| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Mt. Lafayette, Mt. Truman, Mt. Lincoln, Little Haystack Mountain, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Old Bridle Path, Greenleaf Trail, Franconia Ridge Trail, Falling Waters Trail |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Saturday, February 25, 2023 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
South side of northbound lot was plowed, but north side of same lot only had a few passes. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Ice - Blue, Snow - Packed Powder/Loose Granular, Snow - Unpacked Powder, Snow/Ice - Frozen Granular, Snow - Drifts, Snow/Ice - Postholes |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Snowshoes, Traction |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
One open on Falling Waters; all others snow bridged. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
A few blowdowns on OBP and FWT. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
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 | Bugs: |
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 | Lost and Found: |
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 | Comments: |
Saw a treeline window and took it. Snowshoes the entire loop.
New snow ranged from 4" down low to 8" up high with drifts up to 3 feet. A trace to a couple of inches overnight in places.
Old Bridle Path was bony up to the Agonies, but closer to normal winter snowpack thereafter. A few of the steeps were iffy due to a buttslider taking out the new snow yesterday and leaving blue ice/hardpack. Okay to ascend with mountain snowshoes. Multi-foot drifts in a few places above 4,000 feet. Odd yellowish/brownish layer within the powder in many places above 4,000 feet today; makes one wonder after the recent stories from Ohio and mid-Atlantic states.
Two Microspikers chewed up the trail and walked through the revegetation zones (literally postholed inches from the signs and ropes at the hut). Encountered two who didn't know the weather forecast and thought their Microspikes were crampons. Hope they made it out safely.
Greenleaf Trail had some major drifting in places below and above treeline. Looked really bony from the hut, but much of the footbed had ice and/or powder. The Microspikers trampled off trail in many places, leaving broken alpine vegetation in their wake. They completely cut off the no-fall-zone turn, which is very iffy right now. Mountain snowshoes were enough to ascend (may want crampons to descend; Microspikes would be woefully outmatched; ice axe might not be a bad idea either for that one stretch), but the lower portion had blue ice under the powder and the upper part was more hardpack. Quite a few places where the footbed has drifted in enough that the scree walls are buried and cairns aren't apparent.
The flats and northern faces on the ridge are holding powder (some deep drifts) and blue ice. Bony coming off the south side of Lincoln and a few other brief south-facing stretches, but otherwise mountain snowshoes were the way to go. I'd probably opt for crampons over Microspikes otherwise, but the active drifting threw the balance toward snowshoes.
Plenty of powder descending Falling Waters Trail. Some unprepared hikers were Microspiking it (looked like they had packed for October; also looked like they had a hard time with some icy areas near the falls), while a few others on mountain snowshoes were sailing right along. I was able to descend the icy areas on mountain snowshoes without much issue, but wouldn't feel to confident in a couple of short icy stretches with only Microspikes.
Chilly morning with temperatures in the single digits at the trailhead at 8AM, climbing to 11 degrees early in the afternoon. Blue skies quickly gave way to full overcast. Made it across the ridge in the clear with minimal wind, encountering no other hikers (amazing for a vacation week Saturday), but clouds/snow showers started to engulf the summits a little afternoon. Hope the unprepared hikers turned back at treeline; decreasing visibility with increasing winds and non-obvious navigation due to snow/icepack is not a place to be messing around with Microspikes. |
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 | Name: |
rocket21 |
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 | E-Mail: |
rocket21@franklinwebpublishing.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2023-02-25 |
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 | Link: |
 https://www.franklinsites.com/hikephotos/ |
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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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