| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Baldpate Mountain - West Peak, Baldpate Mountain - East Peak, ME |
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 | Trails: |
Appalachian Trail |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Sunday, January 31, 2016 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
grafton notch parking area. plenty of room |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Ice - Blue, Snow - Packed Powder/Loose Granular, Ice - Breakable Crust, Snow/Ice - Frozen Granular, Snow/Ice - Small Patches |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Light Traction, Traction |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
no issues |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
a few typical branches down from winter |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
not suggested for dogs right now. too much ice |
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 | Bugs: |
0 |
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 | Lost and Found: |
one black slip on stabilizer on the way up to east peak |
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 | Comments: |
Baldpate, west and east peak. Hiked on 1 31 16
Started at Grafton notch trailhead, a/t northbound. Lot is plowed. No problem parking. Hike is aprox 7.6 miles round trip, 3100 ft gain.
D&D hiking together today and met up with Chris near the baldpate lean-to. Morning temps were about 33 degrees. Trail was packed all the way to the lean-to where we took break and enjoyed the company of 3 Red Crossbill birds. This was our first sighting of this species of bird. From the lean-to, the elevation really starts up for about nine tenths of a mile until west peak. For traction, we used the hillsound freesteps6 up on this section and had no problems. After evaluating the ice and rock slabs of east peak from the west, Dolly executed her power of wisdom and elected to enjoy the views, while Chris and I headed to east peak. Leaving west peak and dropping into the col, the ladders were buried in snow, making it easier to just slide down off to the side. The flat bottom slab rock was completely iced over but we were steady going. Once we started going up to east peak, we had to pick our route carefully on the slab frozen over with 1 to 2 inches of ice. Chris used snow shoes, not for the snow, but for the aggressive teeth while I was still with the hillsounds. West to east peak took us almost 50 minutes. Coming down was another issue. Chris switched over to crampons while I stuck with the less aggressive traction. I had one olympic maneuver, coming down rather quicker than I had planned but all turned out well when I finally hit the spruce growth. I would definitely recommend crampons for the current conditions. Snow shoes not required unless we get some fresh snow or heavy drifting. The only real issue with snow was just below the first ladder and then for about 200 yards. The hillsounds were fine for west peak, up and down but did not help much on the second peak. Found someone’s black slip on stabilizer frozen into the rock slab and was able to extricate. Size large. Maybe I am getting old, but this was our longest duration 7.6 mile hike in years. The ice and extra gear slowed us down a bit. Overall, a great January day out in the woods and also great to meet up with Chris. For pics, see attached link
submitted by d&d 93/100
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 | Name: |
d&d |
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 | E-Mail: |
nhwoodsandwaters@gmail.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2016-02-02 |
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 | Link: |
 https://goo.gl/photos/vVGZ39v86BMBCTVh7 |
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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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