| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Mt. Surprise, Mt. Moriah, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Carter Moriah Trail |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Tuesday, March 30, 2021 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Mine was the only car at the start and at the finish, and I didn’t see any others hiking this morning. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail, Wet Trail, Wet/Slippery Rock, Ice - Breakable Crust, Standing/Running Water on Trail, Snow/Ice - Frozen Granular, Snow - Drifts, Mud - Minor/Avoidable, Snow/Ice - Monorail (Stable), Snow - Wet/Sticky, Snow/Ice - Monorail (Unstable), Snow/Ice - Postholes, Snow/Ice - Small Patches |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Snowshoes, Light Traction |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
N/A |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
Nothing new noted. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
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 | Bugs: |
Not yet!! |
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 | Lost and Found: |
My patience, with the trail conditions. And then I remembered that I could be at work; any trail conditions are better than work. So I laughed!! |
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 | Comments: |
All possible trail conditions existed this morning. I left the trailhead at 6:30am when it was 26 F so the mud, snow and ice were still solid. I was surprised that the first 1.6 miles of the Carter Moriah Trail had so little snow/ice that absolutely no traction was needed. I put on microspikes just below Mount Surprise. The ledges were really icy but microspikes were fine. The postholes are so numerous, above the ledges, that it seemed to be more of an uneven and narrow trench. All was great until 0.1 below the summit spur when the drifts got a little bit deeper. I considered switching to my snowshoes but wasn’t postholing and was sooooo close to the summit that I didn’t.
On the way back down the snow was significantly softer than on the way up and snowshoes were the right thing, until the ledges when microspikes were better. (Nerd alert) ... you know in the original Star Wars movie (Episode IV A New Hope) when Luke is making his last flight to try to kill the Death Star and the trench is blowing up behind him and around him as he speeds through? That’s what hiking back down the Carter Moriah Trail was like, today. The trail was disintegrating due to the magic of the sun, and I was racing to safety. It was 55 F when I safely arrived at my car. Mission accomplished!!
Stay safe out there, folks!! |
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 | Name: |
Bikecamphikegirl |
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 | E-Mail: |
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| Date Submitted: |
2021-03-30 |
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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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