| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Mt. Jefferson, NH |
|
 | Trails: |
Caps Ridge Trail, Jefferson Loop, Gulfside, Jewell Trail, Boundary Line Trail, Jefferson Notch Road |
|
 | Date of Hike: |
Monday, December 5, 2022 |
|
 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Jefferson Notch Road is decently icy so good snow tires a must |
|
 | Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail, Ice - Black, Snow - Trace/Minimal Depth, Wet Trail, Ice - Blue, Ice - Breakable Crust, Snow/Ice - Frozen Granular, Snow - Drifts |
|
 | Recommended Equipment: |
Light Traction, Traction |
|
 | Water Crossing Notes: |
Stream on boundary line trail is an easy cross on a tree 50 yards upstream from the crossing |
|
 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
Couple mediums blowdowns around 4k' on Jewel Trail to cleanup |
|
 | Dog-Related Notes: |
N/A |
|
 | Bugs: |
N/A |
|
 | Lost and Found: |
Someone lost a winter hat about 50 yards up Caps Ridge trail from the parking lot |
|
|
|
|
 | Comments: |
This might be an all time awful level mixed bag conditions to go above treeline currently. Wish I could have endlessly cycled between no traction for the rocks, snowshoes for the drifts, and crampons for the thick icesflows. Spikes car to summit of Jefferson, argument can be made for putting on crampons at Cornice jct but no good unexposed place to stop and put them on so I waited until after the summit and used the big cairn at the 4way jct to shield myself from the wind. Crampons here to treeline on Jewel then spikes to 3100' and tractionless to the car. Pretty patchy snow/ice with lots of bare rocks gradually improving to the big blowdown patch at 3500' with nice granular snow and occassonal ice patches to treeline at the base of the Lower Cap. The Caps scrambles had enough ice to warrant keeping the spikes on making them pretty awkward mixed conditions moves. Lot of thick ice flows descending Jefferson Loop and Gulfside Trail that were challenging to get good grip with the crampons on. To the people that like to always bring snowshoes the section of Gulfside between Sphinx Col and Jewel is badly drifted over where all those shrub patches are located. Jewel Trail was a nightmare navigating in the dark as there are many paths weaving together and apart from multiple people trying to decipher the best route between cairns between the rocks, ice, and drifts. From treeline good granular snow spikes conditions down to 3800' where it transitioned to thin black and blue ice and patchy snow, decreasing to minimal black ice where water was flowing beneath 3000' |
|
 | Name: |
Heat Lightning |
|
 | E-Mail: |
ecs@mountainlogworks.com |
|
| Date Submitted: |
2022-12-05 |
|
 | 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. |
|
