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Ski
Hiking Trail Conditions Report
Peaks
Peaks West Field, Whitewall Mountain, South Hale, Mt. Hale, NH
Trails
Trails: Avalon Trail, A-Z Trail, bushwhack, Zealand Trail, Twinway, Lend A Hand Trail, bushwhack, Hale Brook Trail, Zealand Road
Date of Hike
Date of Hike: Thursday, March 19, 2015
Parking/Access Road Notes
Parking/Access Road Notes: plentiful and well maintained parking at both the highland center and zealand winter lot. 
Surface Conditions
Surface Conditions: Snow - Packed Powder/Loose Granular, Snow - Unpacked Powder, Snow - Drifts 
Recommended Equipment
Recommended Equipment: Snowshoes 
Water Crossing Notes
Water Crossing Notes: all that were encountered were frozen, snow bridged and easily crossed. 
Trail Maintenance Notes
Trail Maintenance Notes: there is a large blowdown on upper hale brook forcing a route around and one across zealand road a bit south of sugarloaf trail. 
Dog-Related Notes
Dog-Related Notes:  
Bugs
Bugs:  
Lost and Found
Lost and Found:  
 
Comments
Comments: the trails to the tom col were drifted in over a packed base. some drifting was fairly significant. we continued a short distance down a-z from the col then took a line towards west field losing the necessary elevation along the way. we found mostly good woods and wind packed, semi consolidated snow which made travel fairly nice. there is an impressive drifted over spruce minefield around the summit that took some careful walking before more good woods to the highpoint. probably 4-5 feet of snow in the woods in this area with more drifted in over some of the spruce. from the summit of west field we dropped off directly west finding ok to scrappy woods with a fair amount of buried spruce before coming out onto one of the ponds just below the peak. continuing west mostly open woods traded off with long sections of minefield buried spruce before finally dropping in good woods to the col with whitewall mountain. i suspect travel in this area is much easier this time of year than in the summer. we turned south to check out the pond tucked between the peaks which was quite nice then headed up whitewall and into magnificent birch glades much of the way to the summit. the snow was wind packed and relatively supportive. a bit scrappier before climbing up onto the summit bump of whitewall. lots of crusty snow up on the sun drenched summit area. getting over to the ledges and cliffs was much easier with the snow than in summer and we were soon enjoying the views. we doubled back a bit on our tracks then north along whitewall finding great woods along the birch/spruce line and jumping a couple moose along the way ending up right near the start of a-z trail. zealand trail was well packed and lightly drifted to the hut. same on lend a hand up to about 3400 where we bushwhacked up to south hale finding good woods after a bit of scrappy going shortly after leaving the trail. great snowshoeing into the sag and up to the highpoint. back out the same way we followed lend a hand up on a packed track to just short of the summit where the packed track turned off to a blowdown view point and from there to the summit it was pretty well drifted in. hale brook had a great powder snow cover which made for a fast descent, but tricky footing on the side slope section below the switchbacks. zealand road had a packed track and was plowed shortly north of the hale brook trailhead. it remained plowed, but with enough cover to continue wearing snowshoes, all the way to 302.

great hike. quite cold and windy all day, but probably the most beautiful day i have been out all winter. all peaks were nice, but whitewall was extraordinary. a big congratulations to amy who finished her all season nh100 highest today. awesome day to be outside.  
Name
Name: bryan, NordicGal 
E-Mail
E-Mail: bryancuddihee@yahoo.com 
Date Submitted
Date Submitted: 2015-03-19 
Link
Link: https:// 
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