| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
10th Mountain Division Outlook, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Ravine Lodge Road, Al Merrill Loop, Asquam Ridge Trail |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Wednesday, January 1, 2020 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Ravine Lodge Road was open and plowed but I opted to just park at the bottom as I didn’t trust my car to get up it. That said, there were some smaller cars such as a Prius that I think only have FWD at the turnaround on top. There’s signs at the bottom requesting that you park at an area a mile up the road. A couple parked there as well as another spot partway up the road but most just seemed to park at the turnaround. I think some signs and the guidebook as you not to do this but I could be wrong. Perhaps it’s not much of a deal in the winter? Use your own judgement or call the lodge I guess. Also, some with cars that don’t go well in the snow might be interested to know that 118 from Lincoln was much snowier, slushier, and just seemed to be less well plowed than 118 from 25. Any car could have done it today I imagine but I wasn’t thrilled about how my car felt going up 118 from the north. I headed back the other way where the road is very rough and bumpy but was much clearer of snow/slush. All in all probably a little over a dozen cars scattered between the bottom (which is always plowed very wide so people can park at the bottom like myself) and the turnaround up top. Some of the cars up top may have been people working at the lodge. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Ice - Black, Snow - Trace/Minimal Depth, Snow - Unpacked Powder, Slush |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Snowshoes, Light Traction |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
Most or all the major crossings on trails emanating from lodge are bridged (NOT true of trails to Moosilauke that start at other locations) which is nice. Asquam Ridge Trail crosses Baker River twice on a footbridge which has a rail on one side. It was awkward in snowshoes. It could be treacherous if you’re not carful given the width of it and the fact that it only has one rail. Luckily, the ice bridges looked thick enough to hold someone for the moment If you didn’t feel like using the bridges. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
No blaze on these trails. I saw exactly one blaze today and it was at the end of the spur to the DOC John Rand Cabin by the privy 😂 Given that these trails mostly follow roads, they aren’t very hard to follow though even when breaking trail. Nevertheless, a few notes: while there were a few blowdowns throughout (mostly straddlers, none you’d have to crawl under unless you were short) there was one small-mid sized one on the Al Merrill Loop, shortly after the dead end ski trail continues straight and the trail goes left, that blocks the trail. I walked right past it towards the right in a very open area that definitely seemed like it could be be the trail as it was open thus resembling a trail corridor. It eventually got a little thicker though which made me reconsider. Another hint was that it was over water. After looking around for awhile for the trail, I eventually turned around and retraced by steps until I saw the blowdown and looked past it to see the road. Follow the one set of prints forward over the blowdown here, not my myriad of prints to the right while I was trail hunting! There’s what I think is a new structure blocking the old trail through the washed out area on Asquam Ridge. Don’t recall seeing that last year but we also had a lot more snow then so maybe it was buried! I think this only helps on the descent though. The reroute is much tighter than the rest of the trail so doesn’t have much of a corridor so could be hard to follow during winter when breaking trail. Keep an eye out for an wooden orange bird on a tree just off trail (on your left if descending) that’s called something swamp on the reroute to let you know you’re going in the right direction. The beginning of the reroute is marked as Traps Turnpuks but could be confusing to hikers as the sign describes it as a connector not the actual trail/reroute. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
None seem but these would be good trails for dogs. |
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 | Bugs: |
Saw a spider. |
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 | Lost and Found: |
None |
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 | Comments: |
A nice little redline to get back in the grove aftter being sedintary at the grandparents house and in the car the past several days 😂 Once off the road and past the turnoff to Gorge Brook Trail, I broke trail the entire way. These are good trails to break trail on as they have very nice grades, particularly Al Merril Loop. That said, it can still be exhausting going uphill in a few inches of powder. I only sank a few inches generally. I found it hard to tell exactly how much new snow we got as there seemed to be two layers of snow. I imagine that before the snow Monday, this area at low elevation didn’t really have snow so I’m guessing that the layers I felt were one from Monday and another from Tuesday? Or maybe my snowbasksts were just working well 😂 In any case, we got at least 4 inches of new snow, probably more like 6-8 inches total. Not awful to break trail in but definitely some work.
The only reason I jerked the light traction box is for the road walk. I didn’t use my microspikes but there is ice underneath that you will slip on. It felt thick enough that microspikes would help but I could be wrong. All you really need is snowshoes. The several prints in the direction of Gorge Brook were all bareboots. I can’t say they postholed as it was just a few inches of powder but I’m hoping they had snowshoes as I’m sure they would have been sinking much deeper by the time they reached the summit. That said, the snow depth didn’t seem to increase much as I gained elevation today. Of course the highest elevation I was at was about 3500ft whereas Moosilauke is 4800ft.
See my notes about the lack of blaze and blowdowns including one that hid the trail from me and sent me on a goose chase for awhile in the trail maintenance section! No views from the outlook today as everything was in cloud. Saw some sun further south on the drive up thoug! :) |
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 | Name: |
Liam Cooney |
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 | E-Mail: |
liamcooney96@gmail.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2020-01-01 |
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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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