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)
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