| 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: |
Sunday, January 29, 2023 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Parking lot is plowed, but it is icy as is Ferncroft Road. One may want to use micros to the trails, but I was able to bare boot to/from the trailheads. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Snow - Packed Powder/Loose Granular, Snow - Unpacked Powder, Snow/Ice - Frozen Granular, Snow - Drifts, Snow - Wet/Sticky, Snow/Ice - Postholes |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Snowshoes |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
None that are difficult. The crossing near the bottom of Diceys Mill has two logs across it and I was able to easily, but carefully cross them in snow shoes. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
Wow. I was thinking to myself, as I was crossing Rollins Trail, "I don't believe I've seen a blowdown yet today". And you know what? No blowdowns on the whole loop (or nothing memorable). These trails are in great condition. Thank you trail maintainers. I did SOME dotting of the i's and crossing of the t's (tried to hit the spots and postholes other snowshoers missed. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
Good route for dogs in its present condition. |
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 | Bugs: |
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 | Lost and Found: |
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 | Comments: |
The trails are still soft and a little sticky down low in the afternoon. Snowshoes are called for on this whole loop. Blueberry ledge has some post holing and, reportedly, was butt slid by two folks (who went out and back) after I passed. Hopefully they did not butt slide on the ledges, because it was nice to just snowshoe all the way through them - except for one where I had to dig myself a hand hold in the snow to pull myself up. If I had switched to crampons for this one ledge it would have been easier. Anyhow, BL is still somewhat unconsolidated and really needs some more snowshoes. Also, there is about a 20yd section of the trail, just below Tom Wiggin intersection, with a herd path to the left and a couple of sets of tracks to the right. Please stay right (it's the actual trail). The herd path to the left goes over a fully branched blowdown and some other trees and could collapse.
Rollins Trail has a variety of conditions. For some stretches it is a beautiful trench. For others, it looks like everyone stepped in the same spots (I tried to stagger my steps to pack it down better). And, lastly, in some places it was drifted and there was more drifting going on today. Very, very little post holing along Rollins. Apparently the folks without snow shoes were too tired to try to bag both peaks.
Diceys Mill is well trenched with a few post holes (mostly off to the sides). I filled and packed down a few of them. It was so nice going up and down Passaconaway from the intersection with Rollins without having to tree hug. It's my dream that butt sledders will realize that they turn trails into luge runs. |
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 | Name: |
Tomats |
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 | E-Mail: |
tomats62@yahoo.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2023-01-29 |
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 | Link: |
 https://www.alltrails.com/explore/recording/mount-whiteface-and-passaconaway-for-january-731c83d |
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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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