| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Zealand Mountain, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Zealand Road, Zealand Trail, Twinway, Zealand Spur |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Saturday, January 28, 2023 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Lots of free parking in winter lot across from the snowmobile trail; icy in spots. Some rigs were unloading snow machines. Took the snowmobile trail at the orange sign directly across from parking lot .2 to Zealand Road watching out for riders (none yet). |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Snow - Packed Powder/Loose Granular, Snow - Unpacked Powder, Snow - Drifts |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Snowshoes, Light Traction |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
Above the hut crossings were well bridged. Along Zealand trail partially bridged crossings, hoppable and sufficient to keep feet dry.Crossed street and took snomo trail to Zealand road and lucky to beat the b |
|
 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
Immaculate trail conditions. Along Twinway before summit 3 or 4 small blowdowns easy to go over and one duck under. At least 2 are only a few inches in diameter. There was a trippy one about .2 above the ladder kind of buried in snow and the others were not far further up the trail. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
Just saw 1, may have been going to Hale. |
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 | Bugs: |
none |
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 | Lost and Found: |
There was an object that looked like a fancy fire starter about .2 on Twinway in the trail after Zeacliff, I stuck it on top of a snow covered tiny tree there, tried to retrieve on way out but may have been gone or wrong tree. |
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|
 | Comments: |
I wanted to write this report to show trail conditions before today's storm and also to thank Raggle for their attempt as I believe this and another hiker I saw coming down off Zealand greatly contributed to making the Twinway section somewat packed now. I started in snowshoes for Zealand Road and Zealand Trail which were packed but could be easily punched in, kept them on until halfway descending Twinway from below Zeacliff. I took them off for descending the ladder; they were good getting up it sidestepping. Unfortunately after putting them back on, one kept slipping off and after a half dozen attempts to fix it, I put them away in favor of Hillsound trail Crampons at midway of descent after Zeacliff junction. There was no way to get through Twinway without them. Twinway was broken out but not packed/consolidated. By my return, it was getting better. There are a couple sections prone to drifts and they were a bit postholed I think by snowshoes. Zealand Spur was quite well packed and I could see some tracks coming from/going towards Guyot but definitely not packed down. Other side trails with fresh tracks but not looking packed were A-Z toward Tom and Ethan Pond Trail; I spaced it and didn't look at Lend-A-hand Trail...oops. It was great to see a couple dozen students with chaperones in snowshoes descending Twinway from Zeacliff headed back to the hut. That section is now fairly solid. They were high energy! I came out by headlamp and sat on the hut bench drinking ovaltine and eating cookies. Zealand Trail and Zealand Road were quite consolidated so the Hillsounds did not wreck things. |
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 | Name: |
4K |
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 | E-Mail: |
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| Date Submitted: |
2023-01-29 |
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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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