| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Mt. Whiteface, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Blueberry Ledge Trail, Rollins Trail, Dicey's Mill Trail |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Saturday, January 11, 2025 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
The local roads (e.g., Rt. 113A and Ferncroft Rd.) were snowy so we drove slowly on them. Ferncroft Rd. has a few inches of snow on top of a layer of ice, but it was OK to drive on, slowly. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Ice - Blue, Snow - Packed Powder/Loose Granular, Snow - Unpacked Powder |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Snowshoes, Light Traction, Traction, Ice Axe |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
The only significant unbridged water crossing is the one halfway down Dicey's Mill Trail. That one has two logs across it. The larger of the two logs has packed snow on top. With microspikes (and a decent sense of balance) one can walk across that one. Hiking poles help for balance but are not really necessary. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
There is a blowdown that seems to be blocking the entrance to Kate Sleeper Trail off of Rollins Trail (though one can walk around it). The lower part of Blueberry Ledge Trail is a little confusing to follow in one or two places. There are a few false paths in the snow. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
It might be tricky getting dogs up the Whiteface ledges right now. |
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 | Bugs: |
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 | Lost and Found: |
We saw a black handkerchief hanging on a tree on Dicey's Mill Trail just below the junction with Tom Wiggin Trail; we left it there. |
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 | Comments: |
Starting at the Ferncroft lot, the road walk required microspikes since it had loose snow on top of a layer of ice. For the lower part of Blueberry Ledge Trail, microspikes were best since the snow wasn't deep enough for snowshoes; there were a few places that were slippery because of ice under the thin layer of snow. Above the junction with Tom Wiggin Trail or so, one could switch to snowshoes since there was enough loose snow up there. We instead switched to crampons and ice axe just before the large southwest outlook, and they worked well all the way up to the start of the Rollins Trail, though we also snowshoe prints in this ledgy section, and we also saw two hikers managing to ascend the ledges in microspikes alone. The trickiest scramble is the first one, just above the southwest outlook. The tricky step is getting about 4 feet up a sloped icy rock, but it's doable - we didn't find it as difficult as suggested by the trip report for Blueberry Ledge Trail a week ago. Crampons and ice axe were useful here, but as mentioned, others managed without them. Above that scramble, we turned left to follow tracks going slightly down and around a large boulder, but we saw afterwards that the intended trail just continued to climb (both ways were doable, though after going around the boulder we had to climb steep snow bushwhacking a little through small trees). We got views of the Bowl and Mt. Passaconaway, but not much else, because it was snowing lightly the whole day. On Rollins Trail, there is a little more loose snow. There are no deep postholes on the trail because the snow is not that deep, but still the loose snow is uneven - snowshoes would help smooth it out and pack it down, though microspikes were usable too. The snow on Dicey's Mill Trail was more packed, so descending it with microspikes was fast. One could slide down some of its steeper sections, but for this it would help if the snow were a little deeper. |
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 | Name: |
mathbp |
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 | E-Mail: |
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| Date Submitted: |
2025-01-11 |
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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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