Lakes of the Clouds Hut, Mt. Monroe (5,384 ft), and Mt. Washington (6,288 ft) 7-22-23 thru 7-23-23

DAY 1
Distance: 4.42 mi.
Elevation: 2,484 ft (overall) 2,603 ft (total)
Time: (with a 9 year old setting the pace) 2:34 (Gem Pool) 5:33 (Hut)
Trails: Ammonoosuc Ravine Trail

Once my oldest daughter was able to see one of the AMC's huts in person, she wanted to stay at one. So for Christmas last year I surprised her with a reservation for the two of us at the Lakes of the Clouds Hut. The plan would be for us to hike up to the hut on the first day, then hike up Mt. Monroe and Mt. Washington the second day before hiking back down to the truck.

Since we only had to make it to the hut in time to check in before supper, I wasn't worried about our pace and the way up and let my daughter set the pace the entire time. The hike from the Ammo parking lot to the junction just above the base station seemed to go pretty quick for a 9 year old who is just getting over being sick setting the pace. The trail is easy to follow and has nothing really difficult about it other than maybe the 1 brook crossing. Water wasn't super high today, so it went well with my daughter just wanting a hand to make sure she didn't slip off the logs that we used to walk across the water.

The first and biggest brook crossing of the day

After the junction near the base station the trail got a bit muddy (lots of rain this summer and more this week) and a bit rockier. The trail follows right next to the river which is neat (I always like a trail next to a river/brook), but this does mean it can get narrow if the bank is steep. There is also a reroute being worked on at this time to avoid part of this as there is a section of trail that is getting eroded by the river. I didn't get a picture of this section because it was lightly raining at the time. About halfway to the Gem Pool we did start to have some very light rain today. It wasn't enough for me to put on my rain jacket, but I did put on my pack cover so all of our clothes, camera, and other stuff for the night would stay dry. My daughter put on her rain jacket, but mainly because the cool mist on her arms was making her a bit colder than she would like. By the time we reached the Gem Pool, the rain was done for the day, even though the clouds and fog remained.

Liliana at Gem Pool

After taking a nice break at the pool and having some snacks, we started the steep climb up to the hut. I had only done this trail in winter so far so I didn't know how rocky the trail would be, just that it was going to be steep almost all of the way to the hut. Because it was going to be steep, I made sure to let my daughter set the pace so we wouldn't get her to tired at any point.

A small ladder high up on the trail

The trail above the pool was about as rocky as I would have expected given how much use it sees and where it is located. There were also some spots I thought were fun as they were a bit scrambly. My daughter seemed to like them too, but she is a fan of things like that as well. The only real difficult parts are the places where the trail has some water flowing down it or you it crosses the brook higher up. Some of these spots just make for possibly tricky footing.

Liliana enjoying herself near the falls above the trail

As the trail starts to level out some near the hut, Liliana thought it was fun hiking in the clouds, but she was also really looking forward to getting to the hut so we could take a break, but more importantly she could pick out her bunk bed. Just over a hundred feet from the hut it was still so foggy that she couldn't see the hut. I was able to just make out the top of the roof line through the clouds, but only really because I had been there before. Liliana was excited to be so close, but wasn't happy I was spending times taking pictures of us in the clouds instead of going inside.

Even though you can't see it, we're there

Once inside, we checked in and went to our bunk room. Our room had bunks that went 3 levels high and Liliana was thinking the whole trip she wanted the top bunk. She climbed up to the top and checked it out, but in the end decided she didn't like being that high up and choose to take the second bunk with me below her. This is still about as high as a normal bunk bed anyways. After we set out all of our gear we were going to need in our bunks, we got some hot choculate and checked out the rest of the hut. Once ready, we had a great meal and were able to talk with some other nice hikers. After supper we played some card games and a couple rounds of Jenga after watching a couple have a truly impressive game of Jenga that ended with a very tall stack and almost no moves left over at all.

Checking out the view from the top bunk

Google Earth representation of the the first day

DAY 2
Distance: 9.2 mi.
Elevation: 1,207 ft (overall) 1,894 ft (total)
Time: (with a 9 year old setting the pace) 0:37 (Monroe) 1:09 (Hut) 3:44 (Washington) 9:36 (Cog) 9:57 (Total)
Trails: Mt. Monroe Loop, Crawford Path, Trinity Heights Connector, Gulfside Trail, Jewell Trail, Base Station Road

Day 2 and we are ready to hit the summits of this hike. After a hearty breakfast at the hut, we packed up our gear and went outside. We a couple parting shots of Liliana and I in front of the hut before we headed up to Mt. Monroe. There was a mix of sun and some high clouds to start the day, but the forecast was for increasingly better conditions. We had a good amount of sun for our short-ish (I do have a 9 year old with me) hike up to the summit of Mt. Monroe. As we got to the summit, the wind picked up some and we had some clouds just a little bit above us. The wind was enough that we both put on a layer to stay warm on the summit. Liliana was super excited to be on top of the first peak of the day and her first 5000 footer.

