slow down too much for my liking trying not to slip on what ice there was. Intermittent ice starts right from the farm road.
After making my ascent back up the eastern side, I decided to try and bushwhack to the true summit of Hurricane Mtn. Very scrappy, but short and flat. You go past what you hope might be a tiny high point once or twice before oh know you’ve come to the real thing. |
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 | Name: |
Liam Cooney |
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 | E-Mail: |
liamcooney96@gmail.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2019-12-16 |
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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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