Trail: Whiteface via Blueberry and Passaconaway via Collins, Dicey Mill

Date Hiked: 4/16/06

Conditions: Blueberry Ledge was dry and free of ice and snow until just before the interesection with Wiggins. Patchy snow and ice after. The ledges themselves were bare rock but the low spots in between were icey. Collins was snow and ice all the way to Passaconaway. The downhills were especially treacherous as an early morning dusting of snow covered the real icey spots from the crunchy snow spots. Passaconaway was very icey, traction aids recomended although it is passable with bare boots (barely). Dicey Mill is in good shape, snow and ice disapeared about half way down. Stream crossings pretty easy.

Special Required Equipment: Tractions aids would be nice on Collins, highly recomended (but not required) for the top of Dicey Mill.

Comments: Sunny at Fencroft at 8:30 in the morning, by the time I got to the top of Whiteface it was spitting snow pretty bad, visibilty dropped to a few hundred feet for about a half hour. As soon as I left the summit it cleared up a little. very strange to be sitting in a snow storm and look down and see sunshine on the valley below. Found a Nagalene bottle about half way along Collins. Let me know if you think it is yours.

Although it doesn't show in this picture it is spitting little hard pellets of ice directly into my eyes.