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Ski
Hiking Trail Conditions Report
Peaks
Peaks Mt. Madison, NH
Trails
Trails: Valley Way, Osgood Trail
Date of Hike
Date of Hike: Saturday, January 23, 2016
Parking/Access Road Notes
Parking/Access Road Notes: Lot was plowed and clear. Thank you whoever does the plowing -- nice job! 
Surface Conditions
Surface Conditions: Snow - Packed Powder/Loose Granular, Snow/Ice - Small Patches 
Recommended Equipment
Recommended Equipment: Snowshoes, Light Traction 
Water Crossing Notes
Water Crossing Notes: Nothing to squawk about. Minimal. 
Trail Maintenance Notes
Trail Maintenance Notes: One small blowdown on lower part of Valley Way to walk over. One blowdown to duck under around mile 2.5 or mile 3.0.  
Dog-Related Notes
Dog-Related Notes: Lots of four footed creatures on trail with owners. All were really nice pups! 
Bugs
Bugs: Only the Boreal White Mountain Horse Fly. They're really big, very fury and give nasty bites! Use a snowshoe to swat at them. ;-) 
Lost and Found
Lost and Found: None to speak of.  
 
Comments
Comments: Great day to be on the mountain! What a gift! Low winds (<= 40mph) and moderate temps in the low teens F. On the way up, we had low clouds, but by the time we reached mile 3 or so, the sky cleared and we had sunny skies. Partly sunny skies to the West and clouds to the South West/East by the time we summit'ed Madison at 2:30pm.
We passed many others on the trail, including two large groups - one group from MIT.

Wore Hillsound microspikes all the way to the summit. Probably should have donned snowshoes at around mile 2.8-3.0 where the trail was steeper, and had loose snow. The additional surface area would have reduced sliding. Only used poles from Madison Springs hut to summit and then down Valley Way to trailhead. Carried ice axe, snowshoes, full crampons, but never used any of those.

Note: Upper Bruin cut-over trail from the Valley Way to Airline was not broken out. We had discussed going over to Airline for a view of King Ravine, but we decided about half way up to pass on it, due to time and personal energy constraints. We were also so busy looking down we didn't even see the trail junction (after the Madison Tent camping area) that we didn't see until we were headed down.

We were the last two footed creatures on the summit at around 2:30pm; as much as we might have liked to stay there, we had only 2 hours of reliable daylight remaining. We took pictures and turned around to get off the rockpile. Although we did see one guy coming up the Valley Way at around 3:30-3:45pm. He appeared to be prepared - didn't ask if he was doing the Presie traverse, grab a couple peaks, or just coming up to see the sunset (which must have been awesome). We saw the orange/pink/purple alpenglow through the treetops in the woods below; it must have been amazing up above!  
Name
Name: wingedfoot 
E-Mail
E-Mail:  
Date Submitted
Date Submitted: 2016-01-25 
Link
Link: https://www.flickr.com/photos/hikesnh 
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.

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