Franconia Ridge Help, Please

[BIGEarl]

I'm interested in learning the current conditions on Old Bridle Path and Falling Waters Trail. There doesn't seem to be any reports from the past weekend concerning hikes on these trails but I assume there must have been some, perhaps quite a bit of activity there.

Can anybody help with an update?

Any current information would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Earl

 

[sli74]

I am guessing it is similar to the trip up to Adams which was soft snow with LOADS of postholes, downed trees and bent over trees in the trail. Snowshoes are a really good idea until the deep snow melts. Have fun.

sli74

 

[MadRiver]

I would suspect that it would be like what we encountered coming down Pierce on Sunday. If the ice is still thick up around the last two falls on Falling Waters, I would also bring the crampons.

 

[TDawg]

I was up there the 20th and there was snow starting from the trailhead with still considerable snow up above maybe 3000ft. Blazes were at knee level in spots. I used snowshoes up FWT and down Bridle, barebooted the ridge.

Droves of postholing knuckleheads had made the Bridle Path a complete mess. FWT on the other hand had received less use so there were only two sets of postholes to follow.

 

[JohnL]

Check RickB's Trail Conditions report from 4/22/07. We went down Greenleaf but conditions on OBP should be similar, though OBP has more of a southerly exposure which would make the snow cover less and softer. I would guess that OBP is posthole hell based upon the few people we saw coming up from the Hut, none of whom had snowshoes. There were numerous postholes on Falling Waters and a lot of them were thigh deep. The ridge has huge amounts of snow in places where you would never see it unless you had a huge Nor'Easter storm like we had. We wore Stabilicers up Falling Waters, across the Ridge and down to the Hut. Greenleaf was unbroken so we put on snowshoes for that descent.

Hope this helps,
JohnL

 

[sierra]

No first hand info on OBP, but a word of caution, similar trails Ive been on have been postholed to high creation, Ive been using my snowshoes even on beaten paths as a result, you would think snowshoes have been outlawed . To each his own, Im not going to restart that topic again, but man, I watched a couple and a solo dude postholeing last week longer then I would have, thats just not fun, but I will say this, they had alot of drive, postholeing drives me insane quickly.

 

[F-Face]

i guess that's why the ADK rule of you must have snowshoes is a "good thing" ?

 

[Jazzbo]

Take the trail less traveled in times like this!

In times like this don't fight city hall and use your superior knowledge of the mountains to select excursions less likely to be traveled by the hoi poloi and more likely to be packed out by old hands like us. One clue to this seemingly mysterious poor behavior is one party I encountered last weekend on Cardigan. I stopped to chat with a party from Rhode Island. They complemented me and pronounced me a genius for having wisdom of bringing/using snowshoes (always good for the ego). I told them I had the benefit of reports on conditions (VFTT) so I knew what to expect. They just couldn't imagine there'd be snow in quantities there is up north based on what things were like in Rhode island. I still find it hard to believe there's going to be snow in such amounts when spring is so advanced here in flatlands. Even the trailhead conspires against this as there may well be no evidence of snow at trailhead so even well meaning people who have snowshoes tend to leave them in the car.

 

[DougPaul]

They just couldn't imagine there'd be snow in quantities there is up north based on what things were like in Rhode island. I still find it hard to believe there's going to be snow in such amounts when spring is so advanced here in flatlands. Even the trailhead conspires against this as there may well be no evidence of snow at trailhead so even well meaning people who have snowshoes tend to leave them in the car.

It is very common for it to be (snowless) spring in town but still winter in the higher hills. Feels a bit strange packing your winter gear with all the greenery around...

Doug

 

[Kevin Rooney]

Even the trailhead conspires against this as there may well be no evidence of snow at trailhead so even well meaning people who have snowshoes tend to leave them in the car.

I think the most memorable example I've personally experienced like this was one Memorial Day weekend, and I'd gotten an early start up Beaver Brook Trail to Moosilauke. For those familiar with the trail, it's mostly level for the first few hundred yards, and then it's straight up for a mile or so. It has been a snowy winter, and while the spring flowers were out in the parking lot, as soon as you began the ascent the trail was ice pack and all the more slippery because of the warm temps. After I descended in early afternoon I paused shortly after it flattened out to remove my crampons, as the snow/ice ended abruptly to soft spring-thawed earth. A couple, dressed in shorts and sneakers, came around the corner, saw me with crampons and looked stunned. They refused to believe that they need them shortly. I didn't try too hard to convince them otherwise. Once people have their minds made up it's tough to get them to change unless/until they experience it themselves.

 

[MadRiver]

BIGEarl please do me a favor and post a trip report or PM me on the conditions of OBP I’m heading to Greenleaf Hut on the 12th with my wife and sister, so I would like to know if I need to bring the shoes.

 

[BIGEarl]

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