| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Adams, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Airline, Gulfside, Valley Way |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Saturday, December 20, 2025 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Appalachia is icy but in good shape. One other car when I arrived at 9am, 8 when I left at 2:30pm |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Ice - Black, Snow - Trace/Minimal Depth, Ice - Blue, Ice - Breakable Crust, Standing/Running Water on Trail, Snow/Ice - Frozen Granular, Snow - Drifts, Snow/Ice - Postholes |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Snowshoes, Light Traction, Traction |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
Valley way water crossings are open and flowing but manageable |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
Several blowdowns after the big storm... Airline has one near each of the intersections of Beechwood Way, Shortline, and Randolph path, and then one around 3500' before gaining the ridge. Valley way has too many to count, but primarily within a half mile on either side of the tent site spur trail. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
Saw one intrepid pup who was ascending valley way but with the blowdowns and very firm old snowpack I bet it was tough going |
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 | Bugs: |
this is the best time of year for a reason! |
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 | Lost and Found: |
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 | Comments: |
Got an appropriately late (9:15am) start having studied the weather forecast. Gained the airline ridge and broke above treeline at 11:15, summited Adams 12:15, descended Valley Way and returned to Appalachia at 2:30pm.
Below 2500-3000' or so, the old snowpack is entirely gone aside from a few odd patches. What you get now is whatever you would get in July plus a medley of frozen and semi-frozen stuff on top. Maybe a half inch of ice in various forms and then a half inch to an inch of snow to obscure things just enough. Several stretches from 2500-3500' or so on airline had solid blue ice which demanded crampons, otherwise spikes were fine. Above 3000' the old snowpack is battered but still in the fight. Just below treeline there are still serious 4-6' drifts of the old snowpack and a foot or two of drift from the new snow that fell on the back side of Friday's storm. So for a brief while I regretted not packing snowshoes, and had several unpleasant postholes. Once you pop above treeline though, the drifts generally dissipate and spikes are once again the weapon of choice. Some of the summit snowfields are heavily compacted drifts from the old snowpack plus a very healthy rime layer and when angled sufficiently, proper crampons become the weapon of choice here. Never postholed above treeline. Valley way had gotten much of the snow that at one point had fallen on the airline ridge blown in by the westerly winds, and snowshoes woudlve been a good choice here down to about 3000'. While I was the only one on Airline, Valley Way was well traveled by folks in spikes, and many of them had unpleasant-looking postholes. Observing and learning from their foot placement mistakes kept my shins snow-free on the decsent thankfully.
TLDR until we get more snow, the northern presis are an "all of the above" traction environment depending on your route. |
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 | Name: |
frontogenesis |
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 | E-Mail: |
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| Date Submitted: |
2025-12-21 |
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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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