Mount Monroe

Trail: Cog Railway, Crawford Path, Mt. Monroe Loop, Mt. Eisenhower Loop

Conditions: Wet Trail, Snow - Packed Powder/Loose Granular, Ice - Breakable Crust, Snow - Unpacked Powder, Standing/Running Water on Trail, Mud - Minor/Avoidable, Snow/Ice - Monorail (Stable), Snow - Spring Snow, Slush, Snow/Ice - Small Patches

“TLDR: Spikes on and off all day. Snowshoes not needed today, but still plenty of snow between Ike and Pierce that might need shoes when melty. Details: No to low winds all day :). Ascent by the Cog was a mix of bare ground, then ice and snow patches. Jacob's Ladder stretch was fine ascending in spikes, but I might have wanted more serious traction if descending. All along the ridge was a combo of ice patches, rock, puddles... repeat. If all that water freezes hard again, it will be very icy in patches. Still lots of snow between Ike and Pierce. The monorail was holding up, but it will be messy when it gets soft. Coming down from Pierce was still super firm and great for spikes. Gorgeous day out there!”

Trail: Ammonoosuc Ravine Trail, Crawford Path, Monroe Loop, Cog Rail Trail

Conditions: Ice - Black, Ice - Blue, Snow - Drifts, Snow - Spring Snow

“Ammo has been rerouted and it’s possibly better to park in the Ammo lot.. the Ravine trail had solid ice under many sections so be prepared (we switched to K10’s)…the fresh snow covered some dangerous postholes and crevices.. up Monroe was uneventful… Crawford Path had 1-2’ of new drifty snow that hid the ankle-twisting rocks.. the descent of the Cog was textbook pain in the a$$… solid ice underneath new snow that was balling up later in the afternoon… by Jacobs Ladder there is still solid ice underneath, but since the snowpack has melted considerably, a fall here will not result in a trip over the edge into the Ravine, but you’ll likely come to rest against the rocks that line the edge.. be safe!”

Trail: Cog Rail Trail, Crawford Path, Monroe Loop, Eisenhower Loop, Webster Cliff Trail, Webster Jackson Trail

Conditions: Dry Trail, Wet Trail, Ice - Blue, Wet/Slippery Rock, Ice - Breakable Crust, Standing/Running Water on Trail, Snow/Ice - Frozen Granular, Snow/Ice - Monorail (Stable), Snow - Wet/Sticky, Mud - Significant, Snow/Ice - Monorail (Unstable), Snow - Spring Snow, Snow/Ice - Postholes, Slush

“After climbing up the Cog in snowshoes, it is boney or fully open enough from 5,500’ on up to bareboot all the way across the summit of Washington. Between Washington and Monroe, crampons were definitely good to have on. I went with full crampons (Grivel G10s) this time of year given the hardness of the ice. You can get by with micros, but the actual purchase of crampons helps a lot. There are many fully open sections on southfacing trails, but plenty of ice and still a significant snowfield. The northeast side on Monroe is still very snowy and steep, but bare on top. We took off crampons after the summit of Monroe and barebooted all the way to the northeast side of Eisenhower. There are a few sections of deep snow amongst the trees, but it’s not that bad and has a firm monrail. The summit cone of Eisenhower is totally bare. Once back in the trees on the south side of Eisenhower there is still plenty of deep sections of snow. Snowshoes are still very helpful here and make moving a lot easier. Except for the summit of Pierce, it was snowshoes all the way to Jackson. For the most part the summit of Jackson is completely free of snow and ice, but as soon as you are back in the trees on Webster-Jackson, crampons are very necessary and we kept them on until we could see the road in Crawford Notch. It was definitely good to get these done while there is a decent amount of snow and monorail left, but things are going to get very messy soon!”