The two of us ready to leave the hut

Liliana on the summit of Mt. Monroe

We enjoyed some time at the summit, but we knew that we couldn't spend all morning here as we needed to hike back down past the hut and then up the steady rocky climb to Mt. Washington before making the long hike back down to the truck. The hike back down to the hut went well with the one steep spot requiring Liliana to climb down facing the rock instead of away from it so that she felt more comfortable. Soone enough we were back to the hut for a quick bathroom break before climbing up Mt. Washington.

View south from Mt. Monroe

Looking back down to the hut

As we started our climb up Mt. Washington, the summit was still in the clouds. But as the forecast predicted, the clouds got higher and thinner the longer we climbed. The trail is easy to follow here despite being completely on the open rocks. Liliana was doing well setting the pace, but was a little more tired than I had hoped for. This was her first multi day hike though, so I couldn't complain too much. We saw lots of other people on the trail with many of them giving Liliana words of encouragement and saying how good she was doing for her age.

Looking up towards the summit of Mt. Washington

By the time we were probably three quarters of the way to the summit of Mt. Washington the clouds had cleared and we had great views all around us. We really did luck out considering this trip was planned 8 months ago. As we neared the summit, things were getting busier and our pace was slowing some. It wasn't until we had been at the top for a little bit that I noticed it was already about 2pm, and we still had more than 5 miles back to the truck. As much as we both wanted too spend more time at the summit, we cut it shorter than planned. We were still able to check out a lot of things, rest some, and replenish our water, but we had a lot of hiking to do still. So we walked close to the summit, avoiding the long line, so that between people taking pictures Liliana could walk over the high point of the mountain (making it official of course). We then went just past the summit sign and took pictures with a nice view in the background instead of at the sign.

Liliana on the summit of Mt. Washington

After our photos, we headed for the Great Gulf and Mt. Clay. The plan was to climb down the Jewell Trail back to the truck making for a nice loop while getting my a few miles of Red Lining as well (I hadn't done the Jewell Trail before). Coming down the rocky terrain towards the top of the Jewell Trail proved to be a little bit harder for Liliana than I thought it would be. Her feet were starting to get sore and climbing around on rough terrain was a bit harder for her. In her defense though, we had been walking on solid rock all day though and in the end she was still making good progress.

The view north from just below the summit of Mt. Washington

Liliana working her way down the mountain

For me, the highlight of coming down this way is the view into the Great Gulf from the trail as it goes right around the top of it where it drops steeply off down from the ridge. To me this is the best place to get a real sense of just how big the gulf really is. Liliana also really liked this area and it was great to spend some time here taking a break with her.

Looking out over the Great Gulf

After our last short climb around the back side of Mt. Clay, we finally hit the Jewell Trail and were ready to really start the descent. By this time, we were also starting to feel the effects of being above treeline in the sun and we could tell our foreheads were getting a bit red. I don't do the best with sunscreen, and I forgot all about it again today with Liliana since we started in the clouds. Even though we were late to do so, we did put some sunscreen on now to keep things from getting too bad.

Looking back over to the hut from the Jewell Trail

I know lots of people like hiking these two peaks together using the loop we were doing, but to me I was dissapointed in the Jewell Trail. I'm not sure what I was really expecting from it, but I found it felt like it wandered a bit too much and really could have used a few more small cairns and a few blazes on the rocks would have been nice in some spots as well. While on open rocks, the trail at times makes a turn and the only real indication of this is paying attention to how much wear and tear there is on the surface of the rocks. Coming down one field of rocks, we saw the group in front of us and behind both go straight when the trail made a left and followed the side of the rock field. This resulted in the other hikers wandering around not sure where the trail was or where they were going until they found a way out by trampling over the fragile vegetation above treeline. In this case, there was a wide and very beaten path over and through the plants that will likely never recover.

