| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Welch Mountain, Dickey Mountain, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Welch-Dickey Loop Trail |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Saturday, March 22, 2014 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Orris Road has ice on it, proceed with caution. Plenty of parking at the trailhead on this day, it was empty when I arrived and empty when I left! |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Snow - Packed Powder/Loose Granular, Snow/Ice - Postholes |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Snowshoes, Light Traction |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
Minor crossing heading up to Welch easily stepped over. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
Trails themselves in great shape. The trail conditions were a mixed bag (see notes). |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
Dogs would have been fine going up, not so good coming down. |
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 | Bugs: |
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 | Lost and Found: |
Nothing and nothing. |
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|
 | Comments: |
Without a real solid plan for the day due to an iffy weather forecast which predicted snow moving in (and also a rescheduled hike that I could no longer attend), I headed north and ended up in the Waterville Valley area. That meant it was time for another hike of the Welch / Dickey loop, a favorite. The forecast must have scared everyone away. I saw one person snowshoeing up to the first ledge outlook and back, but other than that, I had both mountains to myself all day.
Temps were not too cold, and there was even some blue sky showing when I hit the trail at 7:45am. The trail leading up to Welch was well-packed and solid. I wore Hillsounds all the way up, but also carried snowshoes. At the first ledge outlook, I was greeted by a great snow bear who stood watch over Sandwich Mountain (see pics). From there, it was a fairly easy climb over Welch's great open ledges, which are now snowfields (personally, I prefer the bare rock). The wind picked up and the skies darkened as I summited Welch. I took a few photos and dropped down into the col, then started climbing Dickey.
At the Dickey summit, the trail got noticeably worse. It was posthole hell all the way down to the great southern ledge. I switched to snowshoes to try and tramp it down a bit, but the footing was still very rough, the trail was just a real mess. Dropping off the ledge and back into the woods, conditions improved and it was an easier cruise down from there. I was back to my car at 11:45 and on the road when the snow started flying around noon. |
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 | Name: |
KenM |
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 | E-Mail: |
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| Date Submitted: |
2014-03-24 |
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 | Link: |
 https://flickr.com/gp/kmacgray/a8sh04 |
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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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