Worst "footing" in the Whites

--M. said:

Second on The Parapet (we should have just gone over the top).

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Gets my vote as well. A horrible useless trail designed by a sadist!

The Parapet wins! An early June day, a cold damp wind, and 6 inches of surprise new snow melting all over it. Boots sloshing, pants soaked from lurching against those angled, jutting boulders, rough enough to take the skin off you...

audrey said:

The Parapet wins! An early June day, a cold damp wind, and 6 inches of surprise new snow melting all over it. Boots sloshing, pants soaked from lurching against those angled, jutting boulders, rough enough to take the skin off you...

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Being the masochist who enjoyed the Link I am giving serious thought to the following route:

Caps Ridge to the Cornice to Randoph Path to Gulfside to Madison Hut to the Parapet - route down to be determined...as it says below - "How bad can it be?"

The Parapet is definately more exhausting than going over the top of Madison. The Link was not much fun either. I did both of them in dry weather when the footing was 100% reliable, which added to my confidence level.

Slides (particularly South Tripyramid) really mess with my head. What if someone up above starts a rock to falling: can I get out of the way. What if I started a slide that hurt/killed someone down below. I could never live that down. I avoid slides as I get older.

Another vote for the Link (between Castle Ridge & Caps Ridge trail. I never bad mouth trails. I make an exception when it comes to this section of trail.

The footing isn't really too bad, but I still despise the Fishin' Jimmy Trail. Always wet, always dark, always awful.

roadtripper said:

The footing isn't really too bad, but I still despise the Fishin' Jimmy Trail. Always wet, always dark, always awful.

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I am glad I'm not the only one out there who despises the Fish'n Jimmy trail!!!!

I guess we could also lay claim to North Slide and Huntington Ravines, where slipping can be common......and dangerous to your health!

Brian

The footing isn't really too bad, but I still despise the Fishin' Jimmy Trail. Always wet, always dark, always awful.

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Me too! Me too! For some reason I've never liked that trail...

Haven't done some of the trails mentioned like the Link or Parapet, but I recently found the descent off Madison on the Osgood Trail to be not so much fun... more like a rock jumble than a trail! Plus you could constantly see how much more of the jumble you had to descend... Definitely on my list of "not so favorites" (well, except that it had great views )

NewHampshire said:

I guess we could also lay claim to North Slide and Huntington Ravines, where slipping can be common......and dangerous to your health!

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Nope, those are specifically excluded by the OP:

Forget ravine headwalls and similar stretches of steep trail where use of hands / scrambling is required; that's fun.

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I'm not a big fan of Fishin' Jimmy or the Watson Path, either.

Dry river gets my vote just for the fun starting point and this time of year really adds to the fun

The Link - not a timesaver back to the Caps Ridge Trail!! But, I would have to say that having recently survived a trip through the Ice Gulch - Yikes!! I still have the bone bruise to prove it! Haven't even written it up as a trip report yet ......

roadtripper said:

The footing isn't really too bad, but I still despise the Fishin' Jimmy Trail. Always wet, always dark, always awful.

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The trick is to do it in late winter when two or three feet of snow has smoothed it all out for you.

Mahoosuc Notch and Ice Gulch????

Man, those are two of my favorites. Wouldn't do them with a 50 pound backpack, but I enjoy the scrambling. I've done both of them twice and expect to go back for more.

Have not been on it, but I hear the Tom Wiggin trail SUX!

Brian

Yet, another vote for the link... I would put it up there with most likely to break an ankle...

NewHampshire said:

Have not been on it, but I hear the Tom Wiggin trail SUX!

Brian

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There's actually a sign at the top of the trail discouraging its use. I passed it by.

Fishin' Jimmy Trail - when pronouncing be sure to leave out the 'ish' in Fishin'.

I would add the Mount Tremont trail to this list. The switchbacks are short and steep and the footing is bad.

I'll second Watson Path as well... in a foggy drizzle, it was endless, and every 'step' up the trail is really a step and a half for a 6' guy. annoying, slippery, etc...

And not necessarily for bad footing, but the Lincoln Brook Trail beyond the Owls Head slide path... the trail becomes very poorly marked, and keeping on the trail can be tough...

--M. said:

There's actually a sign at the top of the trail discouraging its use. I passed it by.

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Great sign:
Not Recommended - Steep and Loose

MichaelJ said:

Great sign:
Not Recommended - Steep and Loose

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I did this trail last winter, and it was indeed quite steep. I had crampons on, so I can't tell you how loose it was. I thought it was fun - and there were great views through the leafless trees acrross to Mts Wonalancet and Passaconaway! Same goes for the Mount Tremont trail... crampons needed on the steep section near the top. Some of the footing wasn't so great, but that was only for a relatively short section near the summit.

I found parts of the North Twin trail to have lots of loose rock that made me extra-cautious last month. How about the Rocky Branch/Mount Isolation trail, anyone?

Does a trail have poor footing if it is steep or poorly marked?