Microspikes are wear items

[sierra]

On moderate to steep trails crampons are almost always my first choice and I go backwards from there depending on how things are going. While I try to be conscious of the condition I leave the trail for others, it is rarely a factor in what I choose to wear. I'm worried about my safety, not other people's opinions.

That is one of the reasons I live in my K10 crampons. I was hiking with a girl on Liberty one day, conditions, 5 inches or so of fresh powder on very hard pack monorail. While descending that steep pitch into treeline in my Tubbs ALP flex, (which have excellent traction) I slipped and went about 8 ft and purposely fell to stop my slide. Damn near broke a leg as it bent behind me. I was in snowshoes to "help" with trail conditions.

 

[dave.m]

I'll worry about post holing the monorails just as soon as hikers and snowshoers keep out of the ski tracks.

 

[JoshandBaron]

I'll worry about post holing the monorails just as soon as hikers and snowshoers keep out of the ski tracks.

That's damn near impossible in most parts of the whites, especially when a user group can't manage to pick a side.

 

[dug]

Also my near yearly request to break in the snowshoe track 2-3x wider than it typically is. A normal snowshoe track is too narrow for me to make a turn, so if the second in line would break a parallel track, and the rest then fill in, I would appreciate it. Thank you in advance.

 

[NH2112]

Also my near yearly request to break in the snowshoe track 2-3x wider than it typically is. A normal snowshoe track is too narrow for me to make a turn, so if the second in line would break a parallel track, and the rest then fill in, I would appreciate it. Thank you in advance.

They‘re harder to use in steeper terrain due to less aggressive crampons and require a LOT of pole use while climbing, but nothing that’s not a traditional can break trail like my GV Wide Trail 12x42s. My 10x36 Garneaus & Tubbs do well, too, and are much better in steep terrain. The irony is I do it mainly for myself because nobody else here snowshoes out in the middle of nowhere. Although the moose make heavy use of my paths. Their postholing is OK.

 

[whoishere]

The wider your snowshoe track, the more flotation you have on soft, deep, or powdery snow, as you distribute your weight over a larger surface area. However, a wider track also makes it harder to turn, especially on steep or narrow trails, and may cause you to step on your own snowshoes or trip over obstacles

 

[John H Swanson]

Microspikes are a contributing factor to the rapid destruction of our White Mountain trail system over the past dozen or so years.

They provide a false sense of security, resulting in some users proceeding in conditions for which they are inadequate. Said users then resort to trampling off to the side of the icy footbed, resulting in destruction of the moss and vegetation root system. This then results in trail creep and further erosion, which in turn creates worse icing conditions in future; a vicious cycle.

The same could be said for lightweight trail runners vs heavy boots. Down in metro NYC area we saw a flood of new hikers on the trails. Now, most of the hikers for some reason do not like hiking on rocks and our trails are frequently rocky. When the thread way has perfectlu positioned rocks (natural flat stone, stepping stones, steps) many people opt to trample the perimeter of the trails or just bushwhack bypass the rock vs. walking on it. If the trail has a viable thread way, everyone should use it but they don't.

Anyway, as a trail maintainer, I've been working to fill in the social paths and keep the hikers on the main trail. When there is a mud pit, I've been hauling stones and placing them as stepping stones. But still I watch people avoid the rock. Sometimes they will even remove the debris from the social trail. So now I'm filling social trails with 6-8" diameter logs. This seems to work.

Back to gear: I believe heavier boots would add to confidence on hard rock, but maybe that's my age speaking. Regarding microspikes, if the trail is hard ice then these are not the right gear and the only option for the persistent hiker is avoidance...and this does lead to damage.

 

[Daniel Eagan]

The same could be said for lightweight trail runners vs heavy boots. Down in metro NYC area we saw a flood of new hikers on the trails. Now, most of the hikers for some reason do not like hiking on rocks and our trails are frequently rocky. When the thread way has perfectlu positioned rocks (natural flat stone, stepping stones, steps) many people opt to trample the perimeter of the trails or just bushwhack bypass the rock vs. walking on it. If the trail has a viable thread way, everyone should use it but they don't.

Anyway, as a trail maintainer, I've been working to fill in the social paths and keep the hikers on the main trail. When there is a mud pit, I've been hauling stones and placing them as stepping stones. But still I watch people avoid the rock. Sometimes they will even remove the debris from the social trail. So now I'm filling social trails with 6-8" diameter logs. This seems to work.

Infuriates me to see trail widening for no reason other than runners want to avoid rocks. Throughout Hudson Highlands and Harriman, runners go around rocks, ignoring the marked trail so they can tear up vegetation and erode dirt.

Appreciate the work you're doing but it feels like a losing battle.

 

[DayTrip]

But still I watch people avoid the rock.

People seem to avoid literally anything that involves even a slight obstacle nowadays: anything wet, a step up of more than 4 inches, small twigs, mud an eighth of an inch deep, etc. Even the easy trails near my home in CT are getting braided in puzzling fashion. In some cases, the off trail route seems harder to me (??).

My favorite are the herd paths at intersections that cut off like 50 feet of walking to/from the actual intersection. Really? Pure laziness that no amount of trail/LNT educational efforts are going to solve. When I did Old Speck this Fall there was a "triangle" at the intersection of the Old Speck and Mahoosuc Trails near the top. Standing at literally any of the 3 points on the triangle you could visually see the other legs of the triangle. All in flat easy terrain. Good grief.

 

[Rhody Seth]

Man, I love some good rock hopping. Didn't realize there were so many lame-ass trail runners out there.

 

[s.e.charles]

Wouldn’t that be the wearers’ fault? I mean, microspikes were invented to make inadequate conditions more adequate. Same as skis, snowshoes, ice axes, insulated clothing & footwear... You can’t blame the tool or the fact that it exists for any improper use.

exactly. microspikes don't ruin rock, people do . . . .