| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
None, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Mt. Rowe Trail, Yellow Trail, Benjamin Weeks Trail, North Spur, GES Nature Trail |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Sunday, January 29, 2023 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
No issues, large plowed lot at the Gilford Elementary School, plenty of space |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Snow - Packed Powder/Loose Granular, Ice - Breakable Crust, Snow - Unpacked Powder, Standing/Running Water on Trail, Snow/Ice - Frozen Granular, Mud - Minor/Avoidable, Snow/Ice - Postholes |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Snowshoes, Light Traction |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
open, but either easy step overs or rock hopped |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
several dogs, most well controlled, all seemed happy to be out. |
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 | Bugs: |
none |
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 | Lost and Found: |
one black liner glove on top of the sign at the upper Benjamin Weeks / Blue trail junction; it was frozen to the sign so I'm assuming it had been there awhile. |
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 | Comments: |
I never see many trip reports for the Belknaps here so thought I'd share for those who may be heading that way. Today was a day for trail tracing for me, no peaks were intended for this trip although Rowe and Gunstock were close enough to do either or both. I just decided not to. Trail conditions varied on each trail so I will go through them separately. Trail conditions were tough in spots, but thankfully the clouds kept the temps down and the snow base pretty firm overall. It was a good day to be out and fun to explore some new trails. My route was a bit of a roundabout up and down, up and down but I managed to hike all the trails on that side of Mt Rowe so it worked. I started from the school lot up on Blue/ Mt Rowe, across on Orange / No Spur Trail, descend on Purple /Benjamin Weeks Trail to the lower Blue / Mt Rowe junction, back up on Yellow Trail, back down on Blue / Mt Rowe to the lower BW Trail junction, and then continued down the lower loop portion of BW Trail back to Blue/Mt Rowe Trail, finally finishing off w/ the GES Nature Trail back to the school parking lot.
Mt Rowe / Blue trail - mostly packed, trail surface was firm in the AM and was ok for spikes. It was firm enough that I did not posthole or even leave any divots! There are some minor post-holes here and there from the last few days, but nothing crazy and easily avoided. Looks like some snow / ice had fallen from trees overnite creating some areas of loose snow in the the trail bed. Track was narrow in spots, barely wide enough for snowshoes that I used later in the day descending this trail. As long as temps stay cold, spikes should be ok...but as soon as temps warm, snowshoes would be more useful to keep the trail bed in good shape. Saw two other hikers in snowshoes early on, but everyone else had spikes.
Yellow Trail - pretty much the same as the Blue trail, although maybe a little bit more choppy up high. I went up this trail late morning. I used my snowshoes because they were on already and for the televators. This trail is steep in the beginning section, mellows out more toward the top. Most folks I saw on this trail had just spikes.
Benjamin Weeks Trail - I wore snowshoes on this trail for the whole trail and they are very much needed still. The upper part of this trail from the Blue Trail junction up to the ski area / Ridge Trail was in good shape - a nice snowshoe track w/ a firm base. From the upper Blue trail junction going in the other direction down to the bottom however was a much different story and it was a real mess. This section has seen very little use since the recent storms and no snowshoes have been on it at all (until mine). It looked like there had been maybe 1-2 bare booters and a skier - that's it. Needless to say it was slow going all the way down with lots of careful stepping and some ankle rolling. I did the best I could to stomp it out and widen the trail to put down some kind of a track, but it definitely needs a lot more snowshoe love to break the 2-3" crust with loose snow underneath. This trail is wet in sections with a lot of small, open, easy step overs and a few larger stream crossings, all were manageable.
North Spur Trail - A little bit of a track, mostly firm base, snowshoes or spikes would be sufficient if temps stay cool. I had my spikes on for this one and I did not sink or leave divots at all. This trail hasn't seen a lot of use, but enough to make it easily travelled.
GES Nature Trail - The first part of this trail where it comes off of the Blue / Mt Rowe trail is pretty chewed up and choppy. The second part, once over the little stream crossing, has had some snowshoes on it and was much easier travelled, with a good track and a nice base. Once you go over the bridge closer to the school however, trail gets pretty chopped up again. The area is pretty shaded though under some big pine trees, so the base is very firm. I had snowshoes on here, but spikes would work fine if temps stay cool. Surface is just very uneven.
I did venture out a short stretch on the Ridge Trail at the top of the Blue Trail. It was frozen and very much postholed w/ deep holes. I went maybe a half mile and turned around back to the Blue trail, so I don't know if the whole thing was like this or not..but just thought I'd throw it in here for what it's worth. |
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 | Name: |
Red |
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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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