Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
| Peaks |
East Osceola, Mt. Osceola, NH |
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| Trails: |
Greeley Ponds Trail, Mt. Osceola Trail |
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| Date of Hike: |
Saturday, April 10, 2021 |
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| Parking/Access Road Notes: |
You can squeeze up to 12 cars in the lot. At 8:50 AM there was one space remaining. At 4:50 PM only 4 cars left, but 5 cars parked nearby on the Kanc's shoulder. Lot dry. |
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| Surface Conditions: |
Wet Trail, Ice - Blue, Standing/Running Water on Trail, Snow/Ice - Frozen Granular, Mud - Minor/Avoidable, Snow/Ice - Monorail (Stable), Snow - Spring Snow, Snow/Ice - Postholes, Slush, Snow/Ice - Small Patches |
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| Recommended Equipment: |
Snowshoes, Light Traction |
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| Water Crossing Notes: |
The crossing 0.3 miles from the trailhead is easy if you go slightly upstream, have poles, and use rocks which are slightly submerged. |
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| Trail Maintenance Notes: |
Blowdown near the base of the chimney is now a non issue due to being delimbed. |
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| Dog-Related Notes: |
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| Bugs: |
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| Lost and Found: |
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| Comments: |
A mixed bag of conditions made for a difficult hike. Barebooted almost halfway up through patches of snow and ice and thinning monorail, then switched to snowshoes except for the chimney bypass. The last half of the trail was mostly frozen granular topped off by 1/2" - 1" of mashed potatoes, but with sections of soft ice and some bare spots. Almost all hikers were using microspikes, which I did as well on the way down until the water crossing 0.3 miles from the end. Had to pay attention to stay in the center of the trail to avoid postholing. The base of frozen granular above 3,000' is 2' - 3'.
Microspikes bite well into the stretches of soft ice currently present, but if there's a hard refreeze crampons could be necessary for the steeper parts of the trail.
Running water on the chimney, but the chimney bypass is mostly dry. |
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| Name: |
Al S |
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| E-Mail: |
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| Date Submitted: |
2021-04-11 |
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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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