Pac-man
New member
Trails: Airline, Star Lake, Osgood, Valley Way
Trail Conditions: Airline was wet (obviously), but nothing terrible for the day after a massive rain. Steep, rocky, and rooty but once you get to Durand Ridge, it was dry with good footing. No blowdowns that I can remember. Everything above treeline was good footing. Valley Way recently had some work done (thank you!), which helped quite a bit to keep the water on the trail to a minimum.
Equipment: None of note.
Comments: Really wanted to get out both days this weekend, but the forecast for Saturday kept deteriorating. However, it seemed like the worst of it would be over Saturday morning, so I decided to delay the start until the afternoon where I hoped the chance of rain/heavy cloud cover would lessen. Got to Appalachia past noon and decided that since I had never gone up Airline, so gave it a shot. Loved Durand Ridge and the views of Adams/Madison and Kings Ravine. To my delight, the clouds had lifted slightly to give a few decent views. While I was on Adams, I was in and out of clouds, which was a cool sensation. Some interesting pictures. Descended Star Lake for variety, and then the clouds were thicker until after I went up and down Madison and started heading down Valley Way. Everything was wet and slippery below treeline, but overall I was happy with this hike because the views were decent and I didn't feel a drop of rain all afternoon. Way better than what I heard from some people who hiked in the presidentials earlier in the day.
Trail Conditions: Airline was wet (obviously), but nothing terrible for the day after a massive rain. Steep, rocky, and rooty but once you get to Durand Ridge, it was dry with good footing. No blowdowns that I can remember. Everything above treeline was good footing. Valley Way recently had some work done (thank you!), which helped quite a bit to keep the water on the trail to a minimum.
Equipment: None of note.
Comments: Really wanted to get out both days this weekend, but the forecast for Saturday kept deteriorating. However, it seemed like the worst of it would be over Saturday morning, so I decided to delay the start until the afternoon where I hoped the chance of rain/heavy cloud cover would lessen. Got to Appalachia past noon and decided that since I had never gone up Airline, so gave it a shot. Loved Durand Ridge and the views of Adams/Madison and Kings Ravine. To my delight, the clouds had lifted slightly to give a few decent views. While I was on Adams, I was in and out of clouds, which was a cool sensation. Some interesting pictures. Descended Star Lake for variety, and then the clouds were thicker until after I went up and down Madison and started heading down Valley Way. Everything was wet and slippery below treeline, but overall I was happy with this hike because the views were decent and I didn't feel a drop of rain all afternoon. Way better than what I heard from some people who hiked in the presidentials earlier in the day.
