February 2016 Road and Trail Conditions – Is there still snow/ice out there?

[consularrider]

@KWL 133818 wrote:

These two are the worst spots of the upper MVT that I see not resolving for days. Was snow from the Parkway dumped onto the trail at Humpback Bridge?

That wall on the east side of the Humpback bridge is prone to severe drifting which is what I expect happened this time too.

[FFX_Hinterlands]

W&OD in Loudoun is grim. Here’s a shot from Ruritan Circle east and west. This is out near Route 28.

Tom

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[dbb]

@KWL 133818 wrote:

These two are the worst spots of the upper MVT that I see not resolving for days. Was snow from the Parkway dumped onto the trail at Humpback Bridge?

I dont think so. Snow in the Humpback glacier field is pretty clean. I think the snow fence created the drift there. Maybe it was installed backwards and the side of the snow fence that is not supposed to get accumulation was on the grass side

[hozn]

A late report, I realized, but may be useful for someone.

W&OD between Arlington and Vienna/Reston. Some overlap with previous posts.
– Falls Church from Lee Hwy to westward past the citizens bridge is fine.
– The slush just east of Shreve Rd is a lot harder to ride through now than it used to be (when it was firmer). I ended up walking a bit here. Probably would benefit from wider tires.
– The eastern part of Gallows to Cedar is fine (there’s typically some pavement), but it degrades about midway through to something that is pretty tough and very slow to ride.
– West of Cedar Ln to Vienna is a fair bit of slush. Typical conditions (slush) leading up to Park St., more slush leading up to Maple.
– Based on @vern’s report and looking down the trail, I just rode up Church to Beulah; the trail didn’t look great and I was running pretty late by this point.
– From Clarks Crossing everything was pretty good — even the always-snowy section just west of Hunter Mill was passable; they got the snowblower pretty close on that section, apparently (the surrounding snow is still quite deep). Buckthorn Ln. was rideable, but there were a couple slushy sections.
– The snow blowing ends west of Wiehle, at which point I just got on Sunset Hills for the rest of the trip to RTC.

In short, I’m definitely glad I still studded tires on (mtb tires probably would also work, since it’s more slush now than actual ice). And depending on when it starts raining and how much I want to gamble with my schedule, I may additionally detour around the Vienna->Gallows section of the trail on the way home.

[dasgeh]

Another late one, but info I don’t think I’ve seen above:

No problems from the Custis, right on Fort Myer Dr, under Wilson, Meade to Marshall, the path along 110, getting on the sidewalk along Memorial Drive, and the sidepath along Memorial Bridge (aside from the narrow part pictured above). Sidewalks along Henry Bacon and Constitution were 99% clear, probably 100% by now.

[Edit to add] I vote for the title of this thread to be “February 2016 Road and Trail Conditions – How long will blizzard snow survive in 50+ degree weather”

[Raymo853]

@KWL 133818 wrote:

These two are the worst spots of the upper MVT that I see not resolving for days. Was snow from the Parkway dumped onto the trail at Humpback Bridge?

No, that was the adjacent snow fence working as designed. Slatted snow fences like that are great at piling snow behind them. Much better than solid walls or fences.
http://www.snowfencestore.com/why-wooden-snow-fence.html
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow_fence
https://www.extension.purdue.edu/extmedia/ncr/ncr-191.html

[Tom H]

Roosevelt Island lot and trail were still uncleared and nearly unridable this AM due to slush, even with 2.1″ tires on a 29er. Amazingly Roosevelt Bridge sidewalk was good!

[Terpfan]

As noted above, the biggest obstacle I encountered was the Humpback Bridge. Until then, there were some walking spots in Marina trail to MVT and to the Boundary Channel bridge, but the Humpback, it’s like it just snowed there. On the norther side, I was probably on top of 16″ of packed snow. There is a really small line on the southeast side about halfway down. Even after rain today, this will continue to be a problem.

