| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Mt. Flume, Mt. Liberty, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Lincoln Woods Trail, Osseo Trail, Franconia Ridge Trail |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Sunday, February 26, 2017 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Ice - Blue, Snow/Ice - Frozen Granular, Snow - Drifts, Snow - Spring Snow, Snow/Ice - Postholes |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Snowshoes, Traction |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
None of significance. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
Cut out three blowdowns, but more remain. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
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 | Bugs: |
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 | Lost and Found: |
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 | Comments: |
Lincoln Woods Trail still has full coverage, starting at the ranger station and heading over the bridge. Barebootable with care, though some may prefer a little traction as it's very firm and slippery.
Osseo Trail had seen very little use recently, but a dedicated barebooter installed hundreds of postholes, many three feet deep. Some other folks went part way up the trail at some point today, but turned around, perhaps due to the amount of postholing they were doing.
The flats had about a foot of snowpack with a weird frozen broken ice sheet surface which was best snowshoed. The footbed was not firm enough to boot, and we were occasionally punching through with snowshoes on. The woods are firm enough to snowshoe without any issue.
Snowpack increases significantly as the trail starts to climb. The wooden steps on either side of the overlook are completely filled in. We were able to descend with Tubbs Flex Alps with care, but MSRs may not get enough purchase (a fall could have bad results). Microspikes would not be adequate to descend.
The flats about the wooden steps had 3-4 feet of hardpack snow with a dusting of fresh powder that drifted in a few places.
The rock outcropping portion just before Flume was a little dicey, as one of the dips had ice at the bottom (no fall zone, as it empties into the slide) and steep hardpack walls of snow on either side. Careful footwork with the Flex Alps worked, but Microspikes would be overmatched. Flume ledges were windy.
A good 3 to 4 feet of hardpack between the peaks with a little bit of fresh powder drifting. Most folks were on Microspikes and thus creating more postholes (think of the math...if a hiker only postholes 5 times in each direction, then 10 hikers will create 100 new postholes). Very little wind on Liberty.
Weather was pretty good with partly sunny skies and reasonable temperatures. |
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 | Name: |
rocket21 |
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 | E-Mail: |
rocket21@franklinwebpublishing.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2017-02-26 |
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 | Link: |
 https://www.franklinsites.com/hikephotos |
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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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