Mount Lafayette

Trail: Old Bridle Path, Greenleaf Trail

Conditions: Snow - Packed Powder/Loose Granular, Snow/Ice - Frozen Granular, Snow - Wet/Sticky, Snow - Spring Snow, Snow/Ice - Postholes, Slush

“This will most likely be null and void within 24 hours, but I would do a disservice if I didn’t write a trail report. We wore spikes door to door; snowshoes went for a ride. Surprisingly firm conditions on the way up, so long as you stayed on the balance beam that was the center of the trail. Above the hut (and out of the trees), there were lots of stretches of bare trail. You could play the on/off game with your spikes, or just come to the realization that you now have another set of rock spikes. Trails softened considerably on the way down. Considered snowshoes at certain times, but honestly, there were so many postholes (and the balance beam being even more narrow) [but they might have reduced/fixed that damage] that I think they would have gotten caught in the postholes and made the trip more dangerous. The trail is basically obliterated at this point. Not sure that there is any saving it for the rest of this season. The postholes are deep and plentiful. After the precipitation/cool down this weekend, it’s going to be rough going.”

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

Conditions: Snow/Ice - Frozen Granular, Snow - Wet/Sticky, Snow/Ice - Postholes

“The trails to and from the ridge are full of postholes and caution is needed. Some of the holes are over 3 feet deep, and most are well over a foot! I hiked with a buddy who used micros and I used snowshoes. I maybe went in twice only because I got to close to the edges. He probably went in about 100 times. Not a fun day for him. The ridge was great, with little to no snow or ice. Very windy on the ridge. I barebooted the ridge and only had to deal with a few spots that were snowy and icy. Used micros down to Greenleaf hut and should have put my snowshoes back on here but I kept my micros on. Live and learn I guess but I should have switched. Take caution and stay in the middle on the trail and good luck!”

Trail: Old Bridle Path, Greenleaf Trail

Conditions: Wet Trail, Ice - Blue, Wet/Slippery Rock, Standing/Running Water on Trail, Snow/Ice - Monorail (Stable), Mud - Significant, Snow/Ice - Monorail (Unstable), Snow - Spring Snow, Snow/Ice - Postholes

“This was an official AMC NH chapter winter hike. The hike started at 0700 from the falling waters trailhead. We expected the day to be warm with questionable trail conditions. Winds on Lafayete were expected to be about 15-20mph with gusts up to 30mph. Given that the temperatures were expected to be in the 40s we decided to proceed with the hike. It clearly became apparent that the trail was not going to become firm as we went higher, & snowshoes were the choice of traction once the sun came up & the snow became soft. The postholes on the way up to greenleaf hut were among the deepest i have seen, ever. When we arrived at the hut it was staggering to see that the massive amounts of snow i had previously hiked on earlier this winter had been reduced to bare rock in many spots. We wore snowshoes until we reached long sections of bare rock. We then switches to microspikes. This was not even a decent choice though it was the best choice as there are long stretches of bare rock. Upon reaching the summit my co-leader & i decided against completing the ridge loop as the trail conditions were mixed and visiblity was poor. We made the descent back to the hut & changed out traction to snowshoes as soon as we hit the tree line. It is basically spring early this year and trail conditions are poor. I cant imagine with the warm up the hiking will be great until maybe the freeze expected at the end of this week.”