South Baldface

Trail: Baldface Circle Trail, Slippery Brook Trail, Baldface Knob Trail

Conditions: Dry Trail, Ice - Blue, Wet/Slippery Rock, Snow/Ice - Frozen Granular, Snow - Wet/Sticky, Mud - Significant, Snow - Spring Snow, Snow/Ice - Postholes, Slush

“Originally planned to do both South and North Baldface, but called it at South due to extremely sloppy trail conditions. Read on for more deets... Started the hike shortly after 8:30 AM. Trail/snow conditions were pretty solid... for the first mile and a half or so. After that point, the temperature spiked and the conditions rapidly deteriorated, becoming a complete slopfest in the alpine zone. Despite the trails being broken out, I still postholed despite wearing snowshoes, and sometimes postholed one to two feet or more. The last 0.5 mile to the summit of South Baldface was a mixed bag- the first .2 mile of that 0.5 mile was almost completely snow and ice-free (albeit extremely muddy in spots), and the 0.3 mile after that had the deepest, softest, most unstable snow of the hike. Televators/heel-lifts were useless because they'd just throw off my balance. The summit was pretty much bare rock/ground. As tedious as the going was, it was worth it IMO- the mountain and the views of and from it were a real spectacle (enhanced the snowy landscape), and the alpine sections of the Baldface Knob Trail had an "out west" feel to me in that it reminded me of some of the big mountain hikes and climbs I've done out in the Cascades, Rockies, and Sierra Nevada. It may still be winter on paper, but it was full-on spring conditions today, and it's only going to become more pronounced over the next few days with the even warmer temps forecasted. Might be time for me to start planning out my "mud season/spring thaw" hikes in southern NH, southern New England, and the Catskills...”

Trail: East Pasture XC ski trail, Bald Land Trail, East Branch Road, East Branch Trail, bushwhack

Conditions: Snow - Unpacked Powder

“Three of us made the long trek out to West Baldface in deep unbroken powder. It took us about 7 hours one way to reach the summit. It was cold today with a -5 start but sunny with no wind. We launched the bushwhack just to the north of FR 5039 and stayed in the woods alongside it heading straight for the summit. Beautiful woods. Apparently a moose was about, postholing our tracks on East Branch trail. When we got back to the XC trails they had been groomed. I don’t know what the rule is for snowshoeing these trails, but a sign says you need a pass to ski them.”

Trail: Baldface Circle Trail, Bicknell Ridge Trail

Conditions: Dry Trail, Ice - Black, Snow - Trace/Minimal Depth, Wet Trail, Wet/Slippery Rock, Ice - Breakable Crust, Snow - Unpacked Powder, Standing/Running Water on Trail, Snow/Ice - Small Patches

“Best to go clockwise for this hike because the ledges heading up South Baldface have considerable ice. We used spikes but it was still challenging with the boulder scrambling-particularly if you're on the shorter side. Going up South and between South and North, there were a few inches of snow/low drifts, and gaiters would have been great just to keep the snow out of our trail runners. Water crossings were ok but water was definitely flowing at the two we crossed coming down. Feet will likely get wet at the second one but it's almost back to the lot so not really an issue for us.”