RIP to the hiker and condolences to the family.
Not specific to this hikers demise but a general observation about the "unexpected windy and freezing conditions on the Jewell trail"
Conditions on Saturday were a classic for unprepared hikers in the whites. The majority regional weather casts for the Saturday were for warm to hot sunny conditions with a slight chance of late hit or miss showers in northern NH. On occasion there might be a mention of a bit cloudier in the far north. I did not check the Obs higher summits forecast on Friday night as I was at an RMC fundraiser. I woke up early Saturday AM and decided to go hiking and wanted an early start, so I skipped higher summits forecast since I was heading to Owls Head. I do carry a light merino top and bottoms in the pack along with hat, lightweight balaclava, liner gloves, mitts and light fleece. It was foggy in the AM with the summits in the clouds down to or blow 4 K. I get a view west towards VT on my drive south on RT 3 to Lincoln Woods. Usually that is good indication of the mornings weather and it was lot cloudier than expected. Heading up the Lincoln Woods trail the view at the washout up the valley was mostly cloudy down below North Hitchcock. It was cool and a nice temp for hiking. Lincoln Woods Trail is not a sunny route but looking up it was gray. Heading up Owl slide the views over at the Franconia Ridge were clouds all along the ridge to Liberty. It was also quite cool and windy down in the valley so I guessed the weather was not great for the Franconia Ridge loop. Once I got on top of the Owl ridge I cooled down and got out the fleece and liner gloves and kept them on until heading down. Most of the other folks at the summit were putting on an extra layer and the trail runners and underequipped like a group from a boys summer camp from VT were noticeably cooling down. I did get breaks of sun on occasion heading out but when I drove home up the notch it was still mostly cloudy on the summits. When I watched the news that night the weather person noted the upslope clouds that had formed and streaming in from VT all day.
So, no doubt a casual weekend hiker not checking the OBs assumed that it was going to be a hot sunny day on Saturday while it was the opposite up on the summits. I am surprised there were not more rescues and expect the Cog and the autoroad sold a few downhill tickets. I saw plenty of folks walking up the Franconia Parkway on my drive and expect they had a less than stellar day on the ridge.
I always carry warm gear for unexpected conditions and after my ankle break last November on warm day, it was reinforced that when sitting on the ground with an injury and most likely shock that every bit of that warm gear is not optional. Even with the extra gear I was starting to shiver.
