Mount Madison

Trail: Valley Way, Osgood Trail

Conditions: Snow - Trace/Minimal Depth, Ice - Blue, Snow - Packed Powder/Loose Granular, Snow - Drifts, Snow - Wet/Sticky, Snow/Ice - Postholes

“Great midweek hike, the 2-3"~ of snow from the night before was fluffy and dry upon starting around 9am, wore snowshoes till 3k' when they started balling up considerably with warming temps and switched to spikes which were much better (for a while at least) there was a party of 2 ahead of me also heading to Madison, increased drifting from Valley Way Campsite to the Hut, wished I hadn't ditched the snowshoes but hindsight... wind picked up once at the hut, and I tagged along with the 2 folks ahead for the summit push, probably mid 30 mph gusts to sustained , manageable with great care taken, the .4 to the summit is fairly windswept with exposed rock and thin crunchy snow on the path with some drifting in pockets, amazing view up top with cloud cover low but just above the rest of the range and good Sun visible, really lucked out, upon getting back to the Hut crossed paths with a party of 4 youths heading to Adams, had considered tagging along but I was already on the cusp of my 1pm turnaround time, on descent the trail was fairly well broken in though the snow was soft and balling up the spikes fairly bad as well for the rest of the hike, crossed paths with another fellow with 2 puppets heading to Adams but turning around at the Hut and another 3 heading to Madison while I was halfway down, quick pace for the youth! Great midweek Hike, another Winter 48 and March grid”

Trail: Valley Way, Osgood Trail

Conditions: Snow - Packed Powder/Loose Granular, Snow - Unpacked Powder

“Started in snowshoes as did everyone we saw on our way up. VW was soft snow, perfectly packed all the way to the hut. At hut we switched to spikes which was the 'best' choice given the conditions. the snow is soft and deep between the rocks and I slid a lot, tried to step on rocks where I could or follow in the steps of my partner. Others were in spikes or bare boots. so the trail above the hut is chewed up. if you choose snowshoes, they will take a beating. lots of sun and light wind on top at 12:30pm.”

Trail: Valley Way, Air Line, Gulfside

Conditions: Snow - Packed Powder/Loose Granular, Snow - Unpacked Powder, Snow - Drifts

“Started Saturday with a hike up to Valley Way tent site. Started the rest of the hike early Sunday and made my way towards Adams and then to Jefferson a very slight trail was visible. On my way back the trail leading up to Adams was riddled with postholes that weren't there in the morning. The hike up Madison was well used and a bit longer then I remembered.”