| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Jennings Peak, Sandwich Dome, Flat Mountain, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Drakes Brook trail, Sandwich Mountain trail, Jennings spur, bushwhack, Fletcher Cascades trail |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Sunday, January 18, 2026 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Lot not plowed, and it’s up a hill so you’ll want 4wd probably. 2 other cars when I left, it holds a few. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Snow - Packed Powder/Loose Granular, Snow - Unpacked Powder |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Snowshoes, Light Traction |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
Water is pretty low, but there are some tricky snow bridges that shouldn’t be trusted. You’ll want to test each one before you step. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
No issues |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
Trails, yes, probably not the bushwhack, way too deep right now. |
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 | Bugs: |
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 | Lost and Found: |
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 | Comments: |
I successfully bushwhacked from Sandwich summit to Flat Mtn and down to the Cascades. All of the trails I took had been traveled recently, with just a fresh inch on top. The other routes to Sandwich did not look to have been traveled at all lately. Spikes would be fine for the traveled trails, but I wore snowshoes all day and saw 2 others in snowshoes too. The snow steadily increases with elevation, and bushwhacking off the summit I was knee deep most of the way down to Drakes Pass. There is supposedly an abandoned trail (shown on Gaia) but I had no luck finding it, so next time I would just stay further to the NW and go in more of a straight line. The woods in the pass were bad, but the snow was only half as deep on Flat, so I decided to continue though I wasn’t sure if I’d make it since it was very slow going. As is typical on a 5 mile bushwhack, there were good and bad parts, but more good than bad in my opinion, and I would take this route again, but it’s probably much easier without snow. The woods are almost entirely spruce, a lot of what I’d call pencil woods, sometimes open, sometimes very tight. It was a satisfying whack and I got back down to the beautiful frozen cascades pretty quickly and then back to the truck, about 8 hours for the 11+ mile hike. |
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 | Name: |
Carl G |
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 | E-Mail: |
calxjohnson@gmail.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2026-01-18 |
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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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