| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Mt. Jefferson, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Castle Trail, The Link, Castle Ravine |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Friday, May 18, 2018 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
We were the first car in today. On our return there were two more. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail, Standing/Running Water on Trail, Snow/Ice - Small Patches |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
All were rock jumps with slightly wet boots for me, although sometimes I had to go up or downstream to find the needed rocks. Pepper waded some and rock hopped others. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
The small section of Link that we hiked needs some work soon. In addition to a few scattered blowdowns and a lot of debris (some of which we got) there are three gnarly multi tree blocking blowdowns. These trees were right along the higher side of the trail and they force a hiker off trail in less than optimum conditions. It wasn't a big deal for us although it slowed us down considerably, but we are familiar with the trail and dealing with blowdowns. Given all the other blowdowns on Airline and some other trails in the area, it would be easy to skip looking at this section of Link. There are a variety of blowdowns on Castle and the Castle Ravine section we hiked, a few blocking, a few big trees, and many solitary modest sized. There wasn't anything like Airline's mess but several forced us off trail. Castle Ravine does have several stretches with water running in the trail |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
Castle is not a dog friendly trail. There are a lot of potentially tough scrambles in the castles section especially for smaller dogs, there is a lot of rock walking/jumping on rocks with sharp crystalline structures, there is very little water on Castle and there is a lot of exposure to the elements. Castle Ravine has many crossings, some potentially difficult. Pepper has done these trails before several times in summer and in winter, and knows what to expect and how to get around obstacles. His paw pads are hardened. Today was cool with little wind so he didn't over heat. He's no longer young, so on the bigger leaps he would wait for me to give him the ok, and then we would go for them. I gave him a few butt shoves just to be sure. I know some other dogs who can do this trail safely, but if you aren't sure don't take yours up it and have a plan to handle any injuries. |
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 | Bugs: |
There were some non biting flies on Jefferson the whole time, but after about a half hour or so pestering black flies showed up. Other than that bugs were not an issue. |
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 | Lost and Found: |
None |
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 | Comments: |
Today was a great day for this hike. The weather was as perfect as forecast, with comfy hiking temps and little wind. We mostly had the trails to ourselves. We had a a nice chat with two guys from the Observatory volunteer staff on the summit, and we ran into one hiker on our descent who was planning to do the same hike we did. I carried spikes, and could have used them for very short stretches, but with care barebooting was just fine up and down. There just isn't a lot of snow/ice left on these trails and the patches on the Link held me up. I flicked or tossed a lot of debris out of the trails but there is plenty more. I probably would skipped doing a report given that the RMC trail crews will be heading out, but the section of Link we were on needs work and it is more than a trail maintainer should be asked to do. It was a beautiful day in the woods and above treeline. On the drive home between Twin Mountain and Franconia on Rt. 3 the late afternoon/early evening sun lit up the pastel colors of spring foliage/flowers. It doesn't get much better than this. |
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 | Name: |
Pepper and Me |
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 | E-Mail: |
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| Date Submitted: |
2018-05-18 |
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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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