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RyanK817
01-02-2016, 23:57
My buddies and I are wanting to do a weekish-long trip at the end of April. I've hiked through the Presidentials a couple of times in the July-August timeframe, but I'm not familiar with spring weather in the Whites. I know the weather is always unpredictable up there, but what are the conditions like on average around the end of April and beginning of May? Is there a good chance there will still be a lot of snow and ice on the trails between Franconia and Pinkham Notches?

Feral Bill
01-03-2016, 00:48
It will most likely be winter conditions. Maybe excellent winter conditions, but snow and ice.

swamp dawg
01-03-2016, 01:09
Stinger and I tried the Whites in late April several years back and faced a large amount of snow and ice at elevation on the AT. We only had trail runners and no crampons which made the hike a challenge so much so we retreated back to the Mass. border and hiked north into Vermont. We southern boys decided to hike Vermont because of the lower elevation and lack of thick ice. We only encountered snow and ice on a few mountains tops as we hiked into mid May. swamp dawg

peakbagger
01-03-2016, 09:08
April is generally regarded as the hardest month of the year for day hiking in the whites. Generally the early part of the month is winter conditions but at some point it transitions over to spring conditions and the snow pack gets "rotten" which can lead to almost impossible travel as the snow will not support snow shoes. Along major hiking trails there is a phenomena called the "rail" that forms. Over the course of the winter the snow is compacted into ice along the major trails. It takes far longer to melt than the surrounding snow which gets "rotten". For a couple of weeks the choice is try to walk along the top of an icy raised mound of snow or sink a couple of feet on either side of the mound. Shady areas will hold deep snow well into Mid May. The other issue is stream crossings, a sunny warm day can cause a major change in stream flows over the course of a day. There are trails that have good sun exposure in the spring and they are quite popular. If you insist on coming up, there is a lot to be said to set up a basecamp and day hiking. Barnes Field at Dolley Copp campground is quite popular and open year round as well as several NF campgrounds along the Kancamagus highway.

A reminder that the Long Trail is closed in spring so that isn't a good alternative.

eblanche
01-03-2016, 09:21
April is generally regarded as the hardest month of the year for day hiking in the whites. Generally the early part of the month is winter conditions but at some point it transitions over to spring conditions and the snow pack gets "rotten" which can lead to almost impossible travel as the snow will not support snow shoes. Along major hiking trails there is a phenomena called the "rail" that forms. Over the course of the winter the snow is compacted into ice along the major trails. It takes far longer to melt than the surrounding snow which gets "rotten". For a couple of weeks the choice is try to walk along the top of an icy raised mound of snow or sink a couple of feet on either side of the mound. Shady areas will hold deep snow well into Mid May. The other issue is stream crossings, a sunny warm day can cause a major change in stream flows over the course of a day. There are trails that have good sun exposure in the spring and they are quite popular. If you insist on coming up, there is a lot to be said to set up a basecamp and day hiking. Barnes Field at Dolley Copp campground is quite popular and open year round as well as several NF campgrounds along the Kancamagus highway.

A reminder that the Long Trail is closed in spring so that isn't a good alternative.

I don't think much more is needed to be said. Excellent post! Described exactly my hike last year on Chocorua postholing on either side of the rail several feet deep.

egilbe
01-03-2016, 10:20
I hiked the rail leading to the top of Old Speck in early May. Was not a fun experience. Bare ground on either side of the trail, but the trail had 4 to 6 feet of rotten, thawing, slushy snow and it was just firm enough to hold your weight for a second or two, or a step, and then it would collapse under your feet. Often times, there was ice cold water underneath to fill my boots.

4eyedbuzzard
01-03-2016, 11:26
My buddies and I are wanting to do a weekish-long trip at the end of April. I've hiked through the Presidentials a couple of times in the July-August timeframe, but I'm not familiar with spring weather in the Whites. I know the weather is always unpredictable up there, but what are the conditions like on average around the end of April and beginning of May? Is there a good chance there will still be a lot of snow and ice on the trails between Franconia and Pinkham Notches?Just an observation, but most of us who live up here in the Whites would more likely be seeking to travel down towards Chattanooga if we wanted to hike in April. April and May are probably our two worst months for hiking.

Slo-go'en
01-03-2016, 13:38
I leave the White mountains to hike somewhere else in April. NC/TN is good place to hike in April.

The snow pack is at it's deepest here in the Whites at the end of March and early April. Then we transition into "mud season" which lasts until about mid May and then into "Black fly" season which lasts into June. By about July 4th it's safe to go into the woods around here again.

We might not get a lot of snow this winter (the ground is barely covered now), but that could lead to an early and nasty mud season. It's kind of hard to tell what the effects of this years massive El Nino will be for the spring, but it probably won't be good. The last El Nino gave us some bad ice storms which made a mess out of the trails due to down limbs and trees, hope we don't get one of those but there is a good chance we will.

peakbagger
01-03-2016, 15:21
Due to work commitments I would usually end up with a weeks vacation I had to take the last week of April/first week of May. I did several sections of the AT south of the whites over the years in that time frame. Spring usually means more unstable weather, but I managed to do New York and NJ over two years, SNP, and PA north of Swatera Gap over the years. It was usually one good day, one drizzly day and one rainy day then repeat. The only folks that would be doing sustained backpacking in the whites are folks from outside the area and maybe a few college groups.

One year it took a group we were in 2 hours to go two miles, we barebooted in the morning over two summits, it warmed up in the afternoon and we switched to snowshoes around lunch and within 1/2 hour I was postholing with snowshoes, my friends got a lot of laughs until it started happening to them. Three to four feet of rotten snow and when the surface breaks its crotch deep. Other years I have seen the "rail" 4 to 6 feet high. It will end up about 2" wide and unless you can duck walk with snowshoes it can take hours to go short distance.

Do both yourselves and the trails a favor by coming earlier in late March (winter conditions) or the end of May and feed the black flies.

RyanK817
01-03-2016, 18:41
Thanks for all the great feedback. We'll hit the trail somewhere farther south.