Lion Head Trail - Winter Route vs Summer Route

Is there a significant difference between the Winter and Summer routes of the Lion Head Trail? None of my AMC maps or Caltopo.com show the different routes.

Is there a map online somewhere that shows the different routes?
I assume Winter route rejoins Summer route before treeline? I haven't been up that trail in awhile but I don't remember two sets of cairns anywhere.

If anyone can explain chief differences or can refer me to a map with both routes I'd appreciate it.

Yep, winter route starts on the fire road, east of the TR trail.

This map looks about right.

http://woodtrekker.blogspot.com/2013/02/trip-report-mt-washington-failed-solo.html

(Caution: it shows the route extending all the way down to the TR trail - i.e., it shows a shortcut from the TR to the fire road, where the TR trail comes closest to the Raymond Cataract branch of the Cutler. That shortcut is not on maps either, so it doesn't always get broken out. It's pretty obvious on the ground if you know where to look for it, but if in doubt stay on the TR trail toward Hermit Lake and double back on the fire road.)

The above-treeline section is marked with temporary posts, not cairns.

nartreb said:

Yep, winter route starts on the fire road, east of the TR trail.

This map looks about right.

http://woodtrekker.blogspot.com/2013/02/trip-report-mt-washington-failed-solo.html

(Caution: it shows the route extending all the way down to the TR trail - i.e., it shows a shortcut from the TR to the fire road, where the TR trail comes closest to the Raymond Cataract branch of the Cutler. That shortcut is not on maps either, so it doesn't always get broken out. It's pretty obvious on the ground if you know where to look for it, but if in doubt stay on the TR trail toward Hermit Lake and double back on the fire road.)

The above-treeline section is marked with temporary posts, not cairns.

Click to expand...

Thanks. Found a lot of blog posts with vague descriptions but no actual map.

The summer route crosses a slope that becomes dangerous in winter. The winter routes have changed over time due to changing conditions. For instance, a few years before I first climbed the Lions Head route in winter there had been a large avalanche that cleared a route up Lions Head and the winter route followed it. Over time, the slide path grew in and the winter route was moved elsewhere.

Haven't been there is a while so I can't give you any info on the recent route.

Doug

For whatever it is worth the winter trail is marked on OpenStreetMap.org: https://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=16/44.2634/-71.2844&layers=C

I actually never hiked up Lions Head winter route, so I don't know how accurate it is. I can vouch for the location of the summer trail on OSM as I did some work on it based on my gps traces.

iAmKrzys said:

For whatever it is worth the winter trail is marked on OpenStreetMap.org: https://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=16/44.2634/-71.2844&layers=C

I actually never hiked up Lions Head winter route, so I don't know how accurate it is. I can vouch for the location of the summer trail on OSM as I did some work on it based on my gps traces.

Click to expand...

This does match up with the track in previous post so I guess that is the current route.

DayTrip said:

This does match up with the track in previous post so I guess that is the current route.

Click to expand...

If you have a recent Garmin model you can get OSM maps pre-compiled in Gramin format. It really boils down to 3 fairly straight-forward steps:
1) select map region from a drop down menu at http://daveh.dev.openstreetmap.org/garmin/Lambertus/latest/kml/kml.html and download it. The region gets highlighted when you make a selection so you will see what map area you will get.
2) copy it to /Garmin folder on your device (I use memory card on my eTrex for this purpose) and
3) enable the map for display via map options -> Select Map menu.

You can read more about this and other ways to get OSM onto your Garmin gps here:
http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/OSM_Map_On_Garmin/Download

You will get the latest version of OMS (updated every week or so), but you won't get contour lines, so don't get rid of your Garmin topo maps just yet...