The other issue I ran into was VDOT in Fairfax County dumping snow into giant piles on Rt 1 at every single intersection. So I took it almost the whole way. I’m not entirely sure what I will do on the journey home yet. Still thinking that one through going down Rt 1 is easy, but going up it as a little more of a battle with hills, traffic, etc.

[dbb]

@Terpfan 133855 wrote:

As noted above, the biggest obstacle I encountered was the Humpback Bridge. Until then, there were some walking spots in Marina trail to MVT and to the Boundary Channel bridge, but the Humpback, it’s like it just snowed there. On the norther side, I was probably on top of 16″ of packed snow. There is a really small line on the southeast side about halfway down. Even after rain today, this will continue to be a problem.

I’ve been in contact with the GWMP folks asking for a few minutes of a bobcat’s (that’s Mr Robert Cat to you) time to clear the glaciation. I think the snow fence that was installed a couple of years ago to let the grass on the newly seeded slope did not serve us well. I’ve asked the GWMP remove the snow fence as well.

[KWL]

@dbb 133836 wrote:

I dont think so. Snow in the Humpback glacier field is pretty clean. I think the snow fence created the drift there. Maybe it was installed backwards and the side of the snow fence that is not supposed to get accumulation was on the grass side

Maybe it is time that fence came down. Not that I’m channeling the Monkey Wrench Gang or anything. I thought it was just temporary fencing to keep us fools from riding off down the hill by mistake during the construction.

[Tania]

W&OD Gallows to 29 report

Totally rideable even for a snow chicken like me from Gallows to the tennis courts at Shreve.

Shreve to Little Falls I’d say it’s about 70% clear but the 30% not cleared is rideable only by someone with a lot more courage and skill than me (I was riding studs too). I feel better reading that hozn had to walk part of it! I walked by the tennis courts and rode (out of the saddle, one foot unclipped and ready to flintstone) the rest of it.

It’s easy enough to take quiet side streets from Shreve to Van Buren though so that’s how I came back.

The wooden bridge just east of Little Falls is getting pretty beat up – watch for broken boards.

[Terpfan]

@dbb 133858 wrote:

I’ve been in contact with the GWMP folks asking for a few minutes of a bobcat’s (that’s Mr Robert Cat to you) time to clear the glaciation. I think the snow fence that was installed a couple of years ago to let the grass on the newly seeded slope did not serve us well. I’ve asked the GWMP remove the snow fence as well.

That would be awesome. Let me know if you need any backup in contacting GWMP folks. I get they’re not going to plow the trail, but the amount of snow left there is really a roadblock. The other stuff isn’t nearly as bad as that spot. And it would frankly take them 5 minutes to clean it up.

[consularrider]

@dbb 133836 wrote:

I dont think so. Snow in the Humpback glacier field is pretty clean. I think the snow fence created the drift there. Maybe it was installed backwards and the side of the snow fence that is not supposed to get accumulation was on the grass side

Look at the gaps in the “snow” fence, it won’t stop wind blown snow at all.

[PotomacCyclist]

Looks like there will only be a modest chance of rain in Arlington today. 60F helps, but 60F plus rain would help even more.

WU still shows near-100% chance of rain on Wednesday, over an inch total, and temperatures at or above 60F. That should help with the non-snowdrift, non-snowbank areas.

Overnight temperatures in Arlington and DC could remain above freezing into next week. (Fairfax, Loudoun and Maryland temperatures could drop slightly below freezing on a couple nights.)

[Terpfan]

@PotomacCyclist 133889 wrote:

Looks like there will only be a modest chance of rain in Arlington today. 60F helps, but 60F plus rain would help even more.

WU still shows near-100% chance of rain on Wednesday, over an inch total, and temperatures at or above 60F. That should help with the non-snowdrift, non-snowbank areas.

Overnight temperatures in Arlington and DC could remain above freezing into next week. (Fairfax, Loudoun and Maryland temperatures could drop slightly below freezing on a couple nights.)

I don’t know about Arlington, but a stone’s throw across the river, it’s pouring right now. Which is nice if it ends before my commute home later tonight. Of course, these piles of snow don’t seem to be going anywhere.

[Author]

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