Descending the Jewell Trail

Once we got to the treeline we were happy to be in the side and took a small break since our sunburn was starting to affect us some. Luckily the trail becomes smoother and eventually not as steep as well. This meant my daughter was enjoying it a bit more and we were able to pick our speed up some. To pass the time and try to keep ourselves going through this section, my daughter would ask random questions and we would then discuss the subject until another came up. When we got to the split where we could continue down the trail to the parking lot and use a bridge to cross the river or go left and wade through the river at the base station for the cog railway, I let my daughter make the decision. I had checked out the water level a week ago and knew about how deep it should be. I explained our options to her and reminded her that as soon as we crossed we could change into the crocs we brought for the night at the hut and use them to walk back to the truck. With feet that were getting sore, she decided we should use the trail to the base station and she could get her looser fitting crocs on that much sooner. She was a bit nervous when it came to the actual crossing, but I helped her all the way across and in the end it really wasn't that bad. After changing shoes on one of the benchs, all we had left was the walk back to the truck as things got darker out because the sun had gone down.

Google Earth representation of the the second day

TOTALS
Distance: 13.62 mi.
Elevation Gain: 4,497 ft (total)
Time: (with a 9 year old setting the pace) 15:30



For all the pictures from the hike, just go HERE

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Mt. Eisenhower (4,780 ft) 7-15-23

Distance: 7.74 mi.
Elevation: 2,600 ft (overall) 2,851 ft (total)
Time: 2:38 (Crawford Path) 2:59 (Summit) 3:12 (Crawford Path) 3:35 (Edmands Path) 5:26 (Total)
Trails: Edmands Path, Eisenhower Loop, Crawford Path, Edmands Path

With a two day hike planned next week with my oldest daughter, I wanted to get in another hike to make sure I was ready. I have been wanting to hike Mt. Eisenhower via the Edmands Path for a while, so today was a good time to do so. I needed the Edmands Path for redlining and was also going to do a loop around the summit so that I could redline the section of the Crawford Path between the two ends of the Eisenhower Loop.

The trail starts off pretty flat giving you a little bit of time for your body to warm up before doing any real climbing. Today was a bit cool for July, but high humidity meant all the plants along the trail were almost dripping as the morning started off. Before the trail does any real climbing in elevation there is one brook crossing that could be a bit tricky with high water. But even with how wet this summer has been, I as able to easily cross it with dry feet using the rocks sticking up out of the water.

The first and biggest brook crossing of the day

AFter the brook crossing, the trail slowly gets steeper and starts gaining more elevation while mixing in a combination of rocks and or roots at time. Even higher up, the trail is more of a steady rocky climb. The trail even passes through an interesting corridor of thicker trees on each side while it starts to work towards the left as it climbs. While doing this, the trail is on more of a sidehill rather than heading straight up through the woods. Early on in the sidehill section there is also another small brook that crosses the trail. Being so high up on the mountain, this brook was quite small (especially today) which made it very easy to get over.

A slightly slick exposed slab of rock in the trail

A nice straight corridor climbing steadily

Continuing along the side of the mountain, the trail soon levels out and follows its way around towards the main ridge of the Presidentials. Being on the side of the mountain, the trail does get pretty narrow through here since there isn't much room for it to be any wider than it is. This did make for an interesting section of the trail and also gives you a nice break from the climbing. Just before you get close to the ridge, the trail passes over/through a small talus field with a flat(ish) path leading through it. Just past this is the next intersection where you come to the main ridge of the range and the Crawford Path. I took a little break in this area before making the last push up to the summit.

Small talus field just before the ridge

The climb up to the summit starts off a bit steep and rocky, but as you get closer to the the summit the trail levels out more and more. The summit of Mt. Eisenhower is shaped a lot like a big rounded dome. And since it isn't a very long distance to the summit, the last climb up onto it goes by pretty quick I think. On the summit there were nice views today, although the clouds weren't that much higer than the summit itself. There were even a few points where there almost wasn't a view because of being in the clouds on the summit. It was also interesting seeing a few very small rain showers happening in a few places off in the distance.

Nearing the summit

A little bit of raining coming up the western side of Mt. Washington

The clouds were just above the summit

Mt. Eisenhower summit

Instead of heading back down off of the summit the same way I came up, I continued over the summit to make a loop out of it. After coming down from the summit to the Crawford Path, I needed to take a left so that I could redline the short section of the Crawford Path that goes between the two ends of the Eisenhower Loop Trail. This was a quick and interesting section of trail that made for a nice and interesting loop around the summit. It stays mostly flat with some rocky bits, and has only one section that could be a little bit tricky if it were too wet. The trail makes a quick little drop down then climb back up while on a bit of an angle from the sidehill that it is on. With decent conditions, this section shouldn't pose any real problems though. And before I knew it, I was back to the intersection with the top of the Edmands Path.

