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Ski
Hiking Trail Conditions Report
Peaks
Peaks Mt. Adams, Mt. Madison, NH
Trails
Trails: The Link, Amphibrach, King Ravine Trail, The Subway, Great Gully Trail, Lowes Path, Gulfside Trail, Osgood Trail, Valley Way
Date of Hike
Date of Hike: Thursday, July 19, 2018
Parking/Access Road Notes
Parking/Access Road Notes: Enough room for us around 8:30a at Appalachia 
Surface Conditions
Surface Conditions: Dry Trail, Wet Trail, Wet/Slippery Rock, Standing/Running Water on Trail, Mud - Minor/Avoidable 
Recommended Equipment
Recommended Equipment:  
Water Crossing Notes
Water Crossing Notes: Rockhoppable 
Trail Maintenance Notes
Trail Maintenance Notes: Some brushing could be useful on the upper portion of Great Gully trail. Ferns, branches etc making path finding/scaling sketchy but perhaps that's the adventure :) 
Dog-Related Notes
Dog-Related Notes: Saw a couple, not many above treeline. One thankfully had booties, those rocks can really injure a pup's pads. 
Bugs
Bugs: Surprisingly high concentrations of black flies above treeline! 
Lost and Found
Lost and Found:  
 
Comments
Comments: Started out from Appalachia up the Amphibrach with a side trip to Coldspur Ledges. Connected to King Ravine Trail at the Pentadoi, and continued up to where it splits into the Chemin Des Dames trail. Trails were in good shape and we did not see anyone else on these trails until this junction. We took a trip through The Subway, very cool and a good warm up for Great Gully trail. Only met one person at this point. Continuing on King Ravine for a snippet we joined the Great Gully trail after a short snack break.

Great Gully Trail ROCKED! Tame at the bottom it steepened quickly and gave a great challenge. Still a chunk of ice melting under a rock, nice cool air coming up from it. We only struggled to navigate the trail in two spots due to brushiness and faded/hidden blazes but overall kicked its butt! One mile of beauty and f*@#ing steep. Reaching Thunderstorm Junction we dropped our packs and split off to conquer our separate peaks before regrouping at the junction to head to Madison.

Lowes Path up to the summit of Adams was its rocky talus self, with only about five people on it. These were the #2-6 people to be seen all day, and it was almost 2:30. Back at Thunderstorm Junction we headed over to Madison via Gulfside trail, seeing no one else until the hut. Dropped packs, used the facilities and headed up the Osgood Trail to tag Madison. Passed quite a few people descending here, and were lucky to have the summit to ourselves for a good chunk of time. Ran into a fair amount of thru hikers on the way up and down. Returning to the hut we ran into a friend who is thruhiking, and indulged in a beer before refilling waters and heading out for the final descent on Valley Way.

On the final quarter mile out we encountered a baby deer booking it across the trail in front of us, with tons of commotion in the woods where it came from. We saw a large fawn running through the woods, and we held still thinking she would run across the trail after the baby. We saw a coyote stop about 40-50 yards away looking at us, then suddenly the fawn reappeared and chased it back into the woods! I think she taught it a lesson about chasing her baby.  
Name
Name: bria 
E-Mail
E-Mail: breahmaria@gmail.com 
Date Submitted
Date Submitted: 2018-07-20 
Link
Link: https:// 
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