| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Mt. Madison, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Valley Way, Osgood Trail, Parapet Trail, Star Lake Trail |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Tuesday, February 9, 2010 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Appalachia lot is nice 'n' clear. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Snow - Packed Powder/Loose Granular, Snow - Unpacked Powder, Ice - Blue, Snow - Drifts, Ice - Breakable Crust |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Snowshoes, Light Traction |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
Everything is either nicely frozen or not an issue to hop across. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
Some minor blowdowns on Valley Way, easy to avoid/move around -- except for just below the Valley Way tentsite, where there's a large blowdown (it's been there since I was last up Valley Way, on January 27) that now has a 20-yard bushwack around it. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
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 | Bugs: |
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 | Lost and Found: |
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 | Comments: |
A beautiful, windless afternoon and a decent sunset from the Madison Hut/Parapet area overlooking the Great Gulf. This was the first time I'd been up Valley Way since just after the January thaw and intense rainstorm, and I'm happy to report that the trail is nicely "healed" since then, courtesy of many days of freezing temperatures, plus a half foot of new snow. Valley Way is nicely packed and joy to hike -- used Microspikes on the way up, and snowshoes on the way down (the upper portion past the tentsite has several inches of barely consolidated new snow; snowshoes help). Osgood Trail to Madison summit has more snow than ice, and Microspikes were fine going up. Parapet and Star Lake Trails near the Madison Hut are ice floes with a candy coating of snow -- Microspikes were still okay, though. |
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 | Name: |
Captain Archibald Haddock |
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 | E-Mail: |
info (at) barkingcat (dot) net |
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| Date Submitted: |
2010-02-09 |
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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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