| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Long Mountain - West Peak (West Long Mountain), NH |
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 | Trails: |
Summer Club Road, Lamphere Trail, logging roads, bushwhack |
|
 | Date of Hike: |
Tuesday, January 30, 2024 |
|
 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Plowed; enough room for 4-6 cars if parked diligently |
|
 | Surface Conditions: |
Snow - Packed Powder/Loose Granular, Snow - Unpacked Powder, Snow/Ice - Frozen Granular, Snow - Drifts, Snow/Ice - Postholes |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Snowshoes |
|
 | Water Crossing Notes: |
Any on marked trails/snomo corridors are bridged, otherwise easily stepped over. The somewhat significant crossing of Rowells Brook was fully snow bridged and supportive, with a surprising amount of water flowing beneath. |
|
 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
Lamphere Trail has many downed trees to step over, a simple folding saw should take care of all - if I remember correctly, that was not my objective today. |
|
 | Dog-Related Notes: |
I would recommend against - simply due to the fact I saw, and startled a moose. Human interaction is enough, we do not need off leash dogs pestering them as well. |
|
 | Bugs: |
None |
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 | Lost and Found: |
None |
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|
 | Comments: |
From the trailhead, bareboots atop the groomed snowmobile road, as it was nearly all ice. Once off groomed trail it was snowshoes all the way. 1200'-2500' was nice to trek: overall mostly supportive snowpack, probably 15-18" at most locations. However, above 2500' or so, the snowpack was loose and unconsolidated on top of the month or so old ice crust, making for some really treacherous, tough climbing.
Following the Lamphere Trail through SPNHF land, snowloaded fir boughs began draping over the trail as it narrows. Breaking trail up to the Cohos Trail/Bald Mtn Notch trail was rather efficient. From there I crossed Rowell Brook and began bushwhacking N/NW toward a set of roads which show up on most topo maps. Recalling these as wider corridors in summertime, I found the old road at a point where it narrowed, sleds would never get through the thick balsam. This was a regular highway of frozen moose tracks and bedding sites.
Noticing the tracks were fresh, likely that morning, I made some noise, eventually seeing the medium-sized female as we startled each other. It ventured away, down the corridor I had planned on taking. Quick change of plans, I took the left (west) branch briefly to skirt around the moose, before cutting sharply north, striking directly at the slope of West Peak. Progress was painfully slow, deep snow slid right off the old crusty layer which was anywhere from 15-24" beneath the fresher powder.
Hitting a patch of blowdown, I found some chest-deep spruce traps, which encouraged me to backtrack, and find a more pleasant diversion around. Around the blowdown patch, the woods were unsurprisingly thick with twiggy, interwoven branches which were mostly frozen together, and in place from the gusting snow from the previous storm.
Eventually cresting onto the height of land, I roamed the summit for about 10-15 minutes before my jacket turned into a block of ice. The tiny canister was likely completely covered in a healthy slathering of refrozen, wet slush. Content with my summit stay, and absolutely turned off from any attempt at continuing onward to the main peak, I gazed, just beneath the cloud ceiling, southward. What a bizarre, lonely feeling up on that beautiful summit.
Following several swigs of warm tea, I followed my ascending tracks back down the steep face, sturdy spruce trunks aided in reducing my overall glissade rate - one snowshoe step could easily careen 6' or more downslope, while testing the balance, this got me back down the mountain in literally under a fifth of the time it took to ascend.
Not seeing the moose on my return trek, I made sure to sing loudly as avoid startling again. The sun started to peek through the clouds as I descended the Lamphere Trail, by this time of the morning the surface snow even began restructuring into a soggy layer, thankfully my trek was nearly done.
The call to change intended plans based on found conditions was the best decision I made all day.
For those who would like a more in-depth write up, I have included a link recounting my adventure with some color photography added in.
Enjoy - Happy climbing!
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|
 | Name: |
Erik Hamilton |
|
 | E-Mail: |
ehamilton9481@gmail.com |
|
| Date Submitted: |
2024-01-31 |
|
 | Link: |
 https://www.atalkinthewoods.com/trail-reports/west-long |
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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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