Trails Used
Avalon Trail
Trail Conditions
Notes
Excellent short hike despite raining when we reached the summit. Cleared up as we descended.
Parking
Lots of parking at the train depot.
Water Crossings
Easily crossed
Wildlife
Minimal as it was raining at the summit and it was windy
Also on this trip
Trails Used
Avalon Trail, Willey Range Trail, A-Z Trail, Mt. Tom Spur
Trail Conditions
Equipment
Notes
Trails are all in decent condition. On and off microspikes, mostly used when descending from the various summits. The monorail was all the May things: stable and friendly in places, icy or pointy in others, hanging on by a thread in others. Looked like some folks were making it bare boot, but I am not that bold :). Some hikers reported that the Willey stairs coming up from the South were largely ice free, though wet and missing some rungs. It starting sprinkling as I was getting to the car at 1:30, so things will stay wet.
Parking
First car there along the road!
Water Crossings
2 crossings of note were easily rock-hoppable.
Wildlife
None yet...
Also on this trip
Trails Used
Avalon Trail, Willey Range Trail, A-Z Trail
Trail Conditions
Equipment
Notes
Mashed potato snow monorail began after the last water crossing on Avalon, just before the A-Z intersection. Put on micros but, honestly, full-on crampons would likely have worked better. It was intermittent monorail, mostly decaying and unstable but with a few stable parts, below maybe 3300 feet or so. More solid monorail higher up giving way to solid snowpack along the ridge. Not the most fun conditions, but the day was beautiful. Had lunch on Avalon and just happened to catch before and after pictures of the backside of Frankenstein Cliff with the wildfire smoke billowing up. In case you didn't hear, a wildfire broke out (literally as we were eating lunch on Avalon) around Arethusa Falls and in front of Frankenstein Cliff. It trapped the Conway Scenic in the notch and they had to bus the passengers back to North Conway.
Parking
It was empty today. We got a spot right at the station after 10.
Water Crossings
All easy hops (which isn't actually good at this time of year -- water is lower than normal).
Wildlife
Saw one butterfly and one midge kind of thing.
Also on this trip
Trails Used
Avalon, Willey Range, .9 trail from Field to Mt. Tom Spur.
Trail Conditions
Equipment
Notes
Mix bag of conditions. Barefoot to the second water crossing and then but the Kats on and kept them on until I got back to the first big water crossing. Heading up to Field was pure joy and had no trouble following the rail. The trail from Field to Willey has a lot of snow and spiking over to Willey was fine but on the return trip the snow had soften and I was beginning to punch through.The trail was deceiving I would be trudging along minding my on business and "Blam" post hole.oh, and the monorail on Willey can be tough. Not much surface area and your right up against the pines. Up to Tom was uneventful and the trip down as too bad as long as you take your time. There's enough rocks, exposed forest floor along the trail to navigate safely. The two water crossins on Tom can be intimidating with the volume of water passing under where you need to get across. As for the two large water crossing on Avalon I used a pair of wading socks on the first crossing and hopped from the large rock to the flat shoreline rock on my way up. On the way back I opted to walk across the tree standling the brook. Made it 3 quarters of the way and dove for the shoreline and yes I got wet. The next crossing was much easier since I was wet I just walked across.Glad I won't have to deal with these three peaks under April conditions again.
Parking
Not a problem. First one there and only one other car when I departed.
Water Crossings
The 2 large water crossing on Avalon are intimidating. All others are rock hoppable.
Wildlife
Heard three flies and lots of cob webs but no spiders.
Trails Used
Avalon Trail
Trail Conditions
Equipment
Notes
A windy day on trail. Plenty of hikers going up and doing the loop up to Field. We did up and back. Crowded summit, but plenty of room up there. Trail etiquette on display was a nice touch.
Parking
Plenty of parking!
Water Crossings
2 stream crossings, moving quickly, crossed with deadfall and rocks. Able to get across without wet boots. Kinda sketchy.
Wildlife
Nope
Also on this trip
Trails Used
Avalon Trail, A-Z Trail, Mt. Tom Spur, Willey Range Trail, Avalon Trail
Equipment
Notes
Nice spring conditions today! Some bare rocks in the beginning of the hike. Soft snow but consolidated enough that we didn’t need snowshoes. I wore spikes for steep sections for purchase and took them off on the flats. My friend preferred to bare boot most of the way to avoid snow balling up under the spikes. Snow was getting slushy by the end of the hunt near the trailhead. Clear views all around! Windy in places, especially the wind tunnel parking lot in the notch.
Also on this trip
Trails Used
Avalon Trail, Willey Range Trail, A-Z Trail, Mt Tom Spur
Trail Conditions
Equipment
Notes
Trail was well-packed throughout. Microspikes were sufficient. One could even go bare boots in the lower part of Avalon Trail. Willey Range Trail after Mt Field had some narrow and overgrown sections (I didn't like my clothes making contact with vegetation).
Parking
Free parking (donation suggested) at train station, and free parking along the road
Water Crossings
Mostly non-technical. There was one spot near the middle of Avalon Trail that required a short walk on a log followed by a hop. Poles would be helpful there.