| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Mt. Madison, Mt. Adams, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Valley Way, Osgood Trail, Airline |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Monday, January 2, 2017 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Ice - Blue, Snow - Packed Powder/Loose Granular, Snow - Unpacked Powder, Snow/Ice - Frozen Granular, Snow - Drifts, Snow/Ice - Postholes |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Snowshoes, Light Traction, Traction |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
A few streams still open down low on Valley Way, easily rock hopped even in snowshoes. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
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 | Bugs: |
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 | Lost and Found: |
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 | Comments: |
Valley Way was nicely packed up until the tentsite spur, so it was snowshoes right from the parking lot. (In the morning, it did not look like anyone had been up Airline, in the afternoon it looked like some barebooting might have happened.) Beyond the Valley Way tentsite spur, there was a bit of barebooting, but we saw two young guys putting snowshoes on, so the trail smoothed out all the way to the hut. Osgood up to Madison was deep snow only in the scrub, as soon as the trail got out of the scrub, it was bare ice, styrofoam and a few places with deeper drifts up to the summit. We cached our snowshoes right at the scrub line and used Hillsounds to the summit. Most people were doing the same, using either HIllsounds or crampons to the summit. Heading over to Adams on Airline, the first tenth or two in the scrub was deeper, drifted snow, but beyond that Hillsounds/crampons were the way to go with the same ice/rock/styrofoam combination of tread. The summit cone of Adams was snow and rime covering a lot of the rocks and cairns, making it easier than ascending than in summer as far as the tread, but a little harder on the route finding. Up is the way to go.
Gorgeous day to be above the trees! We saw quite a few groups and a couple of dogs out enjoying their day, too. It was fun to see some familiar faces and finally meet others. Thanks to Claudette, Kevin and Ethan for a such a great day. We earned our chocolate milk.
Ethan might be writing a trail report on the blog this week. |
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 | Name: |
SBanks |
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 | E-Mail: |
summersetbanks@gmail.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2017-01-03 |
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 | Link: |
 https://www.nh48.wordpress.com |
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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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