Old trail up, new one down. Wow, was it epic to have Mailbox all to myself AND have no wind not ripping my face off. Literally how often does that combination happen?!?!?!

I arrived to a quiet parking lot (only about 5 other cars) at 7:45 am. The old trail is in fine condition, a couple old trees down. Look for white diamonds on the trees as you approach the junction with the new trail, as there are many social trails which could lead you off to Narnia if you aren't paying attention.

No snow until the boulder field. Here, trace amounts appeared. The final climb at first had trace amounts, then a consistent dusting towards the end. Not enough for spikes on the way down, BUT care and attention was certainly needed, as it was slippery. Met a few people at the top, who promptly left, so I was able to appreciate the quiet and occasional views by myself. Zero wind. Crazy! Poles were VERY helpful (dare I say critical) on the slippery way down. Once back to the boulder field, it was easy cruising to the trailhead via the much longer, but lovely new trail! Only saw a handful of humans all day. 

Arrived at the trailhead at 7:50am on Sunday. The gate was open and the upper lot was about half full, and lower lot had space as well. Bathrooms are open and stocked with toilet paper. Trail is snow-free and dry. Made it to the mailbox around 10:30am, and back down to the trailhead around 12:30pm. 

Mailbox in good condition.  Thought might be muddier with heavy rain last night but wasn’t.  Wished wore trail runners instead of boots.  No snow on trail - just dusting at top so no spikes needed.  With nice weather should be snow free for the weekend.   

Old and new trail in good condition. The tree down at the gate is annoying but should be easy to clear since it’s at the start of the hike…

No snow as of 11/2. Some fall foliage left but barely. Quiet day we didn’t start on the old trail until 9:30 am. Came down the new trail. A handful of people at the mailbox but the trail never felt busy. Gotta love shoulder season hiking.

There's snow on Mailbox right now. The top of the mountain has conditions where it's kind of awkward to wear spikes and kind of awkward not to.

The old trail was in great shape and didn't have any snow until right before the new/old junction. The ground up to that point is nice and firm and there's no mud or anything slippery right now.

All the snow from there up was mostly slush. It was pretty slick in places. There's enough exposed rock from the boulder field to the top that I went all the way up without spikes, but then put them on to descend.

The top was in the clouds today, the only view was the mailbox. There was about 6 inches of snow at the top. It was pretty cold, mainly from wind chill and I was glad for every extra layer in my pack.

The top third of the new trail below the new/old junction has quite a bit more snow than the old trail. There are also several muddy parts and a whole section where the trail had water running over it. It's a more complicated hiking experience right now than the old trail is.

At the bottom I got an interesting glimpse of the Middle Fork micro climate. All the peaks from Mailbox and Teneriffe north down the Middle Fork were in the clouds. Across I-90, Mount Washington was in bright clear sunshine. 

I also noticed that they no longer have a sign saying they lock the gate. I wonder if they stopped doing that? Instead there's a sign where the gate lock sign used to be that says "no overnight camping." (Fourth pic)