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Ski
Hiking Trail Conditions Report
Peaks
Peaks Mt. Tom, Mt. Field, Mt. Willey, NH
Trails
Trails: Avalon Trail, A-Z Trail, Mt. Tom Spur, Willey Range Trail
Date of Hike
Date of Hike: Sunday, December 22, 2019
Parking/Access Road Notes
Parking/Access Road Notes: Parked (stayed) at AMC Highland, but overall good room there as well as the Depot parking lot. 
Surface Conditions
Surface Conditions: Ice - Blue, Snow - Packed Powder/Loose Granular, Snow - Unpacked Powder 
Recommended Equipment
Recommended Equipment: Light Traction 
Water Crossing Notes
Water Crossing Notes: First few crossings near the Avalon Trailhead (at Crawford Depot) were either ice bridged or easy rock hops. Overall no real challenges with the crossings. 
Trail Maintenance Notes
Trail Maintenance Notes: Blowdowns which required stepover/duckunder on the Mt Tom spur, and a few between Field and Willey. Increasingly these will be easier stepovers as the snow base accumulates. 
Dog-Related Notes
Dog-Related Notes: Saw a few hearty woofers... no big deal for them on these trails. 
Bugs
Bugs:  
Lost and Found
Lost and Found:  
 
Comments
Comments: CCW-ish loop to Mt Tom, FIeld, Willey, back to Field, then descend Avalon Tr (didn't do the spur to the Avalon summit.) I spent the day in Hillsounds, and the snowshoes went along for the ride. Overall, trails were bootpacked and pretty stable. Higher elevations had looser snow of course. There are some sections between the A-Z/WRT junction and Mt Field where the trench is deeper (and snow looser) and using the snowshoes on this short section would have been nice, but the trench is not wide enough and I didn't feel like using snowshoes to clip off the loose power. Plenty of traffic on the trail but majority of hikers were in spikes. The only sketchy section, near Field summit descending into the col between Field and Willey, had glaze ice with thin snow/powder atop, and this required some care and effort to descend ... ascending back up was easier. The descent down Avalon Tr between Field and Avalon was being used for buttsliding (not by our group), and this created some need to choose careful lines to descend. A very nice first day of winter with good conditions.  
Name
Name: Eric H 
E-Mail
E-Mail:  
Date Submitted
Date Submitted: 2019-12-23 
Link
Link: https://www.strava.com/activities/2950090493 
Bookmark and Share 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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