| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Mt. Liberty, Mt. Flume, NH |
|
 | Trails: |
Bike path, herd path, Liberty Spring Trail, Franconia Ridge Trail |
|
 | Date of Hike: |
Tuesday, March 30, 2021 |
|
 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Basin Parking Lot Northbound side, only one other vehicle. |
|
 | Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail, Wet Trail, Wet/Slippery Rock, Snow - Unpacked Powder, Standing/Running Water on Trail, Snow/Ice - Monorail (Stable), Snow - Wet/Sticky, Snow - Spring Snow, Snow/Ice - Postholes |
|
 | Recommended Equipment: |
Snowshoes, Light Traction, Traction |
|
 | Water Crossing Notes: |
Easy rock hoppable water crossings, some ice covered rocks in the morning that were avoidable. |
|
 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
Trails are in good shape except for some face slappers in the col between Liberty and Flume. |
|
 | Dog-Related Notes: |
One small dog with the one hiker that I saw. |
|
 | Bugs: |
Saw one unidentified bug flying around. |
|
 | Lost and Found: |
|
|
|
|
|
 | Comments: |
Had not seen a recent trail report for Liberty/Flume in the past several days so wanted to submit one. I did an out and back to Liberty and Flume.
Started at 7:30, bike path mostly bare, bushwhack was bare and lower Liberty Spring Trail was bare. Continuing on there was a mix of monorail and water flowing down the trail. Past the water crossings the middle part of the trail was solid snow and ice. I used microspikes up to Liberty. Conditions changed quickly as I descended Liberty on my way to Flume. There was an inch or two of new snow and no other hikers had been through here. Temperatures were warming up and the sun was hitting the trail causing massive snowballing on the microspikes. I changed to my trail crampons that have an anti-balling feature, this worked well. There were a couple of problems from yesterday's storm. The new snow filled in and covered the old postholes. Staying in the middle of the trail avoided most of them but I found a few. The other problem was ice that had formed on the trees was melting and dropping "bombs" all around me. I made it to the summit of Mount Flume unscathed.
On the way back it was a little easier to avoid the postholes by following my footsteps and staying out of the ones that I had found. The sun and warm temps made short work of the tree ice and most of it was gone. I removed my crampons before the water crossings and bare booted the rest of the way. The conditions were actually better than I anticipated and I would expect similar conditions tomorrow before the next rain moves in. I was surprised to see only one hiker today on this very popular hike.
My blog post is usually published the following day after my hike.
|
|
 | Name: |
THE Don Weeks |
|
 | E-Mail: |
|
|
| Date Submitted: |
2021-03-30 |
|
 | Link: |
 https://outdoordiversion.blogspot.com/ |
|
|
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. |
|
