Mount Lafayette

Trail: Falling Waters Trail, Franconia Ridge Trail, Greenleaf Trail, Old Bridle Path

Conditions: Ice - Black, Snow/Ice - Frozen Granular, Snow/Ice - Monorail (Stable)

“Trails were firm and fast. Minimal ice on FW Greenleaf and old Bridle. Some short areas of ice on Franconia ridge, lots of firm snow and some posthole sections in drifted areas.”

Trail: Bike path, Liberty Spring Trail, Franconia Ridge Trail, Greenleaf Trail, Old Bridle Path

Conditions: Snow - Packed Powder/Loose Granular, Ice - Breakable Crust, Snow - Unpacked Powder, Standing/Running Water on Trail, Snow/Ice - Frozen Granular, Snow - Drifts, Snow/Ice - Monorail (Stable), Snow - Wet/Sticky, Snow/Ice - Postholes

“Bare boots from the Basin lot to just past Liberty, snow was very grippy even without traction, but I knew I'd need the snowshoes for Liberty->Haystack so put them on after Liberty. Trail is very supportive as long as you stay on the previous path. Back at the junction with Liberty Springs Trail, all signs of previous travel were gone heading towards Haystack. With snowshoes, you could walk anywhere and only sink ~6". I'd give myself a solid A- for navigation...only had to double back once. A couple of times I thought "Surely this isn't the trail." as I squeezed through some waist high gap in the spruce but using GPS, guesswork, and the Force I managed to keep on course. There might be 10' of snow in places, and this trail is very lightly used in winter so not very consolidated...it would be foolish to attempt this section without snowshoes. Bundled up at the top of the ladder approaching Haystack, which is good because the wind was ripping once out of the trees. Decided to switch to Hillsounds a couple of 100 yds past Haystack, but in retrospect I wish I'd left the snowshoes on, there is pretty consistently 6"-1' of snow on the ridge with some icy patches mixed in for fun. It looked like 3 other people crossed the ridge today, all bare boot, so the trail is a bit chopped up for now in places. The trail from Lafayette to the hut is more packed but still lumpy, and OBP gets less lumpy the lower you go. The bike path from Lafayette Place back to the Basin lot still has decent snow coverage but bare boots were fine...(it looks like it's been a while since snowmobiles have used it)”

Trail: Falling Waters Trail, Franconia Ridge Trail, Greenleaf Trail, Old Bridle Path

Conditions: Snow - Unpacked Powder, Snow - Drifts

“Tough day! Broke trail heading up Falling Waters until the middle of the descent of Lafayette. Until I hit the ridge, it was very manageable: 5-7" of light snow, easily handled with showshoes. The Cloudland Falls section was tough - crampons would be wise there. I had a tough time with snowshoes. On the ridge it was very difficult to see the ground. Used my poles best I could to find rocks to avoid sinking into drifts. Mixed success there. Struggled to surmount some of the big boulder technical sections before Lincoln. Switched to spikes here for the rest of the hike (I prefer descending in spikes). The drifts got more serious closer to Lafayette and also on the exposed section of the descent before the hut (which is closed. After the hut, I jogged down most of Old Bridle, which had been broken out and is nice and mellow with some packed snow on it. Anyway, the loop is broken out for now.”