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Ski
Hiking Trail Conditions Report
Peaks
Peaks Mt. Monroe, Mt. Washington, Mt. Clay, NH
Trails
Trails: Ammonoosuc Ravine Trail, Crawford Path, Monroe Loop, Trinity Heights Connector, Gulfside, Clay Loop, Jewell Trail
Date of Hike
Date of Hike: Monday, December 21, 2020
Parking/Access Road Notes
Parking/Access Road Notes: Parked at Ammo, there were 4 cars when I got there at 8 and 8 cars when I left at 230 
Surface Conditions
Surface Conditions: Ice - Blue, Snow - Packed Powder/Loose Granular, Snow - Unpacked Powder, Snow/Ice - Frozen Granular, Snow - Wet/Sticky, Snow/Ice - Postholes, Slush, Snow/Ice - Small Patches 
Recommended Equipment
Recommended Equipment: Snowshoes, Light Traction 
Water Crossing Notes
Water Crossing Notes: No issues with water, all the crossing are well iced or have bridges 
Trail Maintenance Notes
Trail Maintenance Notes: Couple decent blowdowns on jewell, but weren't too bad to get over/under/around 
Dog-Related Notes
Dog-Related Notes:  
Bugs
Bugs:  
Lost and Found
Lost and Found: Saw a pair of snowshoes at the start of alpine zone on jewell, looked stashed so I left them 
 
Comments
Comments: Barebooted on Ammo to just past the pool, then switched to micros for the remainder of the hike. Saw a couple people in snowshoes, crampons, and micros, so it was essentially whatever you felt comfortable using on the ammo ascent. The ammo ascent is pretty well packed with some patches of inclined ice above treeline that took some intentionality in the approach, but overall great conditions.

Mt Monroe loop had very little snow, but what was there was packed thin, so was a super quick and painless ascent and descent.

Crawford path was decent the entire way up to washington from LotC, with some sections of solid ice, but they're all flat, so micros were fine. Snow in general is almost packed, but has a little bit of powder on top, so isn't perfect.

Trinity Heights Connector and Gulfside were both far more powdery with light crust which led to minor postholing, so snowshoes would make it far easier, but I was descending so it didn't make a difference.

Mt Clay loop was essentially unbroken, except for one set of tracks from several days earlier. Minor postholing there as well due to large drifts, but was manageable with micros alone.

Jewell was a very mixed bag. Trail in alpine zone was very unbroken and led to some not nice postholing through the light crust. Snowshoes would be pretty necessary for the ascent there. Down past alpine zone the trail was very well packed from the snowshoes, no issues at all. The snow softened up below 3k and was pretty sticky with how warm the day was, but the snowpack was still great and made micros super effective. The little section between the cog lot and ammo lot on jewell hadn't been used in a couple days, so was a little powdery, but no issues.

Weather was strangely nice for the first day of winter. High 20s low 30s the entire day, no wind to speak of. Very pleasant. Clear south of washington and cloudy north of it for the entire day pretty much.  
Name
Name: Chris L 
E-Mail
E-Mail: clandadio@live.com 
Date Submitted
Date Submitted: 2020-12-22 
Link
Link: https:// 
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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