Pine Mountain (Gorham)

Trail: Pine Mountain Trail, Chapel Rock Spur, Pine Mountain Horton Center Road, Dolly Copp Road, Campground Road, Great Gulf Link, Great Gulf Trail, NH 16, Nineteen Mile Brook Trail, Carter Moriah Trail

Conditions: Dry Trail, Wet Trail, Wet/Slippery Rock, Standing/Running Water on Trail, Mud - Minor/Avoidable, Snow/Ice - Monorail (Stable), Mud - Significant, Snow/Ice - Monorail (Unstable), Snow/Ice - Small Patches

“The Carter Notch Hut caretaker told me they got 3" of rain in the recent storm. Overall, conditions were extremely wet for most of this route. I'd expect they would be noticeably better by tomorrow, though. Climbing up and over Pine Mountain wasn't too bad, mostly a mix of dry trail, wet trail, and relatively minor mud. The conditions on this part of the day were pretty much as good as I could have realistically expected. The Great Gulf Link and the very short stretch of the Great Gulf Trail were also in pretty good shape. 19 Mile Brook was decent with only a few really wet spots up to the Carter Dome Trail intersection, then between there and the hut I felt like I was climbing up a stream bed. I was able to rock hop pieces of it, but by that point, I mostly just accepted that my feet were going to be very wet all day. Above the hut heading to Carter Dome, the trail was more just damp with a lot less standing or running water. The only real stretch of significant/unavoidable snow I encountered was between the summit of Carter Dome and the intersection of the Carter Dome Trail and the Carter Moriah Trail. There was a fairly consistent monorail for this 0.4 mile stretch that was typically 2-3 feet tall and was often less than 8" wide. Shockingly, I did not posthole once and never felt the need to wear spikes. The Carter Moriah trail heading to Mount Hight and down to Zeta Pass was almost entirely snow free, and not terribly wet. The stretch of trail between Zeta Pass all the way to North Carter was 99% snow free, as well. Descending the north side of North Carter had a few small patches, but they were mostly avoidable. All the rocks were soaked, but I was able to descend safely when I watched my step. Between that ~0.3 mile rough stretch and the summit of Moriah, the conditions were a little better but still quite wet. The first 2.5 miles descending from the summit of Moriah down to Gorham were pretty frustrating with all the wetness and bad footing, but conditions improved dramatically after Mount Surprise. I ended up doing about 27 miles and 8,500' of gain in total. If you want to avoid the worst of the runoff from the storm, I would recommend hitting Pine Mountain. Otherwise, the Carters and Moriah will need a few more days to dry out.”

Trail: Pine Mountain Trail

Conditions: Dry Trail, Snow - Trace/Minimal Depth, Wet Trail, Ice - Blue, Wet/Slippery Rock, Snow/Ice - Frozen Granular, Mud - Minor/Avoidable, Snow/Ice - Monorail (Stable), Snow - Spring Snow, Leaves - Significant/Slippery, Snow/Ice - Small Patches

“Started the day with about 2 inches of fresh snow at around 1000 ft and above. Was able to bare boot up to about 3/4 of a mile from Chapel Rock. After that needed spikes, the snow covered all the Ice patches and whats left of the monorail so hard to tell what was underneath the snow. On the way down most of the new snow had melted. It looked like winter on the way up and spring on the way down. Great views only a few clouds.”

Trail: Arlene Frances Morse Trail, Robert A Greenwood Sr. Loop

Conditions: Dry Trail, Wet/Slippery Rock, Standing/Running Water on Trail, Mud - Minor/Avoidable, Snow/Ice - Monorail (Stable), Mud - Significant, Snow/Ice - Small Patches

“Trails were mainly snow and ice free up to the viewpoint with only a few small patches. Most of the snow is on the Robert A Greenwood Sr. Loop with a very short section of monorail. All was either avoidable or flat enough to not need traction. The old farm road was very muddy with the frost beginning to melt out. There were a few puddles in the usual areas. Sunny skies with light wind and temps in the lower 40s.”