| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
West Field, Whitewall Mountain, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Avalon Trail, A-Z Trail, FR 192A, bushwhack |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Saturday, February 24, 2024 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Parking along the shoulder of Rt. 302 |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Snow - Packed Powder/Loose Granular, Snow - Unpacked Powder, Snow/Ice - Frozen Granular |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Snowshoes, Light Traction |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
All bridged and/or hoppable |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
A few step overs and duck unders on A-Z heading up to Tom from Crawford Notch. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
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 | Bugs: |
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 | Lost and Found: |
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 | Comments: |
We wore snowshoes car to car because we were bushwhacking and didn’t want to take the time to change traction. Avalon and A-Z up Tom were solidly packed and spikes would work fine. Not sure whether snowshoes would be needed along the ridge heading to Field and Willey. It appeared solidly packed as did the Tom Spur.
Once on the other side of A-Z, we could see the trough and followed it with our snowshoes. Most of the posthole mess from last week has been blown in so the trail is in decent shape. We hung a left on FR 192A, a single track snowmobile trail, and headed to Field-West Peak. We could see a blown in trough at the beginning of the bushwhack, but lost it pretty quickly. Saw it again near the summit. The woods were wide open bushwhacking. The snow was supportive with a few inches of soft snow on top. Easy going bushwhack…no views. The summit canister was frozen shut or over-tightened.
We followed our tracks back to the snowmobile trail and continued on it for another 0.8. No visible tracks for the first 1/2 mile. Again, the snow was supportive with a few inches of new snow. A snowmobile had come in the other side of the loop a little and turned around, so we had a few tenths of nicely packed trail. We set off into the woods headed to Whitewall. The beginning was a little pokey, but then we got into the beautiful birch glades. Wow! Nearer to the summit was also a little pokey here and there, but nothing too thick. The snow on this bushwhack was much deeper and less supportive (maybe because the birch glades end up with deeper snow), so more energy was expended for this portion of the day. Lots of views from different spots around the summit. The canister opened easily. Pens were frozen, one pencil is broken, the other needs sharpening. I signed the register, but pretty illegibly. |
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 | Name: |
WanderingSoules |
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 | E-Mail: |
soules@writeme.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2024-02-24 |
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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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