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Ski
Hiking Trail Conditions Report
Peaks
Peaks Eagle Cliff, Greenleaf Hut, NH
Trails
Trails: Climber's trails, herd paths, bushwhack, Greenleaf Trail, Franconia Notch Recreation Path
Date of Hike
Date of Hike: Sunday, July 31, 2016
Parking/Access Road Notes
Parking/Access Road Notes: We met at the Skookumchuck Trail parking lot where we spotted a few cars, then drove to the climber's trail at exit 34C off the Franconia Notch Parkway (in the end, we didn't need the car spot, see comments). 
Surface Conditions
Surface Conditions: Dry Trail 
Recommended Equipment
Recommended Equipment:  
Water Crossing Notes
Water Crossing Notes: None. 
Trail Maintenance Notes
Trail Maintenance Notes: GT could use some brushing below Eagle Pass. 
Dog-Related Notes
Dog-Related Notes: Nope. Would not bring a dog on this route. 
Bugs
Bugs: Not too bad. 
Lost and Found
Lost and Found: Amazingly, we found a light blue jacket and a green Nalgene bottle in the thick of it up on the ridge. Both were carried out. 
 
Comments
Comments: A great day for an epic bushwhack traverse of Eagle Cliff Ridge!

We started up the climber's trail for just a bit, before whacking up toward the ridge. Initial going was good along climber's trails and herd paths. After that, things slowly got scrappier as we worked our way over all of the humps along the ridge, with occasional game paths to break it up. We encountered a few pockets of very thick stuff along the way. Not too much blowdown, though. Our goal was to try and travel across as many of the ledges as we could, but getting to some of them proved difficult. Still lots of great viewpoints along the way though, it's amazing there isn't an official trail up here.

We ate lunch at The Eaglet, with fantastic views of the adjacent cliffs, Cannon Mountain and Franconia Notch.

The final push to the canister was a bit thick and rough through low spruce and krummholz. The canister was on a very brittle tree which broke when we opened it. We jury-rigged it to what is left of the trunk with some zip ties. Not far from the canister is a outstanding view ledge and fire ring.

I had read reports of a herd path about 100 ft. from the canister, leading down to Eagle Pass, but we couldn't find it. The descent was steep and thick, and we popped out on GT a short distance above the Pass.

The original plan was to do this traverse on the way to Lafayette with a descent via Skookumchuck Trail, but the whack across the ridge took five hours and was more gnarly than we had anticipated. We did climb up to the hut, where we made the call to descend via GT since we were approaching late afternoon at that point.

Upon reaching the GT trailhead, we crossed under the parkway and walked the FNRP back to exit 34C.

We had some reservations about the forecasted weather, but the showers never came. Temps were also cool which made the whacking "pleasant". Glad I finally got to do this hike, it's been on the bucket list for a while!  
Name
Name: KenM 
E-Mail
E-Mail: kmacgray@gmail.com 
Date Submitted
Date Submitted: 2016-07-31 
Link
Link: https:// 
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