NewEnglandTrailConditions.com
NewEnglandTrailConditions.com:
MA
|
ME
|
NH
|
RI/CT
|
VT
|
Ski
Hiking Trail Conditions Report
Peaks
Peaks Mt. Nancy, Duck Pond Mountain, NH
Trails
Trails: Nancy Pond Trail, herd path, bushwhack
Date of Hike
Date of Hike: Sunday, January 25, 2015
Parking/Access Road Notes
Parking/Access Road Notes: Roadside lot plowed. 
Surface Conditions
Surface Conditions: Snow - Packed Powder/Loose Granular, Snow/Ice - Frozen Granular, Snow - Drifts 
Recommended Equipment
Recommended Equipment: Snowshoes 
Water Crossing Notes
Water Crossing Notes: Hoppable or frozen. First Nancy Brook crossing takes a little maneuvering. 
Trail Maintenance Notes
Trail Maintenance Notes: Some blowdowns on Nancy Pond Trail above the reroute, but generally frozen into the snowpack. 
Dog-Related Notes
Dog-Related Notes:  
Bugs
Bugs:  
Lost and Found
Lost and Found:  
 
Comments
Comments: Nancy Pond Trail was generally well packed out up to the reroute, thanks in part to us having been on it three weekends in a row. A dusting to an inch of new snow on top, drifting in places. Figured out why we missed the reroute last weekend - the blaze faces the wrong way and the old corridor is not obstructed with current snowpack. Reroute, though switchbacky and adding a little vertical, is much easier than trying to get around the washout.
We walked across Nancy Pond and Norcross Pond, then hopped onto the herd path, which hadn't been used recently. We were fortunately able to keep it all the way up. Some tips include not going onto the slide (trail stays just east of it, then cuts sharp right onto a switchback), and when approaching a small cliffband, the trail cuts left, then crosses over the top.
Back at Nancy Pond, we held the southwestern shore and used it as an azimuth for a bushwhack to Duck Pond. We ended up with relatively decent woods (stick forest) with a short stretch of spruce just before the highpoint.
Overall, the snowpack is probably 6 inches down low, increasing to a foot near the Nancy Brook crossing, then two to three feet in the vicinity of the ponds, with a breakable frozen granular crust under a trace to a few inches of new powder.

If you need Mt. Nancy in winter, this is probably as good a time as any to get it.  
Name
Name: rocket21 
E-Mail
E-Mail: rocket21@franklinwebpublishing.com 
Date Submitted
Date Submitted: 2015-01-25 
Link
Link: https://www.franklinsites.com/hikephotos 
Bookmark and Share 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.

Copyright 2009-2024, All Rights Reserved