| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Mt. Madison, Mt. Adams, Tama Falls, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Valley Way, Gulfside, Airline, Lowes Path, Fallsway |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Sunday, October 15, 2023 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Only about half a dozen cares upon starting at 0500, about 20 on return |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail, Ice - Black, Snow - Trace/Minimal Depth, Wet Trail, Wet/Slippery Rock, Mud - Minor/Avoidable, Leaves - Significant/Slippery |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Light Traction |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
No issues on the pair of unnamed drainages down low |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
Nothing of note. Down low there is still a large amount of green and yellow (more green than yellow) birch leaves on the juvenile stuff. Plenty of leaves on the trail, but still more to come down |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
Dogs might have some issues in footing until winter fully arrives |
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 | Bugs: |
All gone |
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 | Lost and Found: |
Nothing was found, nothing was lost |
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 | Comments: |
Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends, we're so glad you could attend, come outside, come outside! Back to reports since the Snow Miser is coming back to Southtown...
A FINE day above the forest was had. Winter has begun its slow arrival at the higher elevations. Our original plan was to go for a full Presi today but it quickly was apparent that was not going to happen. We had no issues to treeline at the hut, still insulated well down there so no ice or anything, aside from wet leaves and mud. Standard fall stuff. We actually wore t shirts to this point. At the hut, to Madison, rime ice begins to enter on the trees and rocks. With the summits being socked in the last few days, there has been a substantial rime ice build up on the rocks. The footing was poor as most of the rocks to the summit ridge where basically coated in black ice and snow/graupel. Very tricky and tedious footing. At some points we where on all fours to get ourselves up. Couple that with a decent ~15-20 mph steady wind and it made footing fun. There is not enough to warrant microspikes, in my opinion, but if it continues to build there will be soon. Many photos even from Saturday on this pair show a very different experience. We had no issues in the col up to the Airline Junction at the top of King's Ravine, but the rice ice/spotty snow appeared again. Winds where uncharacteristically out of the Northwest today providing a unique challenge as well. We had marginally better footing but still the same tricky stuff to the summit. We opted to at least head down to Thunderstorm Junction to make sure our plan to call it was the correct one, of which it was. We where all covered head to toe in ice from the light mist all day. It had taken us far longer than it should have/normally takes to get to that point so we opted to keep a good day a good day. Much of the same black ice/rime ice snow conditions back to treeline on Valley. Stopped at Tama Falls on the Fallsway on the way out, always a great treat! |
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 | Name: |
The Teal Goat, Honey_Badger, Lil Squirt, Pretzel |
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 | E-Mail: |
sea2thebiscuit@yahoo.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2023-10-15 |
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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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