Lauriep
03-12-2015, 07:29
The following report comes from the Potomac A.T. Club district manager for Maryland:
"95% of the ground is now bare in the valleys except the higher elevations west of Cunningham Falls State Park over towards Wolfsville. And in CFSP nearly all the east exposed slopes are bare of snow. The north and shaded areas are still quite snow covered although to a shallow depth." (Not sure who Rick is quoting here--maybe Maryland DNR).
This leads me to believe that the snow will melt off by the weekend, or be so close as to be inconsequential. One mile of slick hiking in some hollow, rocky patch or shaded area perhaps, unpredictable where that would be.
Spring break hikers coming through Maryland into Harpers Ferry yesterday noted that a lot of the snow had melted and there were patches of bare ground.
Portions of Loudoun Heights (A.T. up to the ridge just south of Harpers Ferry), which is steep and north-facing and probably got a fair bit of traffic to pack snow into ice, may have slippery conditions into the weekend. The very steep stone steps where the A.T. descends into the historic lower town have been closed due to snow and ice for several days, but there's a detour of just a few hundred feet.
Laurie
"95% of the ground is now bare in the valleys except the higher elevations west of Cunningham Falls State Park over towards Wolfsville. And in CFSP nearly all the east exposed slopes are bare of snow. The north and shaded areas are still quite snow covered although to a shallow depth." (Not sure who Rick is quoting here--maybe Maryland DNR).
This leads me to believe that the snow will melt off by the weekend, or be so close as to be inconsequential. One mile of slick hiking in some hollow, rocky patch or shaded area perhaps, unpredictable where that would be.
Spring break hikers coming through Maryland into Harpers Ferry yesterday noted that a lot of the snow had melted and there were patches of bare ground.
Portions of Loudoun Heights (A.T. up to the ridge just south of Harpers Ferry), which is steep and north-facing and probably got a fair bit of traffic to pack snow into ice, may have slippery conditions into the weekend. The very steep stone steps where the A.T. descends into the historic lower town have been closed due to snow and ice for several days, but there's a detour of just a few hundred feet.
Laurie