| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Mt. Hale, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Zealand Road, Hale Brook Trail |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Friday, April 5, 2024 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Parked at the large, paved winter lot for Zealand Rd 0.2 miles from Zealand Rd. The lot was plowed this morning, plowed again upon our return so that the pavement is showing. Kiosk at end of lot, no privy. Free. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Snow - Unpacked Powder, Snow - Spring Snow |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Snowshoes |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
There are not significant water crossings on this trail. The water corssings are open and require the hiker to go down to the crossing then scramble up the other side. This was an energy zapping endeavor. But the crossings are small. |
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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: |
Route:
Zealand Rd > Hale Brook Trail > back the way we came.
Zealand Rd: not broken. 4-5 inches of new, heavy snow. We wore snowshoes out and back. There was a set of ski tracks and boot prints on the way back.
Hale Brook Trail: well blazed in yellow for winter travel. Completely unbroken. I was prepared for a sufferfest, but the snow was not too deep. 9-12 inches due to the compaction from wet conditions. I broke trail in front of my friend so that she could summit. Thus, our two prints are the only tracks to the summit. The worst part of trail was the side hilling just before the switchbacks. We kept sliding down. Over and over again we'd take a step, slide, lift the snowshoe up (coated in heavy wet snow), place it down again, and slide again. This smaller segment took quite a long time to negotiate both ascending and descending. We tramped down the trail as best we could here but there is ice or rock ledges under the snow that cause the hiker to slide frequently. Above the sidehilling the switchbacks were a bit tricky trying to break trail. I had a hard time locating the trough under my snowshoes and kept going into shin deep, sometimes knee deep, snow. But we broke through it so you should have no issue. I tried as best as possible to stay on the trench as the snow was considerably more shallow. The summit carin is completely covered in snow. We were snowed on all day, but the snow did not fill in our tracks. It did make all of our gear that was not in dry bags very wet. I tried to knock snow off as many branches near the trail as possible to make it easier for the next person passing through. There is still quite a bit of snow on the trees and this will fall into the trail at some point unless by some miracle the snow just melts off the trees.
Lend-a-Hand and the Fire Warden' trail were completely untouched.
Spikes will not work on trail. The snow is not consolidated, nor are we having freezing conditions (thankfully!) that would set up a nice snow sidewalk. Snowshoes are the best footwear until we really get some melting.
Best of luck this weekend! At least the snow is far more manageable than the prior storm. |
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 | Name: |
Remington34 |
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 | E-Mail: |
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| Date Submitted: |
2024-04-05 |
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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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