Trails in the park holding on to a snow pack

[johnnybgood]

Having a free day to myself today I decided to check trail conditions in SNP, only to find the sledding tough.
Actually , that's exactly what I needed today ... a sled.

WhiteOak Canyon Trail was iced over about a few hundred feet from the parking lot . I traversed over the snow & ice for about 100 feet or so , and then returned to the Jeep.

Dark Hollow was a little better , maybe a quarter mile before hitting a large area of snow & ice .

The AT didn't fare much better . There was more loose snow and mud on it than the blue blazed trails decending to waterfalls.

The trail to Hawksbill looked good from the trailhead but once the gradual ascent toward the summit began , it too showed snow packed conditions.

Anyone wishing to take these trails within the next week need traction devices such as microspikes or crampons.

[Missadventure]

thanks for postiing this - hope to get to SNP in a few weeks, and was wondering about snowpack, especially the AT

[Ashevillian]

In Asheville, we've got rid of all of our snow. I live @ 4000 feet and it's gone here as well. Our forcast is to be in the upper 50's and upper 60's for the next 7 days. That should translate to the 40's and 50's for the higher elevations, hopefullly that will melt off a lot of the remaining snow.

[Diatribe]

Thanks for the info Johnny B Good! I was wondering how SNP was faring out this year with all that snow. Well, even though there's still packed snow & ice on a majority of the trails now, this will turn out to be a wonderful blessing, as come mid spring, all that lingering moisture will fill up the water tables for all the springs that seem to slow by mid june.

Johnny B Good: tell all my old friends at Stonehenge I said "godspeed", and I hope to run into you in SNP this spring. Have a great day!

[Netsrak]

Oh yes, I hit Stony Man and Little Stony Man today, and the AT up there was an ice rink. Was not a whole lotta fun (although the views were still great).

High temps are supposed to reach 60° later in the week, though, so that should do some good!