Looking towards Pierce coming down from the summit

Once at the top of the Edmands Paths again, there were some interesting clouds starting to roll in and over the presidential range. There also appeared to be a few more small rain showers coming our way. There were a prediction of scattered rain showers this afternoon so this wasn't a big surprise. I decided to not waste too much time before going down or on the way down so that I could try to stay as dry as possible on the descent.

Interesting clouds ready to head down Edmands Path

Looking north up the Presidential Range

The trip coming down was mostly uneventful. The trail was just how it was on the way up, although I didn't get lightly sprinkled on with rain a couple times on the way down. I also had the chance to talk with a nice man from the forest service that was out doing trail maintenance cleaning up trees that were down on the trail. On the way down the trail I also made the decision not to do any of the short little hikes around the Crawford Notch area that I had come up with to get some more redlining down on short trails that don't lead to any peaks. It was just so humid today that I had done enough sweating already and didn't want to do more. Even though temperatures were low for the middle of July, the humidty was high and there just wasn't much of a wind to make it any better.

Google Earth representation of the hike

For all the pictures from the hike, just go HERE

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Black Mountain (2,830 ft) 5-27-23

Distance: 5.2 mi.
Elevation: 1,258 ft (overall) 1,347 ft (total)
Time: (with a 4 and 9 year old setting the pace) 1:53 (Summit) 3:41 (Total)
Trails: Black Mountain Trail

Our daughters wanted to do a family with all of us together so I went to the NH 52 With a View List and picked a peak none of us had done. This list is full of peaks below 4K feet and they have have views from the top (as the name implies). With our youngest daughter being 4 years old, I needed to pick a peak small enough that she would be able to hike it. Black Mountain looked like it would be short enough and have a gradual enough incline that she would be just fine. This was the case and it turned out to be a great hike that hikers of all ages and abilities should be able to do.

The hike starts off at a small parking lot by following a woods road. After a little bit of hiking you will come to a fork in the road where you will want to go to the left. There is a sign with an arrow it that helps to let you know which way to go. After a little bit more hiking, the road will be blocked with large rocks to keep any on/off road vehicles from going any further. The path gets just a little bit steeper here, but still is quite gentle by White Mountain standards. At the end of this last bit of woods road is a very small brook crossing (step over really) and an opening in the trees. The trail bears to the left in this opening and enters back into the woods becoming more like an actual hiking trail than a road.

Take a left at the fork in the roads

The nice wide trail after the clearing

Now that the trail is off the road it gets a bit narrower, more rocky, and a bit steeper. It still stays pretty gentle with good footing. As it gets closer to the summit, the trail does get as narrow as most trails in the whites and has a brief steeper section. I was ahead with my 9 year old while my wife was just behind with our 4 year old. My 9 year old wanted to race up ahead and try to get to the summit by a certain time for a game she was playing by herself. Both of our daughters were able to handle this section quite well as I would expect most hikers could.

Painted Trillium along the trail

This mountain has two trails that lead up to the summit and they both meet at an intersection within about 100 feet of the summit. At this intersection we turned left and went straight up through the trees. There is a direct path to the top or a more gradual path further to the left. As soon as you pop up onto the summit, you are presented with the nice view to the east which includes Mt. Moosilauke. There are some areas around the summit to explore as well. If you go to the left over the open rocks you get to another more limitied view that looks over towards the Cannon Mountain and Franconia Notch area. A small path leads to the right as well that heads over to a nice open area that gives even more views including to the west and south.

View of Mt. Moosilauke from the summit

View point on the southern side of the summit

Family photo from the more limited view point on the north side of the summit

The view towards Franconia Notch

After ample time at the summit to soak up the sun, rest, and have some tasty snacks we explored all the open areas around the summit to check out the views. By checking out all of the areas we were able to gets lots of views in almost every direction. Views to the south and east were best, but there are some good views west too withe limitied views to the north. The girls loved exploring the area and running around on the exposed rocks. Once we had explored everything, the kids took the lead in our hike back down to our car. The trail was easy to follow so they had no issues being in the lead and setting the pace.

