| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
North Moat Mountain, West Moat Mountain, Middle Moat Mountain, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Moat Mountain Trail, bushwhack, Red Ridge Trail |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Wednesday, February 21, 2024 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Diana's Baths is plowed but icy. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Ice - Blue, Ice - Breakable Crust, Snow - Unpacked Powder, Snow - Drifts, Snow/Ice - Postholes |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Snowshoes, Light Traction |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
None of the significant crossings are bridge, but low water levels made most of them easy via stones. The first one I walked over a tree on the way over, and rocked hopped on the way back. Someone with a shorter stride might have difficulty with the rock hop. |
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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: |
The trail up to the Attitash Trail is well packed, with the early part having a fair bit of ice. Attitash trail isn't broken out, though it looked like someone had snowshoed up it on the crust. From where the Attitash trail branches off the Moat Mountain trail narrows and gets a bit rough due to bear booters, but no post holes. I wore spikes till the steep section near North Moat, though I really should have switched to snowshoes earlier for the televators. I switched back to spikes on the climb off of North Moat due to one steep rock section. The section between North and Middle Moat was full of post holes.
The bushwhack to West Moat was pretty straight forward, though a few bad decisions on my part did add to the effort. Snowshoes are a must. Most of my steps stayed on top of the crust, but there are plenty of young spruce, and thus spruce traps to dip into. I entered the woods just North of the low point between North Moat and the Red Ridge trail. I just picked a point where it looked easiest to get through the young spruce. The key at this point is to go cross slope to the NW (i.e. same elevation) until you can drop onto the relatively flat area shown on the map. Then just stick to the ridge all the way out. On the way back I headed NNW off the summit to avoid the steep sections I faced coming up to the peak. If you don't have very aggressive snowshoes you might want to come up this way.
The Red Ridge trail is a mess. The upper, mostly wind swept sections, is find though slightly hard to follow. Then a very thin and deep trough develops, that increases the risk of an ankle twist. The situation was made worse by wind blow snow filling some of the ditch. I ended up walking besides the rut when that was possible, like the snowshoer that preceded me. These conditions persisted till the Red Ridge Link. At this point the trail turned into a barebooter trail with all its roughness, at which point I switched back to spikes. |
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 | Name: |
Gnarly |
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 | E-Mail: |
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| Date Submitted: |
2024-02-22 |
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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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