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Ski
Hiking Trail Conditions Report
Peaks
Peaks Mt. Tecumseh, NH
Trails
Trails: Mt. Tecumseh Trail, Sosman Trail, herd path, ski trails, bushwhack
Date of Hike
Date of Hike: Sunday, January 1, 2023
Parking/Access Road Notes
Parking/Access Road Notes: Managed a spot in parking lot 1, but hikers overflowed into lot 2 later in the morning. 
Surface Conditions
Surface Conditions: Ice - Blue, Standing/Running Water on Trail, Snow/Ice - Frozen Granular, Mud - Minor/Avoidable, Snow - Spring Snow, Snow/Ice - Postholes, Slush 
Recommended Equipment
Recommended Equipment: Snowshoes, Light Traction 
Water Crossing Notes
Water Crossing Notes: All open and a little higher than normal, but rock hoppable. 
Trail Maintenance Notes
Trail Maintenance Notes: Took out a bunch of high elevation blowdowns (particularly on the Mt. Tecumseh Trail side of the summit loop). Two stepovers remain down low; will get them at a later time. 
Dog-Related Notes
Dog-Related Notes:  
Bugs
Bugs:  
Lost and Found
Lost and Found:  
 
Comments
Comments: Shoulder season conditions have taken hold with the foggy, drizzly mid-40s weather. Conditions are very sloppy on trail below 3,000 feet with areas of running water and mud, as well as slush, frozen granular, spring snow, and ice (and even a few areas of monorail emerging). ***Until temperatures drop, it might be best to avoid this trail, as people are doing permanent damage by walking on saturated thawing footbed, bypassing water/ice, chewing up tree roots, etc.***

Steady snowpack started around 3,000 feet and continued to the summit (good snowshoeing). Particularly in this warm weather, snowshoes are the best choice higher up (plenty of fresh postholes installed today). If you're barebooting or Microspiking, you're peeing on the toilet seat (even if it's just a few splashes!), making things gross for those who will follow in the future.

Though I-93 and the lower Route 49 corridor are now bare, there is still snowpack at the trailhead (patchy nature of trail conditions is from the run off from the rain events). Snowpack ranges from about 6 inches to 2 feet. At the moment it's spring snow that compacts significantly.

For the descent, I popped onto closed ski trails around 3,000 feet (patchy snow on narrow ones, wide ones bare), then took a combination of an abandoned trail and a bushwhack to avoid the open ski trails down low.

Hopefully the upcoming cool down holds and brings some natural snow to bring back to winter conditions! I'm taking a break from trails like these until conditions improve.  
Name
Name: rocket21 
E-Mail
E-Mail: rocket21@franklinwebpublishing.com 
Date Submitted
Date Submitted: 2023-01-01 
Link
Link: https://www.franklinsites.com/hikephotos/ 
Bookmark and Share 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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