B
Barkingcat
Guest
Date Hiked: Thursday, April 10
Trail Conditions: On Falling Waters Trail the path is losing consolidation in bits and pieces. One person had barebooted ahead of us and occasionally postholed about a foot to two feet, even though it was early morning and parts of the trail still crusty. Above treeline below Little Haystack, trail is crusty with some sheets of ice. On Franconia Ridge, snow is about halfway gone. Where it does exist in pockets, it's soft, granular and about two feet deep. Where it's gone, there are dry rocks interspersing pools of water and slush. On Greenleaf Trail right below Lafayette summit, there is one area of very thick (but softening) ice that required some care to go over. From that point to the Greenleaf Hut, the trail alternates with dry rock, slush, and two feet of soft snowpack. From the hut back to the trailhead, the Old Bridle Path is almost entirely covered in about two feet of rough, unconsolidated snowpack -- with an occasional bare rock or two higher up. Finally, snowbridges on all sections of this hike are going fast.
Special Equipment Required: We used snowshoes below treeline in order to help re-consolidate the trail (and keep from postholing); Stabilicers and Microspikes worked fine on the ridge and over the two sections of ice near Little Haystack and Mount Lafayette. Poles were very helpful, as well. And, although the weather was warm low on the trail, it's still winter and windy on the ridge -- appropriate clothing up there is a must.
Comments: Although I prefer to leave to themselves people's footwear choices for winter hiking, I have to say that the Old Bridle Path below the hut was chewed to pieces by bareboot postholes; picking through this probably added 45 minutes' extra traverse time to this 2.7-mile section. Using snowshoes helped reconsolidate parts, as did butt-sliding down some of the steeper sections.
Beautiful blue skies almost all day made for great views everywhere, and the high water levels in Dry Brook and Walker Brook on Falling Waters made for some spectacular water falls. To round things out, 65-mph wind gusts on the ridge made the traverse interesting.
Barkingcat
Your E-mail address: [email protected]
Trail Conditions: On Falling Waters Trail the path is losing consolidation in bits and pieces. One person had barebooted ahead of us and occasionally postholed about a foot to two feet, even though it was early morning and parts of the trail still crusty. Above treeline below Little Haystack, trail is crusty with some sheets of ice. On Franconia Ridge, snow is about halfway gone. Where it does exist in pockets, it's soft, granular and about two feet deep. Where it's gone, there are dry rocks interspersing pools of water and slush. On Greenleaf Trail right below Lafayette summit, there is one area of very thick (but softening) ice that required some care to go over. From that point to the Greenleaf Hut, the trail alternates with dry rock, slush, and two feet of soft snowpack. From the hut back to the trailhead, the Old Bridle Path is almost entirely covered in about two feet of rough, unconsolidated snowpack -- with an occasional bare rock or two higher up. Finally, snowbridges on all sections of this hike are going fast.
Special Equipment Required: We used snowshoes below treeline in order to help re-consolidate the trail (and keep from postholing); Stabilicers and Microspikes worked fine on the ridge and over the two sections of ice near Little Haystack and Mount Lafayette. Poles were very helpful, as well. And, although the weather was warm low on the trail, it's still winter and windy on the ridge -- appropriate clothing up there is a must.
Comments: Although I prefer to leave to themselves people's footwear choices for winter hiking, I have to say that the Old Bridle Path below the hut was chewed to pieces by bareboot postholes; picking through this probably added 45 minutes' extra traverse time to this 2.7-mile section. Using snowshoes helped reconsolidate parts, as did butt-sliding down some of the steeper sections.
Beautiful blue skies almost all day made for great views everywhere, and the high water levels in Dry Brook and Walker Brook on Falling Waters made for some spectacular water falls. To round things out, 65-mph wind gusts on the ridge made the traverse interesting.
Barkingcat
Your E-mail address: [email protected]
