| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Orange Mountain, Rimrock, Mt. Cardigan, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Holt Trail, Holt-Clark Cutoff (Cathedral Forest Trail), Vistamont Trail, Skyland Trail, West Ridge Trail, Clark Trail |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Friday, January 31, 2014 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Plenty of parking at the AMC Cardigan Lodge. Shem Valley Road is plowed/sanded and in good shape for 2WD, even without snow tires. |
|
 | Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail, Snow - Trace/Minimal Depth, Ice - Blue, Snow - Packed Powder/Loose Granular, Snow - Unpacked Powder, Snow - Drifts |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Light Traction |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
Not an issue. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
Trails are in excellent shape. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
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 | Bugs: |
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 | Lost and Found: |
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 | Comments: |
Very fast-moving conditions on the trails today -- this may change a bit, though, as temperatures warm this weekend, possibly softening some of the nicely packed snow currently on most of the trails.
All trails hiked today -- except for upper ledges and Skyland Trail from Orange Mountain to Rimrock -- are a couple of inches of loose-packed powder atop blue ice; Hillsound trail crampons worked best to grip through the layer above the ice.
Skyland Trail section from Orange Mountain to Rimrock is a few inches of new powder on thin consolidated base atop blue ice, alternating with drifts, dry trail, and some sections of blue ice. The snowshoe-able stretches of powder were brief; our snowshoes stayed on the pack.
Item to note: the Holt-Clark Cutoff (Cathedral Forest Trail) has been re-blazed in the past couple of months (since we last used the trail), with quite a few (quite a few) new blazes -- often every 20 feet, and at varying heights, and often more than one blaze on the same tree. Suffice it to say, the trail is well marked. |
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 | Name: |
Pancks and Tesco Heaney |
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 | E-Mail: |
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| Date Submitted: |
2014-01-31 |
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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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