| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Mt. Liberty, Mt. Flume, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Bike path, Liberty Spring Trail, Franconia Ridge Trail |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Tuesday, January 19, 2021 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Basin lot had 4 cars |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Snow - Packed Powder/Loose Granular, Snow - Unpacked Powder |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Snowshoes, Light Traction |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
all easy |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
I've never seen the trails packed down this quickly after a snowstorm. COVID must be leading to increased hiker traffic. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
Just 2 |
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 | Bugs: |
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 | Lost and Found: |
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 | Comments: |
Air temp in the high teens at the 11 AM start. The Liberty Spring trail was very firm and solidly packed all the way to Franconia Ridge trail, used micro spikes all the way to Mt Liberty Summit. It was very cold & windy so I put on a shell & mittens before heading up the shark-fin. Dropped off the summit and changed to snowshoes for the trip out to Flume. I would recommend snowshoes to keep the powder nice & even; boots will work but it's polite to keep the monorail as smooth as possible and you can move faster in snowshoes. Flume was nice and 3 other snowshoers coming up Osseo Trail helped firm up the F-Ridge trail quite a bit. I kept snowshoes on for the return trip until about halfway down Liberty Spring trail then switched back to spikes. The trail had better grip going down due to the 15 others I saw hiking today. I wanted to take the herd path on the way down but I just stayed on Liberty Spring trail. Total time from Basin lot to both summits & back to car 4:50. The upper half of Liberty Spring is quite steep but one can move fast in conditions like this. These were 4000' peaks #23 & 24 in my quest for the single-season Winter 48. I've done 13 hikes since 12/24 with a rest day between most & (5) days off last week due to a travel commitment. Some peaks like Carrigain, Isolation & Owl's Head I'll only do as singles but I'll see how many multi-peak hikes I can plan. My goal is to do the remaining 24 peaks in 13 (or 14) hikes. I hope the weather stays like this! It was nice to put snowshoes on today because it feels like cheating when the trails have been this firm. |
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 | Name: |
Bob H |
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 | E-Mail: |
hynoskyb@aol.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2021-01-19 |
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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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