| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Mt. Monadnock, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Pumpelly Trail, Cascade Link, Red Spot Trail |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Sunday, April 6, 2014 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
No real parking lot for Pumpelly, I parked as far over as I could on Lake Road at the trailhead. Third car in, half-dozen when I left. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Ice - Blue, Ice - Breakable Crust, Snow/Ice - Frozen Granular, Mud - Minor/Avoidable, Snow - Wet/Sticky, Snow - Spring Snow, Snow/Ice - Postholes, Slush |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Light Traction |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
The "main" ones are open but trivial. Lots of running water under the trail, especially on the Red Spot. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
Spring cleanup time, I removed lots of small logs scattered over the trail. A couple minor blowdowns on Pumpelly (at least one can be picked up and moved once it is no longer frozen to the ground). Another handful of blowdowns on Cascade Link. Nothing was a major impediment. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
No dogs permitted on this mountain, sorry dogs. |
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 | Bugs: |
Not yet...soon though. |
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 | Lost and Found: |
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 | Comments: |
A beautiful day , it would have been a shame to stay home, though I wanted to this morning. I took Pumpelly up to the Cascade Link, and took that down to the Red Spot, which I took to the summit. Descent via the Pumpelly.
The lower Pumpelly Trail was mostly solid, with a few open spots near the trailhead, though the snow was getting a little soft in the early afternoon. Up on the ridge the snow was soft even in the morning, though there was also some nasty ice here and there. Same story on Cascade Link, mostly solid with some ice on the steeps. Red Spot was almost completely soft snow and was a tedious ascent. Running water under the snow in numerous spots too to watch out for. Above treeline was a mixture of bare, dry rock, very slippery glare ice, and some slush.
Not having a recent report of snow depth to go off of, I carried the snowshoes just in case. Only in one or two spots would they have been of use, and those spots were too short to justify the time to put them on. Instead I wore Hillsound microspikes car-to-car except for the summit area on the ascent (plenty of bare rocks to bare-boot up). I saw maybe 2 dozen people, half with traction, half without. I stronly advise bringing it. There is still 1-2 feet of snow on most of the upper Pumpelly Trail before treeline (and the same on Cascade Link and Red Spot), but it is going to melt fast this coming week. Things were solid enough on the main track heading down, but it was fast deteriorating. Too bony for snowshoes though, in my opinion.
A tad windy, but otherwise beautiful up top. Easy views of Wachusett to the South, and Moosilauke was pretty easy to spot to the North, along with everything in between. Franconia Ridge also became visible, along with Mount Washington (though just barely) 105 miles away. A Sunday well spent. |
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 | Name: |
madmattd |
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 | E-Mail: |
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| Date Submitted: |
2014-04-06 |
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 | Link: |
 https://mattshikes.blogspot.com |
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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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