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So the bug situation has really ratcheted up this week. Of course it's bad in the woods, but it's terrible even in my back yard. When I rode up Sawyer River Road this morning the black flys were swarming and biting. It is not surprising since they breed in fresh running water, and the Sawyer River is right there! I started out with a natural repellant, but soon switched to Deep Woods OFF! That mostly helped...
Interestingly, the further up the road I went the less black flys and the more mosquitoes. And then as I passed over the first logging bridge the deer flys emerged. IMO they are the worst. As expected it wasn't bad on the way back down from the Sawyer Pond trailhead since the bugs couldn't keep up. But of course when I got down I really hurried to get the bike in the car and drive away.
If you're interested, this link from the UNH Extension Service has some interesting info about black flys. Most of it I already knew, but there were a few tidbits.
Sawyer River Road is closed to vehicular traffic at this time and probably will remain that way for some time. The road is about half washed out in the same place as it was after Irene. This is even after they put in a larger culvert. I would guess that it's time for a large concrete one similar to what they did over in the Experimental Forest in Bartlett 2 years ago. In numerous other places the road is quite rutted; sometimes on the side and sometimes right down the middle! There is a video of it on my Instagram account.
I'm usually pretty happy when it doesn't rain much in the the spring and summer, and we did have a lot of rain in the early spring and even over the winter. However, it's been over a week since we have had any significant rain and things are really dry. And due to that the pollen level has been an 11 out of 12! On my way home from Crawford Notch this morning you could see plumes of pollen, like smoke, whenever there was a breeze. It was actually hard to see Mt Washington! Pretty crazy...
INSTANT BUG REPORT - 4:
Bad Bad Bad Bad Bad
Ice Conditions Report:
Selected Ice Conditions effective February 19, 2026
Just as you would expect following Ice Fest AND a week of truly balmy temps, going to be upper 30's today, the ice can be a mixed bag. I saw someone post about how things are terrible. But digging into it, I realized they were talking about places like the North End that are very well used. It probably gets the most use of all. There are only a few places that have really easy access to moderate climbing and where you can set up a bunch of top-ropes. So that's not unexpected. And of course the climbs that are getting a lot of full sun are getting somewhat punked-out. On my way back from Wolfeboro mid-afternoon a few days ago I took a look at Rainbow Slabs which look as if they are getting pretty funky. And I watched a hunk of the bottom of Way In The Wilderness fall down! IMO it's really the time to start paying attention to what you're walking underneath, any time of the day. Enjoy this weather, but keep paying attention...
Huntington Ravine
numerous options
Repentance
iffy
Standard Route
GREAT conditions
Dracula
IN & very fat
For the full current conditions report, CLICK
HERE
MUSICAL NOTES:
Things start to heat up next week. Community Orchestra concert at Mountaintop Music on Wednesday, Jim McLaughlin Group at Ledge Brewing on Thursday and JMG again on Saturday at Big Day Brewing. Most of the band gigs this summer are early and outside which is really great.
VALLEY CYCLING:
The trails overall are in pretty good shape right now. Most of the blowdown issues have been addressed and there is minimal mud since it's been so dry. Even if we have some rain over the next few days, I think things will still be good. I rode the downhill at Cranmore last weekend and the all of the runs were in pretty good shape. They had done some work that made a positive difference. Hopefully I will have come time this weekend to check out the trails in the Hurricane Zone.
Mobile Version Of NEClimbs:
Up on one of the Mount Washington Valley's finest crags and want to know what that climb you're looking at is? Or maybe you're on your way up from Boston and want to check out the Ice Report for your upcoming weekend plans. Or more likely, you're at work just want to daydream about your next adventure. Well if you have a smart phone handy, you can get to NEClimbs from anywhere you have cell service. While it doesn't offer every single feature of the site and it's not an "app", in mobile form, it does do a whole lot and is very useful. Here is the live link to the mobile version of NEClimbs:
Check it out and if you have issues on your specific phone, please feel free to let me know.
NEClimbs & White Mountain Report On Facebook:
Join us and LIKE us on Facebook. I'll try and post interesting pix every Thursday and the latest Ice Report in the season, tho certainly not the whole Report. Here's where you can check it out:
Remember - climb hard, ride the steep stuff, stay safe and above all BE NICE,
Al Hospers
The White Mountain Report
North Conway, New Hampshire
My best performances often developed out of depression when I used climbing as a tool to forestall suicide rather than a method of achieving it. Dispair inspired three years of 'crazy' soloing.
Climbing is a very dangerous sport. You can get hurt or even kill yourself. When you go climbing, you do so of your own free will. Everything on this site is to be taken with a grain of salt. Don't blame us if you get up some totally heinous route, in over your head and fall and hurt yourself.
