| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Boott Spur, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Tuckerman Ravine Trail, Boott Spur Trail, Davis Path, Glen Boulder Trail, Direttissima |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Saturday, January 25, 2025 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Plenty of space at Pinkham. Glen Ellis lot is still closed. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Snow - Trace/Minimal Depth, Ice - Blue, Snow - Packed Powder/Loose Granular, Snow - Unpacked Powder, Snow/Ice - Frozen Granular, Snow - Drifts, Snow/Ice - Small Patches |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Snowshoes, Light Traction, Traction, Ice Axe |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
Some blowdowns on Glen Boulder trail (well above the boulder) require bypassing and have significant spruce trap potential — be sure to take a friend (or two) who will happily shovel you out. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
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 | Bugs: |
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 | Lost and Found: |
One lost microspike in a waist-deep combination post hole-spruce trap |
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 | Comments: |
Our group of 10 barebooted from Pinkham up TRT to the junction with Boott Spur, then switched to snowshoes. Snowshoes stayed on until we emerged above treeline on Boott Spur. We saw a facebook report that Boott Spur had been broken earlier in the week, but there had been a bit of fresh snow and a significant drifting in parts since then. The snow was quite deep and unconsolidated in parts, with no visible trail and 1-2ft snowshoe plunging. The ladder on Boott Spur was snowcovered and uneventful (some people removed snowshoes for the ladder). Above treeline on Boott Spur, there was initially not enough snow to warrant snowshoes (mostly rock). Ascending Boott Spur, we encountered deeper drifts, and some of us briefly switched to snowshoes — even with snowshoes on, there was a bit of swimming uphill in the snow before things returned to mostly rock and ice. There was no visible footpath on Davis Path to the junction with Glen Boulder, but the cairns were very easy to follow.
Glen Boulder was difficult to follow in the krummholz once the cairns go away. Glen Boulder was a bit of a mess — the beginning of our group ended up waist deep in the snow in places where putting on snowshoes was challenging due to snow depth, and the back of our group was able to switch to snowshoes (but still ended up thigh deep in 27” snowshoes!). Eventually we all could remove ourselves from the snow and put on snowshoes, which we kept on until the trail switched to rock at an outlook above Glen Boulder. From this outlook to treeline on Glen Boulder TR, no form of traction was satisfactory (unconsolidated snow over bare or icy rock), making for a slow descent. After hitting treeline, snowshoes went back on but did little to consolidate the trail given the significant amount of snow, steepness, and temperature. Glen Ellis lot is still closed, leading to a final slog on Direttissima, which was reasonably broken out.
Other than a few skiers on TRT, we didn’t see anyone until a group of three near Glen Boulder. We carried crampons and ice axes and never found them necessary, but bringing them is probably a good call. You'll definitely want to be a fan of snowshoes for this one for a while.
All in all, a beautiful day on beautiful but less-traveled winter trails. Your experience should be much easier if you make it before our trail gets filled in! |
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 | Name: |
cmf |
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 | E-Mail: |
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| Date Submitted: |
2025-01-27 |
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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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