| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Mt. Cabot (attempt), NH |
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 | Trails: |
York Pond Road, York Pond Trail, Bunnell Notch Trail |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Sunday, April 12, 2020 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Drove down the Hatchery Road until I reached the signs that said no unauthorized vehicles past here, logging in process, parked on the side of the road by a pond. I thought I saw something about a gate closing at 4pm but I don't remember seeing a gate. I definitely left after 4pm... |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Wet Trail, Snow - Packed Powder/Loose Granular, Snow - Unpacked Powder, Snow - Wet/Sticky, Snow - Spring Snow, Snow/Ice - Postholes |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Snowshoes |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
No water crossings were difficult, all rock-hoppable |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
Not well marked at all. Only time I saw a few markers on the trees were when the trail was obvious, not when it was confusing and needed. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
No dogs today, but there were definitely some moose prints in the snow! |
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 | Bugs: |
No |
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 | Lost and Found: |
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 | Comments: |
Disappointing day. All the conditions- made for the perfect summit attempt fail of the farthest NH 4k-er. With temps rising up into the 50s and few people hiking these days- no one had broken the 2-3 feet of soft, sinky powder on the trail from thurs-fri's storm. There were two groups of 2 in front of me who turned around because the trail was not broken yet, one because he didn't have snowshoes and the others weren't familiar with the trail which stopped and was not marked or legible except through experienced perception.
I had started out the hike with snowshoes, but took them off for the flat beginning part of the trail and was able to bare-boot the first 1.5 mi. I didn't put my snowshoes on until I needed to break trail upon reaching the end of the broken/marked trail. Using my GPS I was able to continue forward, navigating based off of my AllTrails GPS and fine-tuned attention to the lay of the snowpack. Unfortunately it was a slow-moving and exhausting process and it frustratingly seemed I was making no progress. I made it another 1.5 mi just short of 2900 feet before I reached my time limit and disappointingly had to send it back home with out a summit success.
Somehow I recorded nearly 10 miles of hiking- for not even making it halfway up this mountain. Some of it has to do with zigzagging to stay on the trail, snow-hiking, and the extra mile from parking down the road but, it certainly doesn't add up- I'd venture to say that the mileage of this trail is deceptive.
I used Fimbulvetr Hikr snowshoe and honestly wasn't impressed for these purposes. They're awkwardly wide making them hard to use inside of a pre-broken trail and while having larger snowshoes was good for the unpacked powder, as the temperatures rose, the hole-y structure of the snowshoe literally was like grating cheese on the soft snow. |
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 | Name: |
Norcal in NE |
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 | E-Mail: |
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| Date Submitted: |
2020-04-17 |
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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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