| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Mt. Jefferson, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Jewell Trail, Gulfside, Jefferson Loop |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Tuesday, January 30, 2018 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
We parked at the Ammo summer lot, plowed but very icy - no other vehicles today. Bathrooms are locked |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Snow - Packed Powder/Loose Granular, Snow/Ice - Frozen Granular, Snow/Ice - Monorail (Stable) |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Light Traction |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
No issues |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
One patch of blowdowns below treeline on Jewell that has a path cut through them, will need more attention in the spring but easily navigable for now - a few other easy stopovers, otherwise no major issues. Sign post at the junction of Gulfside and Sphinx trail is lying on the ground, will need attention this spring |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
Hannah had a great day, she's an experienced winter hiker and was able to navigate around the icy sections with ease, no sketchy areas where I needed to leash her - it would be a tough hike for dogs without a lot of winter hiking experience |
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 | Bugs: |
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 | Lost and Found: |
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 | Comments: |
Hillsound spikes car to car today - hard packed snow right from the trailhead, trail was more uneven before the junction with the spur to the Cog base from previous postholing and punching through but the cold weather today helped maintain a good base and we never sunk or punched through, the packed base is fairly wide too - a few areas of bare ground on lower Jewell but not much ice, mostly styrofoam snow up to treeline. Less snow above treeline, more exposed rock than expected with intermittent stretches of hard packed monorail and short stretches of ice - we had to rock hop in places which made for slow going at times but the trail was easy to follow. No shortcut between upper Jewell and Gulfside because of lack of snow cover - wind picked up on the way to Sphinx col. More of the same up to the summit but the winds didn't really increase, steady in the 20's most of the way and closer to 30-35 mph at the true summit - more rock hopping even on the summit loop trail. No issues on the trip out and we made much better time heading down. We brought Hillsound crampons but never thought about using them, no need for snowshoes as the trail is very well packed and the unevenness down low would make for tricky footing even if they were just used for televator purposes - we wouldn't have wanted to do this hike in dull micros though as the sections of harder ice would have been very sketchy. Long ranging views under cloudy skies today, a bit cold and windy but very manageable - we were happy to have the trails to ourselves. Thanks Ali and Hannah for another great adventure! |
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 | Name: |
Hikes with Hannah |
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 | E-Mail: |
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| Date Submitted: |
2018-01-30 |
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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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