| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Mt. Flume, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Lincoln Woods Trail, Osseo Trail, Franconia Ridge Trail |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Sunday, December 27, 2020 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Lot well plowed and not icy. lots of room at 8:30 much more full at 1:00 (mostly tourists walking LW it appeared) |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail, Ice - Black, Ice - Breakable Crust, Snow/Ice - Frozen Granular |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Light Traction |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
None |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
Birch blowdown (all trunk no limbs) across trail on Lincoln Woods 5 minutes from lot. ranges from 4" to 12" in diameter. With a chainsaw this could be cleaned up in about 15-20 minutes car to car. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
kicking myself for not taking Fin. Was worried about potential ice on the ladders. It would have been a non-issue. trail is good currently for experienced winter hiking pups. can confirm 100% my dog was super pissed at me upon my return. |
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 | Bugs: |
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 | Lost and Found: |
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 | Comments: |
Redlining out and back to Flume. Lincoln woods is bare as is the Osseo trail up to around 2000'. There is a VERY light dusting at that point. I put on beater microspikes at 2400' at the first set of rock steps where the trail steepens. I kept them on until summit, although I considered putting on my sharp spikes at the ladders (wouldn't have hurt). There was increasing thin layer of hard crusty snow on top of crunchy ice. At upper elevations maybe 6" very hard/compacted snow off the trail with some hardened drifts. I put on hillsound pro trail crampons for decent until bottom of ladders. They were slight overkill in spots but very useful and I was able to cruise down where spikes would have had me sliding and going slower. I think regular, sharp Hillsounds spikes would have been the current ideal footwear for this descent. Carried snowshoes all day.
Ran into no one except three young gentlemen who had just climbed the Flume Slide in microspikes- YIKES! They confirmed it was a frozen waterfall and they had never hiked it before. Glad it worked out for them.
I had cold beer and hot soup waiting for me at home so I elected to run from the ladders to the car. As I burst out onto Lincoln Woods Trail there was a large groups of tourists who turned and looked at me with combinations of bewilderment, fear, and I daresay anger as a few of them frantically tried to mask themselves (I was 20 feet away from them). "How DARE this wild-eyed, sweaty, bearded man with his obscenely large winter pack run past us without smothering himself. This trail is only 20' wide, is he trying to kill us!" Hike safe everybody, and remember this important fact of life: we are all going to die:) |
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 | Name: |
Spence |
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 | E-Mail: |
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| Date Submitted: |
2020-12-27 |
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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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