| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Mt. Willey, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Kedron Flume Trail, Ethan Pond Trail, Willey Range Trail, road walk |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Wednesday, December 16, 2020 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Parked at the Willey House sure for the Kedron Flume Trail. It wasn’t really plowed but still easy enough to get in. Low-clearance cars may struggle. |
|
 | Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail, Ice - Black, Snow - Trace/Minimal Depth, Wet Trail, Ice - Blue, Snow - Packed Powder/Loose Granular, Snow - Unpacked Powder, Snow/Ice - Frozen Granular, Snow/Ice - Postholes |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Light Traction |
|
 | Water Crossing Notes: |
The crossings of Kedron Brook on Kedron Flume Trail and Willey Range Trail were readily rock hopable. There’s some ice though so spikes are essential for some of the crossings. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
Kedron Flume Trail is regularly blazed in blue. The trail turns/switchbacks some and these turns can be obscure, leaving you wondering where the trail disappeared to in the snow but the blazing is relatively frequent compared to most trails in the Whites so just keep an eye out and pay attention. There may have been some small blowdowns obscuring the trail as well. I don’t think there were any blowdowns on the short 0.3mi section of Ethan Pond Trail we were on on the way up but there were on the way down. One big straddler to go over and some smaller debris my friend got tangled up in but tossed off the trail. The trail is blazed in white as it’s part of the AT; I don’t recall how well. I don’t recall the blazing of Willey Range Trail either but it wasn’t hard to follow nor was Ethan Pond Trail, granted both had been broken out. There may have been a blowdown on Willey Range Trail but I don’t recall exactly. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
None seen and I wouldn’t recommend a night hike like this for dogs especially given all the ice and how cold it was. Some tricky scrambles that dogs would likely need help up. |
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 | Bugs: |
None |
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 | Lost and Found: |
None |
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|
 | Comments: |
This was my 10th 4000 Footer this month and my 17th in December in total. 31 more to go to grid out the month!
We had planned on doing a quick hike to Mt Tom until my friend realized he’d already done that for his 48 so we did Willey instead. Realizing that the road up to Ethan Pond Trail probably wasn’t open or plowed, we opted to go up Kedron Flume Trail which of course is steep and not as well travelled. There were small frozen postholes on that essentially and I wasn’t too keen on going down that so we took the longer but easier/safer way down and went down Ethan Pond Trail and walked back to the car instead. There was not complete snow cover at the beginning of Kedron Flume Trail although that changed pretty quickly (probably by the time you got to the railroad tracks?? I don’t recall exactly) I threw my spikes on at the start although I think the first ice encountered wasn’t until just after the train tracks so I dulled mine a bit unnecessarily. While it would’ve we only added to the shallow postholes on this trail, snowshoes really aren’t worth it. I brought mine but didn’t use them. Everything is frozen so you won’t be smoothing the trail out and the snow depth is pretty minimal and the “postholesâ€â€˜are shallow enough to perhaps more accurately be called divots.
Ethan Pond and Willey Range trails of course looked better travelled although the footing wasn’t much better. The trails clearly didn’t see as much snowshoe action as they should have. No deep postholes or anything but definitely an ankle twister area. A good deal of ice and microspikes that aren’t dull are definitely warranted and some may be more comfortable in Hilllsounds. The ladders weren’t icy though; just other steep, rocky, slabby sections of trail. Of course we got just a wee bit of snow today that out to change things a bit ;)
Took a few pics at the summit and viewpoint, looking out at far away town lights, before heading back down. We saw a light moving toward us in the woods from the viewpoint. My friend figured it must be a hiker but it seemed to be moving a bit too fast to me although I wasn’t sure what the hell else it could be. Hard to gauge how far away it was too but it was definitely in the direction of the trail. We figured that we’d run into them on the way down but never did although we saw this light again, seemingly much closer to us. Didn’t seem like animal eyes as they were much too bright. Definitely seemed like a headlamps, so a little freaky and I was glad to have the company of a friend!
The lower section of Ethan Pond Trail that we didn’t take on the way up was of course much easier to go down and more travelled. We wore spikes until we were almost all the way down it. Took them off at the railroad tracks although we considered doing so maybe a quarter mile before or so. Either is a fine choice as you’ll soon be beating them up BUT the road walk down to 302 has lots of ice and I slipped and fell. It’s mostly avoidable/doable but some may wish to leave their spikes on until their back on 302. |
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 | Name: |
Liam Cooney |
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 | E-Mail: |
liamcooney96@gmail.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2020-12-17 |
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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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