Mt. Rowe, Gunstock Mountain - Ridge Trail, Brook Trail - 12-8-2024

Hiking Trail Conditions Report
	Peaks	Mt. Rowe, Gunstock Mountain, NH

	Trails:	Ridge Trail, Brook Trail

	Date of Hike:	Sunday, December 8, 2024

	Parking/Access Road Notes:	Plenty of room at the Gunstock ski area parking lot.

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

	Recommended Equipment:	Snowshoes

	Water Crossing Notes:	Just the one at the bottom of Brook Trail, which is bridged (and would've been easy to cross even without the bridge).

	Trail Maintenance Notes:	Just the one big blowdown near the summit of Mt. Rowe that's been there a while. Signs are all in place, but they're not always obvious thanks to the snow sometimes obscuring them.

	Dog-Related Notes:	Saw one and saw the tracks of another. Small dogs could flounder in the deep, unbroken snow near the summits, but larger dogs that are more experienced shouldn't have an issue.

	Bugs:	Snowfleas near the summit of Rowe.

	Lost and Found:


	Comments:	Started up Ridge Trail from the base of the Gunstock ski area. Only one set of boot tracks was visible. The bottom section had tire tracks, but they were heavily drifted over in sections, and they continued to the right as the road/trail turned left. The boot tracks turned off shortly afterward onto the bypass trail, leaving only some old ski tracks to step in. They provided some support, but I was still sinking in a little bit with each step. At the top of the steep middle section, the snow was a little deeper, maybe almost a foot deep, and I was sinking in a little more, so I switched to snowshoes, and kept them on for the rest of the hike. The ski tracks I had been using terminated at the top of the road, next to the electrical tower at the summit of Rowe. From there, just a small trench was visible for me to follow. Luckily, the bypass trail and single set of boot tracks rejoined soon, and with those plus my snowshoes, I wasn't sinking in much. When I reached the viewpoints on the south ridge of Rowe, more tracks started to appear - it was clear that people had hiked up there (probably starting from Gilford Elementary School) and turned around. None of those people wore snowshoes, however, so the trail was very choppy, and quite drifted in places as well. Those tracks turned off at Mt. Rowe Trail, and the remainder of Ridge Trail, from there past the junction with Benjamin Weeks Trail and up most of the way to Gunstock, had just the one set of recent tracks. (There were no recent tracks on Benjamin Weeks Trail, Marge's Trail, or Ledges-Iron Mine Trail.) On the way up to Gunstock, there was maybe a foot of snow, however the trench plus the one set of boot tracks were generally supportive, so I didn't need to expend too much energy with the snow. (It was nothing like my epic trail-breaking adventure up Brook Trail last March.) Maybe four tenths below the summit of Gunstock, I was passed by a pair of hikers wearing micro-spikes who commented that my snowshoe tracks had been quite helpful for them. The section of trail going around the cone of Gunstock was choppy and windy - I was a bit slower there. A significant amount of foot traffic had ascended Gunstock Mountain Trail and the Winter Shortcut, so the trail from there to the summit was well packed. (Strangely enough, there was no boot traffic at all on the upper part of Gunstock Mountain Trail - the part that parallels Winter Shortcut - which was interesting since I've done that section in winter and it's really not that bad.) When I reached the summit of Gunstock, it was crowded with skiers, but luckily there were available tables in the Panorama Pub so I had lunch in there to get out of the wind. My original plan had been to do a longer loop involving Belknap Mountain, East Gilford Trail, and Round Pond Trail. However, I hadn't ended up starting the hike until 40 minutes after my planned start (since I wanted to let the plows clear and salt the roads), and Ridge Trail had taken more time than I expected (since I thought it would be more packed out). So I decided to just descend Brook Trail instead. The upper portion of Brook Trail, which coincides with Belknap Range Trail, had a set of snowshoe tracks, but those continued down Saddle Trail in the direction of Belknap. From this point to Brook Trail's uppermost ski trail crossing, it had been used by some backcountry skiers, so it was somewhat packed. Crossing that first ski trail was interesting since the skiers go down that section at a very quick rate of speed. The remainder of Brook Trail, all the way almost to the bottom, occasionally had a slight trench but was otherwise totally unbroken. The plentiful yellow blazes made it easy to follow, but the snow was more than a foot deep, probably up to 18" deep in places. The steep descent of the Lower Recoil glade was interesting - I fell twice on this stretch due to the steepness and depth of snow (though I was fine). The glade is currently closed to skiers - that was probably for the best for my purposes, since I didn't have to evade them, but there's certainly enough snow to ski down it. When the trail's grade moderated at the bottom of the glade, I was able to proceed a bit more steadily. By the time Brook Trail crosses the next ski trail (the one that skiers doing the glade would end up on), snow depths were only 6-8", and it was probably only 4-6" deep when I ultimately made it back to the parking area. I later discovered that Round Pond Trail, usually groomed in winter for cross-country skiing, had not been groomed yet this season, so my decision not to use it was the correct one. Moral of the story is that you might be able to get away with micro-spikes on Ridge Trail, though snowshoes are definitely the superior option. But snowshoes are 100% needed for Brook Trail. I was surprised not to see more hikers out - I saw only a half-dozen other hikers the whole day.

	Name:	GN

	E-Mail:	ghnaigles@gmail.com

	Date Submitted:	2024-12-08

	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.