Mt. Monroe, Mt. Washington - Ammonoosuc Ravine Trail, Monroe Loop, Crawford Path, Gulfside, Cog Rail Trail - 2-13-2022

Hiking Trail Conditions Report
	Peaks	Mt. Monroe, Mt. Washington, NH

	Trails:	Ammonoosuc Ravine Trail, Monroe Loop, Crawford Path, Gulfside, Cog Rail Trail

	Date of Hike:	Sunday, February 13, 2022

	Parking/Access Road Notes:	Plenty of room at 7:45am in the Ammonoosuc Ravine Trailhead hiker's parking lot (0.6 miles before the Cog Base Station).

	Surface Conditions:	Snow - Packed Powder/Loose Granular, Snow - Drifts

	Recommended Equipment:	Snowshoes, Traction, Ice Axe

	Water Crossing Notes:	One tiny stream easy to jump over; all the rest had snowbridges.

	Trail Maintenance Notes:

	Dog-Related Notes:	Saw no dogs.

	Bugs:	None.

	Lost and Found:


	Comments:	The Ammonoosuc Trail was well-packed snow all the way up to the Lake of the Clouds hut; we started with microspikes but were slipping a lot on the steep sections, so we switched to crampons and ice axe, which were better, and we stuck with them all the way to the summits of Mt. Monroe and Mt. Washington. At Mt. Monroe, we did an out-and-back from the hut to the summit instead of the loop coming back on the Crawford Path, because of the warning of a "potentially dangerous sidehill of hard snow along the Crawford Path on the S side of Mt. Monroe" found on p. 165 of "The 4000-footers of the White Mountains". On the descent from Mt. Washington, the Gulfside Trail and the upper part of the path alongside the Cog Railroad had some snow drifts deep enough to warrant snowshoes, though many of us managed with crampons only. Except for that top section, the Cog Railroad path was well-packed, and crampons were fine (even microspikes might have sufficed here); it also had some excellent stretches for butt sledding, and we also saw a group with skis. In hindsight, our entire route could have been done with crampons and ice axe.

	Name:	mathbp

	E-Mail:

	Date Submitted:	2022-02-13

	Link:	https://
		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.