Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
| Peaks |
Mt. Whiteface, Mt. Passaconaway, NH |
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| Trails: |
Blueberry Ledge Trail, Rollins Trail, Dicey's Mill Trail |
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| Date of Hike: |
Friday, January 4, 2019 |
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| Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Lots of parking at Ferncroft. The lot is plowed but it's icy underneath the snow. |
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| Surface Conditions: |
Snow - Packed Powder/Loose Granular, Ice - Breakable Crust, Snow - Unpacked Powder, Standing/Running Water on Trail, Snow - Drifts |
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| Recommended Equipment: |
Snowshoes, Light Traction, Traction |
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| Water Crossing Notes: |
The one major water crossing was rock-hoppable |
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| Trail Maintenance Notes: |
Trails are in good shape. There are a few blowdowns on Rollins & Dicey Mills that are easily negotiated. It was hard to follow the unbroken Rollins trail at times because there aren't any trail blazes. |
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| Dog-Related Notes: |
Not recommended today |
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| Bugs: |
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| Lost and Found: |
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| Comments: |
This was a very challenging day. We barebooted from the car to the trailhead then switched to snowshoes. Down low, the trail was broken out by a barebooter and 2 snowshoers. The snowshoers turned back after a mile or so. We switched to Hillsounds at the ledges. The ledges were very difficult. Crampons and an ice ax would not have been overkill. Between the ledges the snow drifts were 6-12", but too short an interval to keep changing from snowshoes to traction and back again. Please note that we were following a set of prints that deviated from the trail at the 4th or 5th (not sure, sorry) ledge and ended up really struggling up the two back-to-back ledges. The correct way was to bear right and around the rocks, thereby avoiding the killer ledges. The solo tracks that we were following ended at the last ledge/viewpoint. Rollins was unbroken and the drifts were anywhere from 6-12" over an icy, hard crust which we broke with each step. Today was the first time that I considered Rollins as a somewhat scary trail. There were several places where it was quite dicey (pun intended) ;) to negotiate the trail because it was very narrow, inclining downhill & hard to find purchase for our snowshoes. Additionally, there were occasions where we had to refer to our GPS for trail confirmation. Snowy and I were relieved to find Dicey Mills trail completely snowshoe-broken out up to the summit of Passaconaway and back to the parking lot. There was some running water on the trails between the Rollins junction & summit of Passaconaway. |
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| Name: |
Snow Turtle |
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| E-Mail: |
ewberry1@aol.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2019-01-04 |
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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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