Trails Used

Appalachian Trail, Mahoosuc Trail

Trail Conditions

Notes

Sometimes you just need to abandon your lists and projects and return home to where your love of hiking began. Today was one of those days. I adore Old Speck and have climbed her more than 150 times now. She is home. The rain yesterday left everything wet. There was plenty of standing water and mud down low. The rocks were all wet for my ascent and my descent but having done this same hike many times in the rain, I have a system that works well to keep me upright. By the time I was almost back to the car, the rocks were drying out nicely so those coming later will have an easier time of it. Footing is excellent on both trails. Just prepare for wet and muddy feet and legs. This was just the loveliest day. I only saw 8 humans and the 1 dog all morning. It felt great to be back in my old stomping grounds.

Parking

Ooodles of parking when I arrived at 6:30am. I think there were 4 other cars in the lot and they looked like they had been there overnight.

Water Crossings

Easy rock ups even for this fun sized human. Water is flowing well though if you need to filter.

Wildlife

None until I was almost back to the car and even then the breeze kept them at bay. No bug spray needed.

Trail Conditions

Notes

Climbed the tower of terror. First Maine 4k to celebrate Brian's 4kECD-366 finish. Group hike. Posting as part of NE67/100Highest challenge.

Trails Used

Appalachian Trail

Trail Conditions

Equipment

Notes

Started with a bare trail, but got some flurries along the way. Threw rock spikes on the second eyebrow junct. Some rocks were wet/ slippery without traction & some were ice covered. Black ice when under the fresh coating of snow was fun surprise. Probably got maybe a couple inches in higher elevation, was sticking & the balling up spikes are one way to “keep you on your toes” ❄️👠 There was solid monorail in sections but it was a bit uneven, so a fun balancing act. Probably a good time to get it if you like water crossings you don’t have to drown or wade knee deep in. Oh & this trail dad finally got to get a 4k outside of the NH white mountains, happy to report on my first whites Mainer! Dont forget, New England false spring came & now we’re back to… well, mid-season.. maybe not quite spring? Cold weather today after shorts this weekend, seems a tease. Had a group of us celebrating a big day, for a friends 4kECD - 366 finish, yay!! Thanks for inviting the ole man. Anyways, be WICKED safe bub & happy hiking 🥾 Your loving trail father ❤️

Water Crossings

Rock hop-able

Trails Used

AT

Trail Conditions

Equipment

Notes

Windy, 12° at summit. Snowshoes until last 2 miles. Mostly for televators going up. Post hole potential at higher elevations. Easier walking through barefoot churn with snowshoes. Crampons (K10s) last two miles due to intermittent ice. Microspikes would also work. Fire tower door swinging freely so careful when climbing it doesn’t give you the smack down if windy.

Water Crossings

First still snow/ice bridge. The rest easy.

Trails Used

Eyebrow, Old Speck

Trail Conditions

Equipment

Notes

The hike up Old Speck began with 6 to 8 inches of new snow at the base (0:13, 1:09). While the Eyebrow Trail offered a fun, steep ascent with rungs and handrails (1:00, 2:03), it presented hazards such as icy, steep footing and sections of slidy snow that required extreme caution (2:12, 4:17). The initial approach up this trail was slow going, taking about an hour to cover just the first two-thirds of a mile (3:58, 4:04). Higher up, the snow depth decreased to around 2 inches, but the trail became soft and heavily churned by other hikers (8:40, 14:02).

Parking

The fee for Grafton State Park was covered for the season

Wildlife

Numerous snowshoe hare prints were seen

Trails Used

Old Speck Trail, Eyebrow Trail, Mahoosuc Trail

Trail Conditions

Equipment

Notes

We wore snowshoes door-2-door. Eyebrow hadn’t seen much, if any, activity recently so it was straight trail breaking in 6-8” down low (more higher up). The tricky bits were all doable in snowshoes as the deep snow covered most of the ice. A split boarder set off up the AT this morning and went about two miles up before heading into the woods. This packed the trail nicely. Above his tracks, there was a firm base with an inch or two of new snow. Deeper snow at the tower. We took off the snowshoes and carefully climbed the tower. The latch on the gate at the top is broken, so pay attention if you’re up there. On the way down we encountered a spiker with his corgi. They weren’t postholing, but did churn the trail a bit. Do yourself a favor and bring snowshoes…especially if it warms up. There is still several feet of snow up high.

Parking

Lot had about an inch of new snow. Iron ranger is covered for the season. Outhouses are available…bring your own TP.

Water Crossings

Nothing of note. All bridged or hoppable

Trails Used

Old Speck Trail

Trail Conditions

Equipment

Notes

The trail was hard-packed snow mixed with areas of ice. I started out with Hillsound microspikes which worked fine on firm snow but they were slipping on ice. I need to sharpen the spikes. I switched to Katoohla K-10 crampons which worked great on the ice, especially on the descent. The trail was firm most of the way with a few, minor softer areas. Our snowshoes stayed on our backpacks the whole time. The views were excellent from the top of the fire tower but my hands froze holding on to the metal bars while climbing up and down with just liner gloves. The conditions are great now.

Parking

Plenty of spots

Water Crossings

Rock-hoppable

Trails Used

Old Speck Trail

Trail Conditions

Equipment

Notes

We started in microspikes due to a hard packed trail head. Shortly after, a thin 1/2-1 inch frosting of wet snow was sitting on top. After less than 1/2 of a mile, due to balling under the spikes and the trail being slippery in the steeper sections, we switched to snowshoes. We kept the shoes on for the remainder of the hike. The last mile to the top had areas of drifted snow and a couple of spots where it took a bit of discerning to stay on the trail. We missed the last sharp left turn before the spur to the top, so that piece is a bit off trail.

Parking

Plowed and plentiful parking.

Water Crossings

None