| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Mt. Lafayette, Mt. Truman, Mt. Lincoln, Little Haystack Mountain, Mt. Liberty, Mt. Flume, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Old Bridle Path, Greenleaf Trail, Franconia Ridge Trail, Liberty Spring Trail, bike path |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Friday, December 8, 2023 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Plowed and plenty of room at Old Bridle at 6:30 |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Snow - Trace/Minimal Depth, Snow - Packed Powder/Loose Granular, Snow - Unpacked Powder, Snow - Drifts, Snow/Ice - Postholes |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Snowshoes |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
Crossings on liberty spring were still running but rock hoppable |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
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 | Bugs: |
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 | Lost and Found: |
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 | Comments: |
Two of us started out today. Traction choice to the hut is a toss up, we opted to bareboot all the way, spikes weren’t as important as there was little ice, snow depth was minimal at most times so snowshoes weren’t useful and when snow depth was acceptable the trail had been severely aerated by barebooters and was not worth the snowshoes. HOWEVER, after the hut snowshoes are extremely needed. From the hut to tree line snow depth was not bad but was slightly drifted. Once we got to the Lafayette snowfield snow depth was considerably deeper with drifting covering most of the trail and tracks from the previous day. After Lafayette snow depth became even deeper with drifts 2 feet deep and deeper, this continued all the way across the ridge until about .4 before the summit of little haystack when it became more compacted . We saw many people out on the ridge, about half in snowshoes and half barebooting, those barebooting must have had a difficult crossing, we saw several postholes into spruce traps that were 2 feet deep or deeper, flotation with snowshoes proved to be the best option. The trail from little haystack had only seen one set of tracks from a hiker in front of us. Snow ranged in depth from 8-12 inches with occasional spots that were deeper. This continued until the junction with Liberty spring trail. Once we reached the junction the trail was well packed to the summit of Liberty. We thought this would continue to flume but this was not the case. The hiker in front of us had also gone to flume but it looked as though they were the first of the day and possibly the last couple days. Snow was not very deep, ranging in depth from 2-6 inches, there was a well established trench which made “trail breaking” much easier than earlier in the day. When we reached the summit of flume we saw a hiker heading down Osseo, it looked as though the trail had not been well traveled and would require some more significant snowshoe travel. The trip back over to flume was quick as well as the trip back to the junction with liberty spring. We kept snowshoes on until about .25 miles below the tent site when we opted to bareboot the rest of the way. There was some slick spots so spikes may be best for others. As we did not car spot we walked the bike path back to the car, do yourself a favor and try to find a buddy, the bike path was a never ending slog at the end. |
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 | Name: |
George Somerset & Gemma |
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 | E-Mail: |
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| Date Submitted: |
2023-12-08 |
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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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