| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Mt. Lafayette, Mt. Truman, Mt. Lincoln, Little Haystack Mountain, Mt. Liberty, Mt. Flume, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Old Bridle Path, Greenleaf Trail, Franconia Ridge Trail, Osseo Trail, Lincoln Woods Trail |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Sunday, October 30, 2022 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Plenty of parking at Lincoln Woods at 6:45am in the morning. They have an automated machine now in addition to the iron ranger for pay options. $5/day USFS fee area. The old Bridle Path lot had plenty of spots available at 7:15am in the morning. Both lots had plenty of room at 3:30pm when we returned. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail, Ice - Black, Wet Trail, Wet/Slippery Rock, Mud - Minor/Avoidable, Mud - Significant, Leaves - Significant/Slippery |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
Surprisingly, there really aren’t any on this route! |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
Old Bridle Path may have the occasional yellow blaze but it’s trivial to follow since it’s so well traveled. I’m not sure this section of Greenleaf Trail is really blazed but if it is, I think it’s in yellow and just where it’s below tree line. Above tree line, it’s marked with cairns. Not too hard to follow above tree line. Franconia Ridge Trail is blazed in white as it coincides with the AT all the way to Liberty Springs Trail. It’s usually pretty easy to follow along the ridge. From Liberty Springs Trail on its blazed in blue occasionally. Osseo Trail has some yellow blaze on it. Not hard to follow other than maybe down low in the hardwood section with all the leaves down right now. The only blowdowns I specifically recall were on Osseo Trail in the hardwoods but not too far below the softwoods. Probably a few blowdowns elsewhere like along the ridge as well that I don’t remember. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
Not a lot of water but many strong hiking dogs could do this hike. May need some help with the scrambling. |
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 | Bugs: |
None |
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 | Lost and Found: |
Found a light, OR mitten on Old Bridle Path. Feel free to email me if it’s yours. |
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 | Comments: |
Day 364, Peaks 362-365. I’m done with one day to spare :) Had planned on redoing some smaller NH500 peaks on the list solo yesterday but by the grace of God a friend I hadn’t seen in some time messaged me and asked if I wanted to hike today so I got my final 4 in helping him with his 2nd grid. Thanks for the company Al. It was much appreciated!
There was more ice than I thought there’d be (I expected zero ice given overnight temps) but it was only on the cone of Lafayette and was easily avoidable. Definitely made the right call not carrying the spikes. A bit of frost in a random spot or two like between little Haystack and Liberty. It was…odd. Some spots of deep, soft mud. While any scrambling on this route is pretty easy, I did feel like a lot of the rock was rather smooth and not very grippy. I guess that’s what happens when thousands upon thousands of boots go over you every year. Far fewer people seen than what I expected for such a gorgeous day in the White Mtns
Gaia lied by about 1+mi short and said we hiked about 13.5mi with 4100ft of gain which is also a great underestimation. Took us just over 8hrs to complete. 1 more day + 0 more peaks to go = DONE |
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 | Name: |
Liam Cooney |
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 | E-Mail: |
liamcooney96@gmail.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2022-10-31 |
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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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