| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Mt. Lafayette, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Herd path, Greenleaf Trail, Garfield Ridge Trail, Skookumchuck Trail |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Sunday, June 15, 2025 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Plenty of room at the Skookumchuck Trailhead on Route 3 just north of Franconia Notch. It never got more than half full today. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail, Wet/Slippery Rock, Mud - Significant |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
Everything on Skookumchuck has large rocks put there to act as stepping-stones. The crossings would've been easy today even without them. No other crossings. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
No blowdowns today, and we saw evidence of blowdowns having been cleared on Skookumchuck Trail. The portion of Skookumchuck Trail that runs alongside Skookumchuck Brook has many wet and muddy sections (the rest of the trail is pretty dry). Signs are all in place. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
Saw a couple. They'd need to have experience on rough, above-treeline rock in order to do this loop. The sections below treeline shouldn't be a problem for them. |
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 | Bugs: |
Surprisingly, not bad at all. I put bug spray with DEET on my hat and clothing in the morning, and they never bothered me. My hiking partner re-applied bug spray partway down Skookumchuck. |
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 | Lost and Found: |
Nothing. |
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 | Comments: |
This was a traverse of Mt. Lafayette, ascending Greenleaf Trail and descending Skookumchuck. The herd path from the pullout up to Greenleaf Trail is easy to follow, and if taking it, there's absolutely no warmup - Greenleaf starts seriously climbing immediately. Greenleaf is a typical White Mountains trail, with plenty of rocks and roots, and with some sections where the trail is basically just a pile of rocks. It's also relentless - except for the short section through Eagle Pass and then the brief descent from Greenleaf Hut to the Eagle Lakes, it's climbing all the way, mostly at moderate grades though with some steeper sections. The section above the hut was less crowded than it frequently is on weekends, though we may have just beaten the crowds - from the summit of Lafayette, we could see plenty of people hiking along the ridge toward us. We departed from the summit along Garfield Ridge Trail just before they arrived.
This section of Garfield Ridge Trail, from the summit of Lafayette to the junction with Skookumchuck, reminded me of Osgood Trail on Mt. Madison - the minor ups and downs along the ridge, the steep descent down to the Skookumchuck junction. When we turned onto Skookumchuck, it remained rough and rocky, but after about a half-mile it became smoother. Substantial sections of this trail have fairly good footing - there are still some rocks and roots, but not as many as a trail like Greenleaf. It mostly descends at easy to moderate grades, with the exception of the steep section with rock steps that descends to the brook - the rock steps were much appreciated since they're probably preventing a lot of erosion. The section along the brook was annoying in places because of many wet and muddy areas - both of us dunked our boots into the mud at least once there. The last mile was mostly very easy but still had a few rockier sections. Overall, we made good time on the descent.
Thanks so much Marie for joining me! |
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 | Name: |
GN |
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 | E-Mail: |
ghnaigles@gmail.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2025-06-15 |
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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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