Jackson-Webster loop

[NH2112]

Has anyone hiked this since the latest nor’easter? A friend & I are planning it on Sunday and any info about snow depth & conditions so we know which snowshoes to bring would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Tom_Murphy]

Has anyone hiked this since the latest nor’easter? A friend & I are planning it on Sunday and any info about snow depth & conditions so we know which snowshoes to bring would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

If you aren't already aware of it, trailsnh.com is a good resource for recent trail conditions; also the FB pages associated with the NH hiking.

 

[DayTrip]

A lot of the trip reports I read today on NETC referenced "attempts" and very deep snow and drifts on hikes WED and THU. I assume the more popular trails will get some foot traffic by SUN but I'd be prepared for lots of drifting with the high winds forecast all weekend.

 

[peakbagger]

It has been snowing since wednesday up in Gorham until today with a forecast for flurries in the morning. It was breezy enough today that there was drifting. I expect many attempts tomorrow. Its deep enough that barebooters wont make it far.

 

[NH2112]

I just read this Pierce trail report, I can’t imagine things are too different a couple miles away.

http://newenglandtrailconditions.com/nh/viewreport.php?entryid=35059

 

[bikehikeskifish]

Snow is knee to waist deep right now. Was thigh+ in spots last weekend and that was prior to the mid-week Nor'easter. Undoubtedly there will be people out breaking trail Saturday and Sunday so you might get lucky. I would bring both sets of snowshoes and decide at the trailhead based on any tracks I found and the number of cars, etc. Assuming of course trail conditions don't indicate anyone made it up there today.

Tim

 

[peakbagger]

20 years ago when there was fewer winter hikers, it wasnt unusual to park at a trailhead in the AM on a Saturday and find a broken trail and eventually catch up with the folks breaking it. We woudl usually join them and we would alternate breaking. I am not normally a group hiker but when it comes to breaking trail, the more the merrier. We also would encounter folks who barebooted up a broken trail that dead ended part of the way to the summit. They would posthole their way a short distance past the broken out section and then head back down.

Of course living locally we also tended to hike on Sunday as most groups hiked on Saturday so trails got broken out a bit more often.

Given the forecast for the upcoming week its perfect for consolidating the snow pack. If the potential Northeaster stays south this week I expect the trails may be great weekend. A bummer for those working on the winter lists but a good start for spring hiking.

One year we were following some folks track heading into Isolation, they had broken to Engine Hill but headed straight. We broke out the Engine Hill bushwhack and crossed their tracks along Rocky Branch. We then headed on the second bushwhack across the valley and directly up to Col just before the spur path breaking all the way. We got to the summit and took a long break and as we were leaving a couple of folks came up. They couldnt figure out how we got there as they had started 3 hours earlier using the trails. They were beat. They were planning to camp but ended up following us out via the bushwhacks. We flew out to the trailhead via the tracks we had broken out.

 

[NH2112]

I think I’ll just bring my 30” MSRs & tails for myself, my partner (a little lighter than me) can choose between my 30” GVs or 27” Garneaus. We’ve broken a lot of trail but always on flat or rolling terrain, so tomorrow may be much more strenuous than we’re expecting!

 

[NH2112]

Well the hike is off, my friend rolled his ankle at work a few days ago and it’s not fit for the trail. So it looks like we’ll probably be going in 2-3 weeks now, hopefully we’ll still need snowshoes instead of spikes because I like ‘shoeing better!