Middle Sugarloaf (2,539 ft) & North Sugarloaf (2,310 ft) 7-31-22

Distance: 4.28 mi.
Elevation: 873 ft. (overall) 1,249 ft. (total)
Time: (with an 8 and 4 year setting the pace) 1:49 (Middle Sugarloaf) 3:03 (North Sugarloaf) 4:20 (Total)
Trails: Sugarloaf Trail, Trestle Trail

This summer my youngest daughter (4) has been asking about doing a family hike so she can come along and do a mountain with her sister and I. So at the end of a week off, we all headed to the White Mountain to take Middle and North Sugarloaf. I have been her before, so I was pretty confident our youngest could handle it and would enjoy the hike. For her it would be the first on the NH 52 With a View list. For her older sister, it would be number 6.

After getting to the trail head and getting our gear on, we hit the trail with the girls in the lead. I wanted them to set the pace because I know I can set to fast of a pace and I wanted them both to enjoy it. They both did good, but a new pack for Liliana (our oldest) and new (to her at least) gear for Madison (our youngest) meant many things were a novelty and it went a bit slow and frustrating at times. There was lots along the trail for the girls to check out, so that helped in keeping them moving on to the next thing.

Two little hikers ready to go

Madison and Liliana in front of a glacial erratic

The girls got to choose which peak we went to first, and they wanted to go to the higher one. This meant going left at the intersection and hitting Middle Sugarloaf first. At the top the girls took off their shoes and socks and enjoyed the sun, nice temps, and plenty of snacks before exploring the whole summit area.

Madison at the top of the stairs on Middle Sugarloaf

Madison and Liliana on top of the stairs

View from Middle Sugarloaf

Madison enjoying herself at the summit

View north on Middle Sugarloaf

Eventually we moved on to North Sugarloaf so the girls could see that peak as well. It isn't as big or as open, but it is still worth the visit in my opinion.

Their own bottles of trail mix were a hit today

Zealand Valley from North Sugarloaf

Family photo time

In the end the hike went well for everyone. As we do a few more hikes with Madison the novelty of all the gear and snacks will wear off and she can focus a bit more on the actual hike. She had fun though, and still had plenty of energy on the hike back down. This was a great pick for her first bigger hike and would be good for others with younger kids too. Lots of other happy hikers along the trail encouraged both girls along the way and were glad to see more young hikers enjoying the trails.

Google Earth representation of the hike

For more pictures from the hike, click HERE

Mt. Pierce (4,310 ft) 7-16-22

Distance: 8.54 mi.
Elevation: 2,421 ft (overall) 2,628 ft (total)
Time: (With an 8 yr old setting the pace) 0:31 (Gibbs Falls) 3:16 (Mizpah Hut) 4:17 (Summit) 6:12 (Gibbs Falls) 7:11 (Total)
Trails: Crawford Connector, Crawford Path, Mizpah Cutoff, Webster Cliff Trail, Crawford Path, Crawford Connector

My oldest daughter wanted to get in at least one 4000 footer hike this summer before school starts back up again, so we decided to hit Mt. Pierce for that hike. It is just her 2nd 4K and she is still only 8, so I wanted something that wouldn't be too much for her. And given the good weather forecast, the views from Mt. Pierce wouldn't dissapoint either. This hike also had the added benefit of being to go past the Mizpah Hut as well. Last year when we hiked Webster and Jackson we didn't have time to get to the hut as well before it got too dark for the hike back down.

On the way up the Crawford Path we stopped at Gibbs Falls so my daughter could check them out now in case she was too tired on the way back down. We met a nice pair of hikers there that my daughter conned into, I mean convinced, to hike with us for a while. My daughter enjoyed having someone new to talk to for a while. Eventually though we let them get on their way because they didn't need to take as many breaks. We ended up running into them again at the hut which made my daughter very happy.

Gibbs Falls on the way up

Coming up the Crawford Path

Continuing further up, we took a nice break at the junction with the Mizpah Cutoff. After a nice rest and snack, we went right and headed for the hut. Liliana was very excited to see it in person and get to go inside and check it out. She was impressed with how big it was and many people could sleep there. As I knew she would, she now really wants to spend the night at one of the huts. We spent probably 45 minutes at the hut checking it out, checking out the tent site, and eating some fresh muffins.

Mizpah Hut

After leaving the hut the trail gets steep in a few places. There is a ladder and some boards to level out some slanted sections of trail, but also a few short steep and sometimes rocky sections. My daughter had fun scrambling up these and even wanted to pose for some pictures while doing so. After the climbs though, the trail gets pretty gentle and you start to get some views ahead and behind you.

Climbing a ladder

A small view before the summit

At the summit we took enough of a break to grab some pictures and so my daughter could check it out. But soon after that we headed a few hundred feet further down the trail to where the real views are as the trees open right up. We spent a bunch of time here resting, having something to eat, relaxing, and just taking in the views.

