| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Little Haystack Mountain, Mt. Lincoln, Mt. Truman, Mt. Lafayette, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Falling Waters Trail, Franconia Ridge Trail, Greenleaf Trail, Old Bridle Path |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Friday, November 7, 2025 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Plenty of space at the FW / OBP trailhead today and the bathrooms are accessible. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail, Snow - Trace/Minimal Depth, Wet Trail, Ice - Blue, Wet/Slippery Rock, Snow - Unpacked Powder, Snow - Drifts, Mud - Minor/Avoidable, Slush, Snow/Ice - Small Patches |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Snowshoes, Light Traction |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
The FW water crossings were mostly rock hops, with a few spots that needed the use of slightly submerged rocks. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
There is a stepover on FW just below the FPA sign, and a stepover on OBP about 0.1 miles above the FPA sign. Some of the trail ropes are down between Lincoln and Lafayette. Other than that everything seems good to go! |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
I don’t take my pup on this route, though some people do. It’s less about my pup’s ability to hike it and more about my general concerns for the risks of this hike. |
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 | Bugs: |
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 | Lost and Found: |
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 | Comments: |
I hiked counterclockwise (up FW and down OBP). The scrambles above Cloudland Falls are where I pulled on my sparkly new, super-sharp Hillsounds, and boy oh boy I was happy to have them today. The scrambly section above Cloudland has really significant ice. The Falling Waters (FW) Trail has ice and 1-3” snow and slush up to the Shining Rock spur, and after that it gets super spicy. I was amazed to be the first bootprints on this route today, and that last little section up to Little Haystack had 2-4” new snow with some drifts to my knees. However it also had a whole lot of bony spots so snowshoes wouldn’t be helpful with the current conditions.
The Ridge itself had about 50% icy and bare rock and 50% snow with drifts up to my knees in places. It was a slog to drag through it over to Lafayette. There were two people behind me and I kept hoping they would catch up and give me a hand with the drifts but no dice. They passed me quickly on the descent from Lafayette and my only thought was wowza I get extra pie at Thansgiving for slogging through all of those drifts solo LOL. The sketchy spot on the Greenleaf Trail descent that gives me nightmares had enough snow to be no problem. There is the same deep snow shenanigans on Greenleaf Trail above treeline but here I came across 4 hikers ascending and that helped to beat down the path.
The new boardwalk across that perpetually muddy spot near the Hut is really nice. Below the Hut the first half mile of Old Bridal Path (OBP) trail still had a lot of snow but it quickly became an ice and slush fest and this is where I was again happy to have my super sharp spikes. I took them off when I got to the ten bazillion new super awesome steps because those steps are wicked flat and even with ice, not hard to bareboot. Hats off to the teams of people that put in the new route!!
I didn’t use snowshoes and didn’t see anyone using them or even carrying them today. With even a little bit of additional snow I think that it will be time for snowshoes on this route, but it was mostly too bony to use them today. Someone mentioned a recommendation for full crampons on this route; I love my Spider Man shoes but the ice that I saw today was not thick enough for my full crampons. |
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 | Name: |
Bikecamphikegirl |
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 | E-Mail: |
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| Date Submitted: |
2025-11-07 |
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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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