| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Mt. Prospect, NH |
|
 | Trails: |
Around-the-Mountain Trail, Mt. Prospect Auto Road, Old Carriage Road, Davidge Path |
|
 | Date of Hike: |
Sunday, March 21, 2021 |
|
 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
I was the first car in the ski tow lot in the morning. When I got back, there were two other vehicles there. Probably about a dozen vehicles in the lot at the base of the auto road. |
|
 | Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail, Snow - Trace/Minimal Depth, Wet Trail, Ice - Breakable Crust, Snow/Ice - Frozen Granular, Mud - Minor/Avoidable, Snow - Wet/Sticky, Mud - Significant, Snow/Ice - Monorail (Unstable), Snow - Spring Snow, Snow/Ice - Postholes |
|
 | Recommended Equipment: |
Light Traction |
|
 | Water Crossing Notes: |
None. |
|
 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
Trails are generally signed, though the signs are small so look for them carefully. Old Carriage Road below its junction with Around-the-Mountain Trail looks like it would be brushy and overgrown in the summer. No blowdowns. |
|
 | Dog-Related Notes: |
As I was hiking up the auto road in the morning, two women were walking two dogs up the mountain. These dogs were very poorly behaved - jumping at each other and barking loudly and almost constantly. While they never got close enough to bother me, they did basically prevent me from taking any substantial breaks at the overlooks along the auto road, since I didn't want the dogs to catch up to me. In general, if you can't prevent your dog from barking every five seconds, then you shouldn't bring it on hikes. |
|
 | Bugs: |
Not yet. |
|
 | Lost and Found: |
Nada. |
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|
 | Comments: |
Part 1 of my redlining adventures today was to hike all the trails on Mt. Prospect in Weeks State Park. From the ski tow parking area, I took Around-the-Mountain trail to the auto road and then followed the auto road to the summit. The auto road was mostly covered in a few inches of icy snow (or perhaps snowy ice), and was gradual enough that it could be barebooted without issue. There were a few patches of exposed pavement, and those patches surely grew as the day progressed. Views from the summit were phenomenal - there wasn't a cloud in the sky.
I followed the auto road back down to the junction with Old Carriage Road. This trail had a narrow monorail pockmarked by numerous postholes but that was nonetheless mostly stable. I put on spikes for this section since it was steeper, and kept them on for the remainder of the hike. (Large sections of the trails didn't have enough snow for snowshoes.) This was the north side of the mountain, which had more snow. I then did the out-and-back to the Reed Road trailhead, and hopped on Around-the-Mountain trail going first around the east side of the mountain. This side also had more snow, maybe enough to snowshoe it, but I was fine in spikes. There are a couple steep hills in this section that make barebooting inadvisable at this time. As I got to the south side of the mountain, the snow lessened, and the bare patches grew. Several sections of trail were a narrow, icy, thin monorail between muddy bare patches. It went on like this for a while.
When I reached the junction with Davidge Path, I went up and then back down. It was half-and-half soft spring snow and muddy bare patches. It could be barebooted, but I didn't feel like taking my spikes off so I kept them on. Continuing on Around-the-Mountain trail, there were some more open sunny sections that were mostly just wet and muddy, and then as the trail moved back around the west side of the mountain, the snow increased in depth and firmness. I made sure to redline that last little bit of the trail between the ski tow parking area and the junction with Old Carriage Road - this section followed a snowmobile trail and thus was relatively stable.
I had given myself five hours to do this hike, so that I could meet up with a friend in the afternoon - I ended up doing it in four. The four trails that I redlined on this hike mean that I have now redlined more than 50% of the trails on the Redlining Spreadsheet. (I would break 50% in miles too, later in the day.) |
|
 | Name: |
GN |
|
 | E-Mail: |
ghnaigles@gmail.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2021-03-21 |
|
 | 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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