| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Mt. Eisenhower, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Crawford Connector, Crawford Path, Eisenhower Loop |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Saturday, March 27, 2021 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Plenty of spots in the Crawford lot this morning at around 10 AM. Lots of spots along the road as well. Definitely fewer people today than three weeks ago. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Wet Trail, Snow - Packed Powder/Loose Granular, Standing/Running Water on Trail, Snow/Ice - Frozen Granular, Mud - Minor/Avoidable, Snow/Ice - Monorail (Stable), Snow - Wet/Sticky, Snow/Ice - Monorail (Unstable), Snow/Ice - Postholes, Slush |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Snowshoes, Light Traction |
|
 | Water Crossing Notes: |
Everything is still pretty solidly bridged (though it is occasionally disconcerting to hear the water flowing directly under you and not see it...). |
|
 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
One major, new blowdown on Crawford before the Mitzpah Hut cutoff that must have happened in the past couple of weeks (since it wasn't there three weeks ago). It's tricky to get around since it fell right down the middle of the path. Some people have hacked away at it, but it will need some attention soon. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
Lots of doggies out on the trail today. |
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 | Bugs: |
Killed our first bug of the season with the windshield of our car on the drive home. |
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 | Lost and Found: |
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 | Comments: |
Started out with a fairly stable monorail alternating with frozen, packed granular. However, the packed portion was narrow and stepping off the trail to let people pass was almost guaranteed to result in a posthole. As the temperatures rose throughout the day, everything started to turn to mashed potatoes and/or melt completely. There was a lot of bare rock, mud, and standing water in the col between Pierce and Eisenhower, and the peak of Eisenhower was entirely snow free. The Eisenhower loop was almost entirely bare rock, mud, and standing water. We did the loop up to the summit, then down the other side and around back along the Crawford path alongside the summit cone. That stretch of the Crawford path is nasty. Don't attempt it unless you have snowshoes or are simply fond of postholing up to your nether regions. We used snowshoes for this short section and micros for the rest. The return back down Crawford was a bit tougher than the morning since the sun and temperatures had really started to turn the trail to mush.
We were in the clouds all the way until we were on our descent from Eisenhower when it finally cleared up. |
|
 | Name: |
Ian D |
|
 | E-Mail: |
iantdurham at gmail dot com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2021-03-27 |
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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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