Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
| Peaks |
Mt. Adams, Mt. Madison, NH |
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| Trails: |
Valley Way, Gulfside, snowfields, Air Line, Osgood Trail |
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| Date of Hike: |
Saturday, March 8, 2014 |
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| Parking/Access Road Notes: |
pretty full lot at Appalachia today |
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| Surface Conditions: |
Snow - Packed Powder/Loose Granular, Snow/Ice - Frozen Granular, Snow/Ice - Postholes |
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| Recommended Equipment: |
Snowshoes, Light Traction, Traction |
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| Water Crossing Notes: |
all crossings frozen on this route today |
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| Trail Maintenance Notes: |
a couple of duck unders as previously reported |
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| Dog-Related Notes: |
Pepper had a good day though the wind wasn't much fun on Madison. saw Isis and hannah as well..congrats to Hannah for her W48 finish.. |
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| Bugs: |
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| Lost and Found: |
a hat and a strap at the kiosk |
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| Comments: |
we had a later start than earlier posters so conditions different. Nice packed out trail to the hut, anything worked in the center of the trail. Just down from the Stop sign ran into a friend who reported high winds on Madison and when we got to the hut others reported the same. Nice to run into Sarah and Ali there. Tried snowshoes for awhile on trek to Adams , we avoided the rocky section of air line and headed up some snowfields. eventually I got rid of my snowshoes though others left them on clacking through some bony stretches., footing was decent in spikes. Visibility dropped quickly with elevation and the wind was blowing pretty good approaching the summit. we did not linger long, for a minute I thought we would get some views but they passed quickly, not really the summits in and out of the clouds sequence we were hoping for. Snowshoes looked very clumsy on descent tho did offer good traction..lots of blowing snow and some freezing fog. one person we saw struggling in yax trax on the frozen granular sections of snowfield above King Ravine..great!..once down to Gulfside things cleared a bit. Matt decided to head down at that point. Ascent to Madison was pretty much filled in and easy going as far as footbed in light traction. Windy with low visibility with a couple of frozen granular sections. summit ridge cairn to cairn visibility , coming back off the summit ridge the wind had me down to essentially all fours for a couple of stretches 50+ for sure. Lots of freezing fog back to the hut and we were rimed covered. Things calmed dramatically once in to the trees on Valley Way and we essentially jogged down on the snowcovered sidewalk. Pretty good adventure today with John and Pepper. Nice to run into the ladies along the way. Great to be out |
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| Name: |
silverfox |
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| E-Mail: |
marktaub.metrocast.net |
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| Date Submitted: |
2014-03-08 |
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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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