Snow Free Trails - New Hampshire - Spring 2009 Edition

'Tis this season! Post here when you find a snow free/dry trail in New Hampshire!

Avery Hill via Avery Hill Trail (Southern Belknaps) - Other than a few small patches (04/01), it's snow free and dry.

South Pawtuckaway via northern loop of white blazed trail from Tower Road - Mostly snow free, not too muddy (03/31).

These are the trails i will be looking for the next few weeks

thanks for the updates

I would be especially interested in conditions on Morgan-Percival, Welch-Dickey- if the ledges are snow/ice free. great thread,thanks to all for the help

North Pawtuckaway via the Boulder trail should be mostly snow free as well, just patches here and there. I live nearby.

blue job mountain is mostly snow free on the trails if looking for something southerly. its neighbor parker mountain is melting out as well.

bryan

Technically it's not the Whites, but it's not far off. The Ledges Trail up Pleasant Mt. (ME) is mostly snow free. From the trailhead, the logging road you start on is very wet. It's almost like walking in a creek. From the steeper section to the ledges there are frequent patches of snow but it's no big deal. From the ledges to the top it is completely bare. There are a couple of patches of snow just below the summit in the area of the solar sheds. No signs yet of any ticks either.

It's barebooting all the way and a real pleasure.

Thanks for that, Ed. I was thinking Pleasant might be pretty clear. Any sense of how the other trails up there are clearing off?
-vegematic

vegematic said:

Thanks for that, Ed. I was thinking Pleasant might be pretty clear. Any sense of how the other trails up there are clearing off?
-vegematic

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My guess is that the South West Ridge Trail would be relatively free of snow until after the tepee where you probably will encounter snow over to the cell phone tower.

The Fire Warden's trail probably is hard packed and icy.

The Bald Peak trail is no doubt similar to the Ledges trail up to ledges. I'm not sure about the ridge, but would imagine that the exposed areas are fairly clear.

There is a lot of speculation in these statements based on general observation of the overall area and some experience with the way the snow usually melts each year.

Red Hill via Red Hill Trail - mostly snow/ice/mud free.

yikes! Snow!

Thanks Jeremy

Jeremy, thanks for starting this thread. Atticus has a friend coming up from Texas next week and while she looks forward to doing some hiking she's not equipped for snow and ice travel. This thread will be of great help in the coming weeks.

We'll be keeping our eye on Black Mt. (Chippewa Trail); Israel; Welch-Dickey; Morgan-Percival; and perhaps even South Moat. Any other trails that may open up will be of interest, too.

Bayle Mountain via Bayle Mountain Trail - still some snow/ice on the snowmobile trail (packed, barebootable) that leads to it, but the Bayle Mountain Trail is snow free.

Mt.Major

Technically not the Whites, but within eye shot- Major is completely barebootable, trip report posted, anyone tried Percival-Morgan yet? Like to give them a shot next weekend. Thanks

MikePS said:

anyone tried Percival-Morgan yet? Like to give them a shot next weekend. Thanks

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On April 2nd in this thread, Silverfox reported the parking areas roped off with signs indicating the trails were closed due to spring conditions.

Loop hike from Buenavista Camp in Ossipees. Up to Ledges, across to Mount Flagg, and back down. Almost no snow. Yea for southern exposure.

I'm curious if anyone has been on the Pompelly or Marlboro trails on Monadnock? Is there still snow there?

jrichard said:

I'm curious if anyone has been on the Pompelly or Marlboro trails on Monadnock? Is there still snow there?

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I believe the Pumpelly Trail is still closed due to ice storm damage?


Another to add to the list of snow-free:

Mt. Shannon via Yellow Trail - snow free and dry

Mt. Flagg (southern ledges) via Mt. Flagg Trail - virtually snow free.

rocket21 said:

I believe the Pumpelly Trail is still closed due to ice storm damage?

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Yes, the Pumpelly trail is still closed (the lower 3 miles, to be specific), along with the Birchtoft trail. Also, the road leading to the Dublin trailhead is closed by order of the town of Dublin. I just called Monadnock State Park this morning to confirm this because I was supposed to do a Pumpelly/Dublin traverse on 4/25 with the AMC. Guess those plans need to change.

The park ranger said that they hope to have all trails open on Monadnock by mid-May, and will keep the web site up-to-date.

http://www.nhstateparks.org/state-parks/alphabetical-order/monadnock-state-park/