| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
The Scaur, Waterville Flume, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Boulder Path, Livermore, Big Pines Path, Kettles Path, Irene's Path, Old Skidder Trail, Norway Rapids, Cascade Path West, Cascade Path, road walk |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Saturday, January 4, 2020 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
-Tons of room at Osceola library at 5:30AM
-First car at Livermore at 6:30AM
-A million cars at Livermore at 12:00 -lots of cross country skiers out on Livermore. Lot is an ice sheet but flat and easy to access |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Snow - Packed Powder/Loose Granular, Snow - Unpacked Powder, Snow - Wet/Sticky |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Snowshoes |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
-The crossing of Slide Brook on Boulder Path was impassable due to treacherous, unstable bridges and high water at 6AM. I stepped onto what appeared to be a very thick, safe ice bridge just to poke around and see if there was a spot to cross and my right snowshoe'd leg punched clean through almost down to the rushing water. quickly hightailed it back to the car and drove to the Livermore trailhead
-The crossing of Norway Rapids was sketchy but doable at 10AM. I found a 3-4 foot gap between ice bridges, and after thoroughly testing the stability of my side I channeled my best Indiana Jones, put my hand over my heart, said a quick prayer to science, and took the leap of faith. I was greatly relieved when the opposite side held up. Fin then gracefully leaped across with almost no effort. what a showoff!
-The crossing of Cascade Brook at the base of the first cascade was mostly bridged, although I did not like the noise the ice was making below my feet. I said F it and marched straight across the short span with no problem |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
All these trails were in great shape, maybe two small, insignificant blowdowns all day. Trails were well-blazed and/or very easy to follow |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
Fin had a grand old time. Easy grades for dogs. Long day with lots of trail breaking but she did great as always |
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 | Bugs: |
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 | Lost and Found: |
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 | Comments: |
Rain, rain go away! please don't come around til' May!!! Started raining when I hit the intersection of Old Skidder/Livermore and was persistent the rest of the morning. The already sketchy water crossings detailed above will likely be way more sketchy after this crap. The early denial by Slide Brook added some trail miles and an annoying road walk, but overall it was an awesome day of redlining. 9 trails redlined (including pesky .2 Livermore chad) for 14.3 miles, with actual distance covered of 12.4 miles.
Boulder Path- Well tracked on x-c ski trails, untracked from turnoff down to Slide brook with 4"-6" wet powder
Big Pines- Untracked with 4"- 6" wet powder
Livermore- Groomed portions were rock hard this morning (we made sure to not do any damage to these by staying to side
Livermore- Old Skidder to Scaur Ridge was untracked with 12" wet powder
Livermore- Scaur Ridge to groomed portion has a well-consolidated snowshoe track with no postholes
Kettles Path- Lovely, well-consolidated snowshoe track with 6"-12" wet powder
Irene's Path- untracked with 12"-18" wet powder. If it ever snows significantly the steep switchback section could become a bit sketchy with drifting on the sidehill. As it stood today it was merely a bit of extra fun
Old Skidder Trail- untracked with 12"-18" wet powder. This one kicked my a$$ but it was interesting following a single fox track mixed in with lots of snowshoe hare tracks
Norway Rapids- untracked with 4"-6" wet powder
Cascade Path West- single bareboot track with 4"-6" wet powder
Cascade Path- untracked from brook crossing to the top with 4"-6" wet powder, a few bareboot tracks down to trailhead
Road Walk- SUCKED!!! |
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 | Name: |
Spence and Fin the dog |
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 | E-Mail: |
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| Date Submitted: |
2020-01-04 |
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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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