| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Mt. Moosilauke, Mt. Blue, Mt. Jim, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Ravine Lodge Road, Gorge Brook Trail, Benton Trail, Beaver Brook Trail, bushwhacks, Asquam Ridge Trail |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Friday, January 9, 2026 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
plenty of parking on a midweek day at the Winter parking area, 0.8 miles drive up on snow covered Ravine Lodge Road where the road is gated almost a mile before Ravine Lodge in Winter ... any regular car should be able to carefully drive up to this spot |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Snow - Packed Powder/Loose Granular |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Snowshoes, Light Traction |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
water crossings were either bridged or easy like sunday morning |
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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: |
micro spikes were fine for reaching Moosilauke summit via Gorge Brook Trail, which has a firm snowshoe track established ...
opted for snowshoes once i hiked below treeline on Benton Trail, happy to see someone had broken trail up from Beaver Brook Trail at that point, sometimes in snowshoes, sometimes barebooting ... there hasn't been enough foot traffic along Beaver Brook to establish a solid snowshoe track, it wouldn't be a top ten day in your life if you try this trail without snowshoes ...
i whacked to Mount Blue summit, about 0.25 miles north of Beaver Brook Trail, through mostly open woods, until i reached an area where i poked around and felt i had reached the "true" summit, a Trailwrights 72 peak (hasn't been a "cannister" up there in years) - took about an hour round trip, partly making sure i had reached the true summit, partly because i had started up the wrong peak first, the shoulder peak to the west of Blue's true summit (if you head in the whacked trail up the western shoulder, you won't get far before you're swimming in spruce traps)
snowshoed east from there to Asquam Ridge Trail junction, discovering that Asquam Ridge Trail hadn't been broken out in a while ... Beaver Brook Trail looked like a few people had hiked up/down it heading down from that junction ...
broke trail on Asquam Ridge Trail until i reached the "Mt Jim" sign, then whacked 200 feet north to the "true" (TW72) summit, then continued down Asquam Ridge ...
i was probably close to Asquam Ridge Trail most of the time heading down, tough to tell as i never saw a trail blaze for the rest of my hike, but occasionally spotted evidence of former foot travel or an occasional sawed-off tree branch ... took me two hours to break this trail section hiking downhill until i reached Al Merrill Loop junction, where i turned right to follow tracks which were broken out by folks on snowshoes and back country skis ...
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 | Name: |
arm |
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 | E-Mail: |
winterhiker@gmail.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2026-01-10 |
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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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