The girls leading the way down the mountain

As you get further down the trail it gets smoother, wider, and more flat. It is pretty easy to follow and if you came up this way, you should have no problem making it back down the same way. I picked this trail for climbing the mountain based mostly on how well I thought my daughters would be able to do on it. Our youngest has only done one other hike on the 52 With a View list and I didn't want to pick anything too big or difficult for her. Both routes looked good for this peak, but I choose to come up from this side in large part because it was slightly longer and it would give me just a bit more distance for redlining this year which is something I am planing to focus on more this year with my hikes. While I think the old kilns near the other trail for this peak would be fun to check out, I wasn't sure everyone would have the focus needed today to do the hike and explore other things. I wanted to make sure the hike went well so I choose not to have the distraction of the kilns. Eventually I will need to hike that trail for redlinging as well, and we could go check them out at that time. Doing the hike this way ended up working out very well with everyone doing fine and having a good time.

The brook crossing starting back onto woods roads

Star Flower along the trail

Google Earth representation of the hike

For all the pictures from the hike, just go HERE

Redlining in Waterville Valley 4-22-23

Fletcher's Cascade

Distance: 4.02 mi.
Elevation: 785 ft. (Overall) 908 ft. (Total)
Time: 0:56 (Fletcher's Cascade) 1:53 (Total)
Trails: Drakes Brook Trail, Fletcher's Cascade Trail

Since I haven't been out hiking for a while, it was time to hit the trails some. I wanted to get in some new trails and work on a bit of redlining, so I decided to go spend the day in the Waterville Valley area so that I could get a side trail I passed on a previous hike and then have options down in the village to make the rest of the hike as long as I wanted for the day. The first time I hiked Sandwich Dome I passed by the trail leading to Fletcher's Cascades. I didn't know much about the cascade and if I was going to hike that far to a waterfall I was going to have my tripod for my camera with me (which I did not have that day) so I could take some good pictures. So today I started off with that trail so I could get the hike carrying the extra weight done first.

The first half of the hike is pretty easy with good trails and solid footing. There is one water crossing along the trail before the cascades, but today it was easy enough to cross on the rocks that were exposed in the brook. As you near the cascades, the trail does start to get steeper, but I didn't think it was that bad until you get close the final cascade. I didn't look up many pictures of the cascades before this hike, so I wasn't really sure what to expect once I got there. There are some smaller cascades next to the trail as you climb towards the end of the trail and these were mostly what I was expecting all of them to be like. But once you reach these small cascades, the trail gets steeper, rougher, and a bit harder to follow (some people might not go past here). As I got closer to the upper cascades, I was both surprised and impressed with the view of them that appeared through the trees. This was a nice surprise and make them that much cooler.

Once at the top of the trail at the highest cascade, the trail turns sharp left and crosses at the smaller cascade on the right of the two cascades. The left most cascade is the bigger and more impressive of the two. You can also get right up next to it and really get the full effect of it. After spending some time enjoying the falls, taking pictures, and getting startled by a collapsing chunk of ice bigger than a home refrigerator, I turned around and headed back down the trail exactly the way that I came in. While there were a couple cars in the small parking lot, I didn't see anyone else out here as I am sure they were all hiking up to the peaks.

One of the early lower cascades

The trail to the upper portion of the cascades appears less traveled

Looking through the trees to the upper cascades

The main cascade

A smaller cascade to the right of the main cascade

Google Earth representation of the hike

Redlining in Waterville Valley Village Area

Distance: 10.3 mi.
Elevation: 1,281 ft. (Overall) 2,406 ft. (Total)
Time: 0:42 (The Boulder) 0:49 (Big Pines) 1:41 (Cascades) 2:50 (Top of Ski Lift) 4:00 (Snow's Mountain) 4:43 (Road) 5:05 (Total)
Trails: Cascade Path, Boulder Path, Livermore Trail, Big Pines Path, Norway Rapids Trail, Cascade Path, Elephant Rock Trail, Greeley Ledges Trail, Snow's Mountain Trail, Road Walk

After Fletcher's Cascades, I headed further into Waterville Valley to hike the trails there. I parked at the start of the Cascade Path, once I could find it. I was looking for more of a sign as to where the parking was in missed a turn on my way through the village which resulted in doing a loop around the village and coming right back to somewhere I had already been. There is a sign at the start of the trail, but it certainly would help to look up directions before hand as it isn't super obvious that you are in the right spot. Parking isn't really marked as being for hiking, and the trail starts out crossing a grassy area which seems more like someone's lawn than part of a hiking trail. With the decription from the White Mountain Hiking Guide though, the path does make sense.

