| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Mt. Adams, Mt. Madison, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Valley Way, Fallsway, Brookbank, Osgood Trail, Gulfside, Airline, tentsite spur |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Saturday, February 1, 2014 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
I was surprised how few cars there were as 9 am approached given the forecast and it being Saturday, the first day of the month. The lot had many more cars on my return but still a lot of parking available. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Snow - Trace/Minimal Depth, Ice - Blue, Snow - Packed Powder/Loose Granular |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Light Traction |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
Ice bridged. There are a few very small drainages that are open. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
I recall 4 blowdowns on Valley Way, 2 large ones down low and 2 smaller ones mid way up. There are numerous ice bulges going up Valley Way, a few remain active, and there is some ice filling the trail near the Hut. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
Pretty good conditions for Pepper today. The few open minor drainages were easy to jump over; but the still wet ice bulges probably got his paws a bit sticky. His Vaseline treated paws only iced a tiny bit. The rocks were mostly exposed above treeline for the most part, and they can be rough on a dog with soft pads, but they were no problem for a regular hiker like Pepper. For some reason he wanted to go up Fallsway, visit the tent site and go down Brookbank, so that we did. He also wanted to go back up Watson, and that I talked him out of. |
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 | Bugs: |
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 | Lost and Found: |
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 | Comments: |
Used Hillsounds to near the hut and up Gulfside to Airline, but at that point trying to find ice/snow to walk on was so slow, I had to take them off. It was more like a summer hike from then on up Adams and over to Madison, just going from open rock to rock. There was very little wind on Adams and it was from the west, with mostly blue skies. We even snacked some; too bad I forgot my camera. The hike over to the hut was almost all rock on the main trail. Madison's cone was mostly snow free, but the wind picked up a bit, now from the SW, but by winter's standards it was pretty light. We saw a fair number of other hikers around the hut. Everyone came up in either spikes or crampons, but above treeline most removed them. It was nice to visit with Sleeveless/Sandy at the hut. The Brookbank was some light snow over ice, with some interesting views of the brook. The brook had lots of solid ice stretches including some frozen falls, and even some vari-colored ice. It was a Presi day out today; thanks Pepper for a great one. |
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 | Name: |
Pepper and Me |
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 | E-Mail: |
windriversjohn at gmail dot com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2014-02-01 |
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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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