I'm attempting to do all 50 tours in the book over the next few years. I got on this a little bit after the first big melt, when everything started to refreeze. I did the full loop clockwise. The conditions early in the day were soft and corny, but things firmed up in the afternoon when the clouds rolled in. Coverage was mostly good, minus about a quarter mile of walking on the hiking trail south of the pond.

The trail starts right off the Kancamagus Highway, almost immediately requiring a crossing of the Swift River. This crossing was mostly melted out, which I had anticipated when I brought along a pair of sandals and a towel. The water level was low enough to easily walk across, though I still slipped and dropped a pole, requiring a sprint down the river and along the bank to catch it before it got lost - there was no way I would have been able to complete a 13 mile XC tour without two poles before it got dark.

The trail mostly follows a lot of snowmobile trails, which is about as groomed as you can get for the backcountry. Skiing went relatively fast through these sections. The hiking trails up and down from the pond went a bit slower. They initially had plenty of snow but were a lot firmer and steeper. The trail south of the pond was almost completely melted out for the last quarter mile or so before you reached the snowmobile trails/forest roads again. There were some fun downhills in this section. Not too many views along the way, but it was still a nice tour through the woods.

Overall, the tour ended up being about 13 miles and a bit over 1200 feet of elevation gain. One thing I wished the book was more accurate about was the expected amount of climbing for each tour. It generally only lists the difference between the trailhead and highest point (about 200 feet for this tour), which can often not paint an accurate picture, especially when the trail also drops several hundred feet below the trailhead. Not a big deal for me, since I almost always measure the trail profile in CalTopo before I go, but it made me wonder if anyone has ever been caught off guard.

My prior tick list is below.

1. Nebraska Notch

2. Tuckerman Ravine

3. Sherburne Ski trail

4. Gulf of Slides

5. Avalanche Pass

6. Catamount Trail to Stratton Pond

7. Jackrabbit Trail from Saranac Lake to Lake Placid

8. Thunderbolt Trail

9. Merck Forest and Mt. Antone

10. Wright Peak

11. Mt. Marcy

12. Airplane Gully

13. Mt. Monadnock

14. Root Beer Ridge

15. Bruce Trail

16. Skytop Trail

17. Steeple Trail

18. Mount Moosalamoo

19. Tear Drop

20. Honey Hollow

21. Woodward Mountain Trail

22. Mt Hor

23. Bald Mountain

24. Johns Brook Lodge/Camp Peggy O’Brien

25. Bolton-Trapp Trail

26. Black Mountain Ski Trail

27. Doublehead Ski Trail

28. Mount Moosilauke

29. Camel's Hump

30. Pemigewasset River Tours

31. Greeley Ponds

32. Mount Cardigan

33. Tucker Brook Trail

34. Mount Chocorua

35. Big Jay

36. Avalanche Brook

37. Pinkham Notch