| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Lakes of the Clouds Hut, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Dry River Trail, Ammonoosuc Ravine Trail |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Saturday, August 19, 2023 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
One car parked along Route 302 when I got there just after 7 AM Saturday morning. Four cars there when I was dropped off there early Sunday afternoon. Probably room for a few more on the side of the road. Also, Ammonoosuc Ravine trailhead was completely full at 1 PM Sunday afternoon. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail, Wet Trail, Wet/Slippery Rock, Standing/Running Water on Trail, Mud - Significant |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
Plenty. Most were small, but I used my waders three times: 1) Isolation Brook, 2) Dry River (5.6 miles from the bottom of the trail), and 3) the major tributary just past Dry River Shelter #3. The crossing of Dry River was the biggest of the three, but I carefully found a way across where the water never got much above my knees. In addition, large sections of the trail, particularly in the upper half and on the headwall, had unavoidable standing and running water and mud. Parts of the headwall were climbing up a waterfall. Your feet (and possibly more) are going to get wet. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
Plenty of blowdowns up and down the trail, which should be expected since this is a Wilderness area. However, there was also plenty of evidence of more blowdowns having been cut. The few signs on the trail are all in place. Huge amounts of standing and running water and mud all along the trail - it did rain the day before this hike, but many of those areas look like the water and mud are always there. Route-finding was generally not an issue for me - hikers with extensive experience on Wilderness trails shouldn't have too many problems. One area where it's easy to go the wrong way, though, is near the top of the headwall in scrub - the trail moves left across a slope and crosses a brook, and there's a path straight ahead, but it peters out almost immediately. There's a cairn to the right and just above the path, and the trail (which here is very brushy and overgrown) ascends just to the right of the cairn. The trail could also be marked better above treeline, where not all the cairns are actually right next to the trail. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
Dry River Trail is not a dog-friendly trail - they could have a lot of trouble on the open washout areas, and dogs would've needed to be carried across the crossing of Dry River. The headwall also has a couple of scrambles that might be tough for dogs. |
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 | Bugs: |
To my relief, virtually none. |
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 | Lost and Found: |
Nothing tangible. |
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 | Comments: |
This was intended to be the first day of a 3-day trip to redline all the trails in the Dry River Valley. In the end, thanks to the weather, I only got Dry River Trail, but that's the toughest one, so I can't be too disappointed.
Started up Dry River Trail just after 7 AM Saturday morning, knowing that dinner at Lakes of the Clouds Hut is served at 6 PM and figuring it couldn't possibly take me more than 11 hours to hike 9.6 miles. The trail was rough, rocky, and muddy in many places, with lots of small ups and downs, but nothing was too bad initially. The steep, loose, gravelly washout at 3.2 miles was one of my biggest concerns, so I planned my route and then took it very carefully and made it across without incident. The rest of the trail up to the crossing of Dry River was more of the same, but nothing horrible. Dry River Falls was roaring. The crossing of Dry River was somewhat sketchy, but waders allowed me to cross it successfully. Having longer legs and a good sense of balance would also help. After the crossing is where the trail started getting even wetter and muddier than it had been already, with a lot of the mud looking deep and permanent. The shelter was nice, and the sun came out briefly there, but that would prove to be just a tease. For a bit above the shelter, the trail is a heavily eroded streambed with water flowing down it, but it got a little better for a bit above that. Then there were more long sections of unavoidable standing water and mud. As I was approaching Oakes Gulf, it started to rain lightly (or perhaps it had been raining in that location the whole time and I had just hiked into it). On the approach to the headwall and then up the headwall, all the little drainages were flowing heavily, including some that were flowing down the trail. Keeping feet dry soon became impossible. This section is also very rough, with a lot of slippery rocks, so my pace slowed considerably going up the headwall. There are a couple of rock scrambles, but all could be negotiated carefully with patience, even with the wet rocks. Even higher up on the headwall, as the trail breaks out of the scrub, every little drainage was flowing well and the trail was still extremely wet. As the trail finally rises above the headwall and goes out to the right to avoid the area with the endangered plant species, it becomes just above-treeline rock hopping. Normally this section would've been fairly easy, but today the rocks were all extremely slippery, and major care needed to be exercised at all times. In addition, the trail isn't always marked clearly and visibility was almost zero, so a couple of times I had to check my Alltrails to make sure I was still on the trail. Finally, about 8 hours and 15 minutes after starting the hike, I reached Lakes of the Clouds Hut.
Everyone at the hut was great, and the food served by the hut croo was excellent. Unfortunately, the weather didn't improve even by the next morning, so rather than continue my trip (which would've involved a long, exposed ridge walk past Monroe and Eisenhower), I headed down Ammonoosuc Ravine Trail with a group of people who had very nicely agreed to drive me back to my car. This descent was extremely slow due to the steep, slippery ledges (it probably took us 2 hours to descend from the hut to Gem Pool), but it was the safer option due to the high winds and extremely low visibility on the ridge.
Moral of the story: My plan was good, but the weather spoiled it, and on the Presidentials you have to respect the weather. Dry River Trail was crazy, but I'm glad I got it done. Didn't see anyone else on the entire Dry River Trail until I was 1/10 mile from the hut. In contrast, Ammonoosuc Ravine Trail the next morning had long lines of hikers in both directions despite the weather. |
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 | Name: |
GN |
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 | E-Mail: |
ghnaigles@gmail.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2023-08-20 |
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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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