| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Mt. Whiteface, Mt. Passaconaway, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Blueberry Ledge Trail, Rollins Trail, Dicey's Mill Trail |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Saturday, March 30, 2019 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Lot was full early this afternoon. Last stretch of road and entrance to the lot could pose an issue to cars with low clearance at the moment, as there are somewhat deep ice/slush ruts. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Ice - Blue, Snow - Spring Snow, Snow/Ice - Postholes |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Snowshoes |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
The one crossing of significance (lower Dicey's Mill Trail) was rock hoppable. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
Noted a lot of brushing had been done recently. I cut out a couple of blowdowns near the top of Dicey's Mill. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
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 | Bugs: |
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 | Lost and Found: |
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 | Comments: |
With the exception of the road walks, I wore snowshoes roundtrip. All but three hikers I saw had snowshoes. With the deep, yet softening snowpack, they are very much needed, for safety, easiest travel, and consideration for others.
The start of the foot path on Blueberry Ledge instantly had 2 to 3 feet of snowpack. Some areas of postholes down low, but relatively firm spring snow this morning up to that point. However, starting just prior to the Wiggin junction (no tracks descending), the snow was a lot softer and more postholes were noted, courtesy parasitic postholers from yesterday. The packed path deviates from the trail in quite a few places and the snowpack is perhaps 3 to 6 feet deep. The scrambles currently have good snowpack, making it more of a ramp at present. A few minor patches of ice were easily crossed with snowshoes.
Less traffic on the Rollins Trail and some areas of very deep snow, providing nice views, as well as a trail finding challenge with buried blazes. There are a few places in which the tracks split up and go virtually all directions (one is just after a steep downhill; looks like the trail goes straight, but it actually takes a sharp right turn uphill). If the snowpack warms up today and tonight into tomorrow with the rain, this could be very nasty for those without snowshoes. The sidehill ledge currently has a decent snowshoe track across it, but booters could destroy this. Unfortunately there was a booter behind me, and on my return trip down Dicey's, I could see carnage. Hopefully the snowshoers I saw came across the ridge and cleaned up the mess.
Upper Dicey's Mill was the firmest I came across all day, still supporting boots around lunch time. No tracks on East Loop. Portions of the upper packed route deviate from the trail and cut off switchbacks.
Things were getting soft in places below the Rollins Trail; a booter I ran into on the ascent switched to snowshoes, as she deemed it to be too soft to descend without. Hopefully the booters don't do too much damage this afternoon.
A question running through my head when seeing a Microspiker: newbie or lazy? |
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 | Name: |
rocket21 |
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 | E-Mail: |
rocket21@franklinwebpublishing.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2019-03-30 |
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 | Link: |
 https://www.franklinsites.com/hikephotos |
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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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