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Most hiking guidebooks to New Hampshire base their descriptions on the primary hiking season from Fourth of July to Labor Day. Earlier in the year, hikers who have bare ground at their home may encounter lingering snow and ice or slush and mud in the mountains. Many hikers feel that April is the hardest month to climb 4000-footers due to soft snow and high water which can make them more difficult than in mid-winter.
While weather conditions including snowfall vary dramatically from year to year and region to region, the following are presented as rough guidelines for advance planning. They are not a substitute for calling a local person, listening to the weather forecast, or just looking out the window. Some web sites such as Views from the Top allow users to read and report trail conditions.
By the Spring Equinox around March 20, the heavily-populated southeastern region of New Hampshire will often feature bare ground although there are typically April snowstorms that will temporarily impede travel. The high peaks of the White Mountains often require snowshoes through April and perhaps May, with snowfields in ravines and at higher elevations into June. One common mistake is to falsely assume that because there isn't snow at the trailhead at 1000 feet, there isn't snow at the summit at 5000 feet.
Snow may either be soft requiring snowshoes to avoid sinking or hard-packed requiring crampons to avoid slipping - often both the same day as temperatures change. If you are not familiar with hiking in snow, you should read Considerations for Winter Hiking in New Hampshire because much of that advice applies to spring also. A particular annoyance is snow covering brooks that melts from the bottom, so an unwary hiker falls through what looks like deep snow cover into the brook.
Once snowmelt leaves a bare ground surface, your troubles may not be over. The ground may have frozen several feet deep, and it is the top layer exposed to the sun that will melt first. This leaves a layer of saturated soil over a still-frozen layer of impermeable ground, and now you have mud. Mud varies from a sticky layer that messes up your car and house when you track it in, to several feet deep with properties similar to quicksand.
Hiking in mud can chew up the trail, and some areas such as Pawtuckaway State Park actually close trails during mud season to protect them. Where hiking is allowed, most agencies request that you stay in the middle of the trail even if it is muddy rather than trying to stay dry on the edge and creating a wider muddy trail. Wear rubber boots or go elsewhere if the mud is too deep to walk in.
Mud season brings a new set of driving issues. Some roads (particularly private logging roads) that are open in the winter may be gated during mud season to protect the road surface from excessive wear. Just because a road is not gated doesn't mean that it can be safely driven. (Can you imagine getting so stuck in the MIDDLE of a town road that the dump truck that pulls you out uses two lengths of chain?) On dirt roads, the sides may be softer so drivers have a habit of staying near the middle - watch out for someone coming the other way! The ground may be too soft to park on the side of the road, and the parking lot if any may also be soft.
Many state park roads are gated at the end of the park season, and won't open until mid-May or later regardless of conditions.
The White Mountain National Forest now has a web page for seasonal closures of Forest Service roads, which doesn't list quite the same roads as once appeared on the New England Peakbagging web site.
While some high-elevation streams may still be iced over in early spring, rains and snowmelt will usually cause them to be at their highest levels of the year. On a warm day, the water may rise several inches due to snowmelt and a crossing that looked OK on the way in may be too high going out. It is often desirable to select a route without stream crossings or with bridged crossings.
Once the ground is starting to dry out and the weather warms up, it may seem like prime hiking season. Guess again - first you have to survive bug season. Black flies usually start around early May in the White Mountains and taper off over the next couple months, while mosquito season may be a month later. You can wear repellent which makes you sticky and runs in your eyes when you sweat, use heavy clothes or bug shirts which make you hot when you walk in them, or move fast to outrun the bugs. If you can tolerate bugs while walking but they keep you from getting a good rest, try bringing a large bug net (such as those designed to go over cots) to put over you during breaks.
In bug season, try to avoid areas near swamps or brooks where insects are thickest. Pick a trail on the windy side of the mountain or with open areas. You may prefer easier trails than usual so you can swat bugs without being as careful of your footing.
Like snow and mud, the insects will gradually fade away, and by Labor Day you can rest in peace. Oops, it's starting to get dark earlier, time to get moving again.
Lyme disease is not as common in New Hampshire as in southern New England, but it is still a good idea to check yourself for ticks and remove them before they become attached. The larger wood ticks which were once more common near the Maine border now seem to have spread across the state.
The major White Mountain summits often have lingering snow until June, both at high elevations and at shady spots in the ravines where snow has drifted. Some trails such as the headwall on the Tuckerman Ravine Trail may still be closed due to avalanche danger.
Warm weather may tempt you to dress lightly, but beware of the sun reflecting off snow which can give you a sunburn twice as fast. You may need sunscreen in unusual places for this upward glare.
Packed snow in center melts more slowly
Red and white trilliums
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