| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Mt. Jefferson, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Caps Ridge Trail, Jefferson Loop, Gulfside, Star Lake Trail, Buttress Trail, Six Husbands Trail |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Sunday, September 29, 2024 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Arrived at 7:45 to plenty of parking at Jefferson Notch Road lot |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail, Wet Trail, Wet/Slippery Rock, Mud - Minor/Avoidable |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
Both Jefferson Brook and West Branch Peabody crossings were fine. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
No dogs today; rocks are really rough on their pads, please don’t bring them into the Northern Presidential’s, unless they can tolerate the booties. |
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 | Bugs: |
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 | Lost and Found: |
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 | Comments: |
We were met with an undercast early in the morning, with mostly nice dry rock heading up Caps - especially once you were out of the trees. We encountered quite a few trail runners and groups once we hit Gulfside, once again dry rock. Love the Edmund’s work north of Thunderstorm Junction (did that giant cairn get smaller too??), nice footing until Airline. A lot of trail “creep” on BOTH sides of the trail, which is really sad to see considering the trail is very easy to follow here. Madison Hut was open with people milling about, but we skipped the visit. Star Lake is very low, the trail itself also has a lot of creep prior to the scramble section. Buttress trail was lovely, with its bouldery scree fields and ruggedness. We could kiss whoever is responsible for recently brushing this trail out, it made the footbed SUPER visible…thank you!!! We saw only one other person on this trail. Joining up with Six Husbands Trail, we made our way down to the West Branch Peabody river to tie off some unfinished business from earlier in the summer due to high waters. Returning to the climb up Six Husbands, we had too much fun! We met Ken who was a total joy to talk to, and we all swapped adventure stories, the day’s plans, and info on peaks and trails; we really enjoyed this break in the day! FYI Six Husbands is not a trail for anyone with a fear of heights, or scrambles. It is beautiful, and rewarding, to those who can handle said above. Ladders were in great shape, and some scrambles required some more technical maneuvers. We took in every opportunity for views, gazing into Jefferson Ravine, Great Gulf in total awe of it all. We loved the knob and ridge walk after the hard work, and found ourselves back on Gulfside fairly quick. There definitely has been some kind of snipping done on Six Husbands between the knob and the junction of Edmunds Cutoff since mid June, making the footbed more visible (thank you!). Gulfside Trail heading back to Caps was the usual mix of quality Edmund’s trailwork and the AMC hating AT hikers. Steadily making our way down Caps to the car, Ken caught up to us and our adventure swaps began again. Our cars were the last ones when we got back. We could not have asked for a more beautiful day above the trees. |
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 | Name: |
bria, Nordic_gal |
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 | E-Mail: |
breahmaria at gmail dot com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2024-10-01 |
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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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