With multiple loops possible, I tried to pick one that would get me full lengths of trail and hopefully eliminate much back tracking or overlapping. I started up the Cascade Path and went until the junction with Elephant Rock Trail. Once there, I turned back around to do the only backtracking of the day that wasn't on a dead end trail. Next I headed out the Boulder Path which follows a nice wide path to start. It then drops down into the trees more down to a stream where I wasn't sure which way to go as there appears to be a trail heading both ways. I quickly figured out the trail actually turns left to go downstream a short distance. It then reaches the boulder at a stream crossing I wasn't expecting on this cool April day. After assesing how deep and difficult the crossing would be, I decided I would just take off my boots and socks and wade across since I was wearing shorts. I also always have a small towel in my pack incase I ever get wet and I could quickly dry my feet off on the other side and get them back into warm boots. The water was cold, but it wasn't horrible doing this today. Be smart when making your own choice though in situations like this one.

The boulder

After the crossing, I headed up the Livermore Trail to get up to the Norway Rapids Trail. It made since while walking by to do the short out and back of the Big Pines Path. This was a short easy detour to an area with some larger pines trees with a cluster of three of them being at the end of the path.

Main attraction of the Big Pines Path

After going a ways up the Livermore Trail, I made the right hand turn onto the Norway Rapids Trail. Pretty soon there was a stream crossing here as well. This one didn't seem like it would be good to wade across with faster moving water and slippery looking rocks. Luckily there was a large dead tree across the brook maybe 30 feet downstream from the intended crossing. From here the trail was mostly level with one slightly hard to follow section through what seems like it could be a bit of a swampy area. Some more blazes could be helpful through here. I was able to stay on the trail partly by looking at my gps, but mostly by paying close attention to the ground and how worn it was until I saw a clear indication of which way the trail was going.

Norway Rapids crossing

Once the Norway Rapids Trail comes to the Cascade Path, I turned left to go up to the cascades at the upper end of the Cascade Path, making for another out and back. At the first/biggest cascade, the trail crosses the brook. Today the rocks looked wet enough and had just enough of a gap that I wasn't sure about where/how to cross with dry feet. Seeing a sign for the Cascade Path West on the same side of the stream as me, I decided to go up this to hit the old road at the top and come back down the other side of the brook and reassess from there. This ended up being a good idea as that path was also needed for readlining without me realizing it until I got home and logged my hike. Once back to the brook crossing, I still wasn't sure I could do it with dry feet even going down stream a bit, so I found a place I could quickly cross with my boots and socks off again. Being much narrower, this crossing wasn't as bad as the one earlier in the day.

Cascade Path's main attraction

Back to the junction with the Norway Rapids Trail, I went left to keep going down the Cascade Path to the junction with the Elephant Rock Trail that I had hiked up to from the other direction earlier. I then went up the Elephant Rock Trail until it comes out onto the ski trails near the top of the lift. After the lift the trail becomes the Greeley Ledges Trail and I took this until it got down to the Snow's Mountain Trail.

Looking down the chair lift line

Once at the junction with the Snow's Mountain Trail I had to decide if I wanted to hike down to the bottom and come back up, or if I would later hike up to here from the bottom. I picked the second option and starting hiking up the trail. This side of the loop that this trail makes seems to be much less used. It has less wear one it and is harder to follow. There are not many blazes on the trees at times and most of what you do find are very faded. At one spot the trail made a 90 degree turn to the right without any indication until after you had done it and you turned around to look back and wonder if you did the right thing. Once into the softwoods the trail is easier to follow at least and I made good time up to the spur at the high end of it. The spur leads out to a limited view that includes Sandwich Dome and Jennings Peak. The better viewpoint is actually after you turn and start to head back down on the southern side of the loop the trail makes. There is a nice view out over Waterville Valley here. This side of the trail is also clearly more used and better maintained. The blazes are also much newer, more frequent, and easier to find.

Going this direction, the trail comes down to a road next to a house where it doesn't look like there is any parking. From here, I was hoping to hike up the road and cut through the trees to get back to where the Snow's Mountain Trail goes up the ski trails and eliminate some of my uphill hiking. But while I was trying this, I found there to be lots of houses where I wanted to go through and I didn't want to just walk through someone's yard to shortcut my hike. So I headed back down the road so I could hike back up the trail along the ski trails. As I did this though, I made the decision that it was late enough and my feet and legs had had enough for the day, so I just headed back to my truck. I need to get other trails in this area at a later time, so I can just come back and do it then.

Outlook over Waterville Valley

Google Earth representation of the hike

For all the pictures from the hike, just go HERE