| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Mt. Moosilauke, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Ravine Lodge Road, Gorge Brook Trail, Hurricane Trail, Carriage Road |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Sunday, February 28, 2021 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Beware parking on Ravine Lodge road!! - once the lot up top by the gate is full you have to park on the side (left when facing uphill) and if you were just a bit too far to the left today you might get stuck but if you were too far to the right then other cars couldn't get past without risking going into the ditch on the right side. There wasn't a ton of snow on the left side (maybe 3" unpacked at most) but temps in the mid-30's were just enough to make the compact snow slippery and getting grip was very difficult. I helped get a car unstuck this morning and needed a push from another group of hikers to get my car unstuck this afternoon (THANK YOU!), and both cars were Subaru Outbacks so even AWD with traction control wasn't enough. Be super careful! - that being said the rest of the road itself was fine just go slow. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Snow - Packed Powder/Loose Granular, Snow/Ice - Frozen Granular, Snow - Wet/Sticky, Snow/Ice - Postholes |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Snowshoes |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
No major issues |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
No major issues, a few leaners on Hurricane trail but easily maneuvered around |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
Maddie had a great day, no specific hazards for winter-hardy canines - saw a handful of other dogs having a great time |
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 | Bugs: |
Snow fleas a plenty ... |
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 | Lost and Found: |
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 | Comments: |
Adventurous day on Moosie - after the parking debacle and the road walk I was happy to find that Hurricane trail had been previously broken out because I needed it for red lining - no recent signs of use but easy to follow the previous trench and only had to break out 4-8" of top crust with snow underneath over an adequate base. A moose had post holed through a section shortly before the junction with Carriage Road, still fairly easy walking but did slow us down a bit.
Carriage Road was well packed from the skier traffic (saw several skiing down) but more signs of bare booters tearing up the trail higher up especially just above the junction with Snapper trail. Passed several groups starting about half a mile before the junction with Glencliff trail and continuing to the summit, surface definitely became much choppier after the junction until breaking treeline where it turned to wind blown ice/packed snow.
Upper sections of Gorge Brook were badly rototilled after the initial summit descent (also wind blown packed snow) but the conditions improved further down the mountain once back in the trees, overall a quick and uneventful trip down except for some human fecal material we saw not even two feet off trail ... seriously people have some common sense and decency and get further off trail, I don't care how deep you need to sink in the snow. I wore snowshoes car to car, unfortunately very few other people did though - it was warm today (36 degrees when we started!) and anything less really tore up the trail. What I really don't understand though is the dozen or so people I saw struggling in micros that had snowshoes STRAPPED TO THEIR PACKS (facepalm) - please be considerate to other hikers and also make your life easier if you're going to carry them all the way up.
That being said, fantastic views under cloudy skies and we timed our mid-afternoon summit with the forecasted low winds, overall a great day for a winter summit of Moosie - thanks Maddie for a fun day. |
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 | Name: |
Hikes with Maddie |
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 | E-Mail: |
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| Date Submitted: |
2021-02-28 |
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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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