| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Imp Face, NH |
|
 | Trails: |
Imp Trail |
|
 | Date of Hike: |
Sunday, April 6, 2014 |
|
 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Plowing and snowmelt have opened up the parking to almost summer condition at the road wideouts. |
|
 | Surface Conditions: |
Snow - Packed Powder/Loose Granular, Snow/Ice - Frozen Granular, Snow - Wet/Sticky, Snow - Spring Snow |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Light Traction |
|
 | Water Crossing Notes: |
All well buried. |
|
 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
There are a couple of major blowdowns on the north branch. I took out a tangle between Imp Face and the N. Carter intersection but a single stem remains although it's currently easily handled. There were a lot of face slappers in this section. The packed snow nicely covers the eroding section from N. Carter down; too bad it isn't so nice in summer. |
|
 | Dog-Related Notes: |
Great day for Pepper. He's not one to run back and forth on the trail, or take grand sweeps to the sides, but he likes to check out nearby views, assess smells and chase impudent rodents and he could go anywhere on the crusty snow. We met a nice larger dog down low on the hike out who did break through the softening crust off trail; but with longer legs and softer crust maybe that didn't bother him. |
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 | Bugs: |
None yet! |
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 | Lost and Found: |
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|
 | Comments: |
I hiked up the north branch to the Imp Face in microspikes, and starting in the subfreezing am temps the packed trail was a fairly solid crust that held me up. There had been some new snow blown into the trail depression, but it wasn't enough to block the points. From the Imp Face to the North Carter trail there was almost no evidence of prior use, and in my first couple of steps I broke through the crust and postholed deeply. I put on my Evo Ascents and the snowshoe across was great; the crust rarely even broke under them. I kept them on for the descent although a group that had hiked up just before that in spikes hadn't damaged the trail. From the Joe Dodge cutoff to the south trailhead snowshoes were needed in the softening and less packed snow. We ran into one woman who was coming up in snowshoes in this section. At this point temps were rising and the snow was turning into spring snow. On my return to my car there were two other vehicles so things could change on the trails with the warm afternoon temps.
This was Plan B, supposedly an ordinary redlining hike for Pepper, but like many of them it turned into an especially wonderful hike. The trails were in great condition first for spikes and then snowshoes, the views of the white capped Presidentials from Imp Face were spectacular, temps were comfy, and the trails were interesting. It was great to run into Bombadil and friends who were doing the Carters. |
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 | Name: |
Pepper and Me |
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 | E-Mail: |
windriversjohn at gmail dot com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2014-04-06 |
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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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