What to expect?

[Mike Z]

Seeing how this was my first season of hiking in winter, I thought I would ask what I should expect in the coming weeks as spring weather takes hold. I climbed Garfield the other day. Spring time but actually winter conditions. As the weather warms, how should I prepare for upcoming hikes? I am pretty comfortable about how I dress. What I am wondering is what to expect for trail conditions. What traction works best in spring? Also, what about any wildlife as the warm weather wakes them up and become more active?
MZ

 

[DougPaul]

The calendar is almost irrelevant. Recent snowfall and weather conditions are far more important. As the snow melts, it can become rotten (ie supports little weight and postholes very easily). Trails become snow monorails. As the snow disappears, the ground becomes muddy. Travel conditions can change by the hour--wet snow freezes, mud freezes, and the trails become icy at night. During the next day, the snow softens, the mud becomes soft, and water flows down the trails. Basically, you have to be ready for any and/or all of it. Snow/ice bridges over streams disappear and water levels tend to be high possibly making stream crossings difficult or dangerous.

And the black flies come out (they breed in cold flowing water) to be followed mosquitoes (which breed in stagnant standing water).

Doug

 

[Raven]

Seeing how this was my first season of hiking in winter, I thought I would ask what I should expect in the coming weeks as spring weather takes hold. I climbed Garfield the other day. Spring time but actually winter conditions. As the weather warms, how should I prepare for upcoming hikes? I am pretty comfortable about how I dress. What I am wondering is what to expect for trail conditions. What traction works best in spring? Also, what about any wildlife as the warm weather wakes them up and become more active?
MZ

Expect it all. IMO April may be the hardest month of the year to plan for and may contain the most consistently challenging conditions as least as far as moutains above 4,000 in the north are concerned. April days can be just like January or just like June. Usually they are like Doug's post. I have used snowshoes for deep drifts, crampons for ice, and bare boots in mud and running water on one mountain in April (Jefferson comes to mind).

I see fewer hikers in April than most times during the year (NOvember is good too), although April gets some of those beautiful, warm sunny days with awesome snow conditions. Some of the worst sunburns I have seen people get came in April on snowpack.

Expect to be warm, cold, dry, wet, and confused.

 

[Cat in January]

Doug got it right. Spring hiking is the most difficult I find and I avoid the woods except for going up skiing on Washington. South Facing and more open trails are best. Look to the smaller hills as the snow leaves.

 

[Mike P.]

In addition to what others said, when the snow gets warm it can ball up on crampons making them useless. Sometimes when it's cold, the higher trails are more like winter. Some years will find almost all the snow gone (except ravines) by mid-may, other times its early June. South facing trails melt first, high altitude trails in the fir trees melt last (Twin way, especially between Guyot & South Twin, Franconia Ridge south of Little Haystack, Wildcat Ridge, C-M, West Bond Spur & others)

My preference is to hike CT, MA and the Catskills in April, Belknaps & Squam Region are nice too. (Hoping to get to the Catskills in late April myself, probably Slide & Cornell)

Definitely look for trails without water crossings that may be hazardous when high, usually the AMC guide will mention crossings in the trail description.

 

[peakbagger]

Sunscreen an sun glasses are a must if the sun is out. A big thing to factor in is that the trail conditions may be the best in the AM and degrade substantially as it warms up. One day we booted Bemis and Nancy on a bushwhack and I was postholing with snow shoes in the afternoon. It took may friends a bit longer to start postholing but it ended up taking 2 hours to go one mile on the way out.

Many folks ditch the snowshoes in the car in the morning and learn to regret if the conditions warm up.

I tend to hike as early as possible in the AM especially on lesser used trails and try to get my miles in prior to noon due to inevitably afternoon warm up.

Another thing to consider is that if the conditions are right, a stream with an ice bridge in the morning can be much wider with no trace of the ice bridge in the afternoon. Ice bridges in general are dangerous in the spring as they tend to erode out from the bottom up. Jusr because there are tracks across it from the day before, it may not be safe today.

 

[Mike Z]

I love this site for all the information at hand. I have thought of many of the things mentioned. It is so nice to be able to be able to confirm or condemn my thoughts through experience.

 

[Stan]

Mud. Expect mud. Also expect deep snow in sporadic shady gullies etc. ... that'll get you wet and make you wished you carried snow shoes for the 100 yards out of 10 miles that you'd use them ... and then, expect more mud.

It's not called mud season for nuthin'.

Once you come to accept that this is never going to change, you might do what smart people do. Take up fishing, knitting, yoga, macrame ... take up anything but hiking in mud season ... I'd prefer to wait until the black flies are out.

Ever wonder what people who drive on logging roads do during mud season? They take up fishing, knitting, yoga, macrame ...

 

[Clown]

I will second Mike P. As the weather starts to get warmer the water crossings will get worse with the snow melt. Usually in the Whites it isn't a huge issue in the higher places, but the valleys can be treacherous (lincoln woods to 13 falls for instance can tough) but many crossings have bushwacks around them.

 

[hikrgrl]

Yeah...and when the AMC Guidebook says "crossing may be dangerous or impossible in high water," my experience is that it's spot on.

 

[1SlowHiker]

Be cautious that an easy rock hop crossing on the way up can be a roaring stream on the way down. This happened to me on Ammonusuc going up to Washington two years ago. I had to cross knee deep fast running water holding a line I tied to a tree up stream.

 

[DougPaul]

and water levels tend to be high possibly making stream crossings difficult or dangerous

But, do note -- with that higher volume of water comes some possibly spectacular conditions for waterfall photography -- just exercise caution (eroding snow/ fractured ice) getting to your viewpoint.

For those who do both, it is also time to stop hiking and start white water boating... (You start in the south and move northward with the snowmelt.)

Doug