| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Mt. Jefferson, Mt. Washington, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Great Gulf Trail, Six Husbands Trail, Mt. Jefferson Loop, Gulfside Trail, Trinity Heights Connector, Nelson Crag Trail, Old Jackson Road, Mt. Washington Auto Road, Route 16 |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Thursday, September 8, 2016 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Parked at Great Gulf TH which is a USFS fee lot. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail, Wet/Slippery Rock |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
All dry-feet rock hops. Love the suspension bridge across the Peabody! |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
Couple of stepover blowdowns on GGT, IIRC. Nelson Crag Trail could use a trim job near treeline but is easy to follow. Huge cairns above treeline on NCT much appreciated. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
Would definitely not bring a dog on Six Husbands Trail (unless it's a teacup poodle that you can stuff in your pack) due to the 5 ladders and extreme rough steepness. Top half of Nelson Crag Trail is very, very rough rocks that are hard on dogs' pads. |
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 | Bugs: |
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 | Lost and Found: |
Found/carried out an ankle brace on NCT. |
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 | Comments: |
FUN day in the Great Gulf and up on the Ridge! Six Husbands was as much a hoot as I'd remembered. Last time on this trail was a winter ascent 10 years ago, so this time didn't seem quite so hairy in contrast. The trickiest spot is at the top of ladder #4, where there is a smooth sloping ledge with a significant dropoff. Acrophobics probably would not like this trail. After the ladders there is still a lot of scrambling required to get up Jefferson's left knee, and from there a long, beautiful slog to the summit.
It was a most interesting day above treeline, with clouds constantly swirling around even though winds were mostly in the single digits and temps downright warm at times. One minute we'd have 100-mile visibility; the next minute we could see just one or two cairns. Fortunately while we were up there it was more of the former. We saw NO ONE until the summit of Jeff, no one from Wash down, but 57 in between not counting tourists on the summit!
After a break in the summit building (where we agreed that people would pay $20 for a really good milkshake and a donation to the Obs), we decided on Nelson Crag Trail for the descent. This trail was quite a bit rougher than I'd remembered! The mileage seemed a bit, err, off; then again, we were nearing the end of a long day... There were a lot of ROCKS on the upper half, a lot of greasy rocks on the lower portion, and lots of short steep dropoffs that made for slow going. As the higher elevations became engulfed in cloud for good, the extensive cairning above treeline was most appreciated. Ball Crag and Nelson Crag were pretty darn tootin'. :)
At the bottom of NCT (finally), we hung a left on Old Jackson Road, then speed walked the remaining 2.1 miles of Auto Road and 1.7 of Route 16. Yay, done! |
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 | Name: |
Snowflea & Fancypants |
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 | E-Mail: |
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| Date Submitted: |
2016-09-09 |
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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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