Liliana and Miles at the summit

View from Mt. Pierce

View up to Monroe and Washington

View to the west

For the hike back down we followed the Crawford Path most of the way. Stopping at Gibbs Falls so we could get a closer look and get right next to the falls. Then we took the Crawford Connector back to the parking lot where we promptly took off our hiking boots and put on some dry clothes before drinking some nice ice water I had stashed in the truck. All in all the hike went very well and my daughter did even better than on her last 4K. I think she is ready for another good hike and we will have to start planning that soon.

Coming back down

Back to Gibbs Falls again

Google Earth representation of the hike

For all the pictures from the hike, just go to my gallery on SmugMug

East Pond Area Redlining 5-30-22

Distance: 12.8 mi.
Elevation: 1,289 ft. (Overall) 2,889 ft. (Total)
Time: 1:05 (Little East Pond) 1:50 (East Pond) 2:51 (Height of Land) 3:24 (Kanc) 5:08 (HOL) 5:27 (East Pond) 5:56 (Total)
Trails: East Pond Trail, Little East Pond Trail, East Pond Loop, East Pond Trail

It has been months since I have been out hiking, so I was overdue to get out into the woods. With good weather for Memorial Day weekend I knew many other people would be out as well. So I decided to focus on some redlining instead of trying to bad any peaks. I have wanted to do a loop of the trails around East Pond for a while, so I figured this was the time.

I parked on the Tripoli Road side of the trails, mainly because it is a shorter drive from my house. When I got to the parking lot I was happy with my decision since there weren't any other vehicles there. I started up the trail and did the loop out to Little East Pond first. From what I have seen of other peoples trip reports this was the less attractive of the two ponds so I wanted to start there.

Little East Pond Trail

The trail is pretty easy going up to the junction. The start of the Little East Pond Trail is pretty flat with one small brook crossing. Eventually it gains some elevation, but is never steep. Just before the pond the trail starts to follow the brook that is the exit of the pond. Just after this the trail appears to level out and on your left is the short path over to the pond. I'm not sure what I was expecting of this pond, but I ended up feeling a bit disappointed with it. It's still a cool place, but I guess it being so shallow and brown appearing on the bottom took away from it some. Still worth the hike though I feel.

Little East Pond

After leaving the pond I almost stepped on a toad in the trail and finally came across some of the flowers in bloom. The trail is relatively flat after leaving the pond with some small ups and downs. It pretty much stays on a sidehill slope and has a bit more of an undeveloped feel with the thicker sections of trees providing more shade and dead branches on the ground.

Almost stepped on this little guy

Painted Trillium

The Little East Pond Trail comes out right at the path leading over to East Pond. I quickly checked it out, but planned to spend more time there on the way back down. The trail follows near the shore of the pond for a while and gives you some good views of how beautiful the water is. After a little bit though, the trail finally has some climbing as you need to work your way up to the height of land. Right at the high point of the trail is a cool little spot with lots of small green plants (ferns and stuff) and today there was also a woodpecker adding to the forest sound track.

Lots of green at the height of land

Knowing I needed to come back up to the height of land I set a bit of a faster pace heading down to the Kanc. This was a bit harder to do though because the trail is certainly rougher on this side with more rocks and roots to navigate through. There was also some mud, but nothing bad and no real water crossings until Pine Brook about a half mile before the Kanc. The guide book says this crossing can be tricky in high waters, but today it wasn't too bad. It did still require picking a good spot to keep my feet dry though.

Crossing of Pine Brook near the Kanc

From the brook crossing to the Kanc and back is pretty close to being flat so I quickly hiked to the parking lot at the end of the trail, took a short 2 minute break, then hiked back to the river crossing. It was more enjoyable to take a break here than on the side of a busy road. I filtered some cold water (my plan all along) and got ready for the steady climb back up to the height of land.

Lady Slippers getting ready to bloom

The hike back up to the height of land was a bit tiring (aren't all hikes after a big descent), but it went quicker than I expected. The trail didn't seem quite as rough going up as it did going down. Once back to the height of land I changed into a dry shirt and socks now that all the hard work was done. The woodpecker was still making noise here which was a plesant surprise.

Coming back up to the height of land

The hike from here to East Pond was pretty quick and seeing the pond through the trees again was nice. Once to the path over to the shore I headed over and set my pack down for a nice long break. The pond is beautiful and has such clear water with a great teal tint to it. You could see all sorts of features under the water you wouldn't normally expect to. It would be awesome to bring a swim tube up here on a sunny day and just float around I think. It was also cool to see all of the little fish near the pond's outlet. Lots of little fish that were maybe an inch and a half long.

East Pond

Lots of little fish near the outlet of East Pond

The water at East Pond is very clear and beautiful

With no summit today, Miles poses at the pond

Eventually I had to leave the pond and finish the hike back to my truck. I still had a mile of trail to hit for my redlining if nothing else. Below the pond I ran into my first other hikers of the day. One pair presumably headed up to East Pond. For a great day on a holiday weekend, I will take it running into only 2 others all day long. Once back to the truck it was 8.3 miles of new trails completed for the day and a very enjoyable and needed hike through the woods.

Google Earth representation of the hike

For all the pictures from the hike, just go HERE