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

Mt. Pierce, Mt. Eisenhower & Mt Jackson 3-7-20

Distance: 11.8 mi.
Elevation: 2,920 ft (overall) 4,911 ft (total)
Time: 1:54 (Pierce) 3:01 (Eisenhower) 4:01 (Pierce) 5:31 (Jackson) 6:37 (Road) 6:52 (Total)
Trails: Crawford Connector, Crawford Path, Eisenhower Loop, Webster Cliff Trail, Webster Jackson Trail, Route 302

With the official winter hiking season almost over, I needed to get at least a second hike in for the season. The weather was looking pretty good other than a little windy. Given the forecast, I decided it was time to get some of the southern presidentials checked off the list. These would give the chance of great views while providing shelter in the trees for most of the hike. My plan for today was Mt. Pierce, my favorite southern presidential peak, and Mt. Eisenhower. If weather, time, and energy allowed, maybe I would add on either Mt. Monroe of Mt. Jackson.

From the Mt. Clinton Rd parking lot I used the Crawford Connector to get over to the Crawford Path. This short trail was well packed from everyone else previously this winter. Once on the Crawford Path the trail was even smoother. It was like super highway and was perfect for microspikes. The hike up the trail went quicker than I thought it would as I played leapfrog with a group of other hikers. The trail has a steady incline for almost the whole length of it which made it easier to keep a nice pace that was a bit quicker than I expected. Once up to the ridge though, the trees stopped sheltering me from the wind and it was time to adjust layers and put on either some goggles or sunglasses. I started off by tagging Mt. Pierce since it is so close to the junction. It is almost my favorite of the southern peaks on the range due to its great views while still having partial tree cover which is different than all the peaks to the north.

Packed trail heading up the Crawford Path

The summit of Mt. Pierce was a good place to adjust layers, get on my goggles, and strap on my snowshoes. The Crawford Path should be decently packed, but I expected some drifting and would rather have snowshoes on for that instead of not have them on for the well packed sections. The area around the junction of the Crawford Path and Webster Cliff Trail was the first place snowshoes were useful as there wasn't one set path here and there was certainly some drifting in the snow. After this though the trail was pretty easy to follow and had only a little bit of unpacked snow on top of it most of the time.

View from Mt. Pierce

At this point the wind speeds became more evident. You start to come out of the trees more and until you are completely exposed. The wind was blowing in from the west and I was glad to have my goggles on. It was cold enough I also needed to think about having my face covered as well. I covered what I could, but too much covering and the goggles would just fog up. I was generating enough body heat that I was warm enough with some of my face exposed.

Mt. Eisenhower getting closer

As I neared the summit of Mt. Eisenhower the wind was starting to blow the snow around as well which helped make my face colder. Once up onto the summit of Eisenhower I bundled up more and made sure I was covered up well. There is no shelter other than the summit cairn and I wanted to stay and enjoy the views for a while even if it was cold and windy. After a nice break here and plenty of pictures, it was time to head out. I had decided I wasn't going to try and add Mt. Monroe to this hike because it was too much time exposed to the elements. I probably had enough gear, but better gear would have made that much distance more enjoyable. So I turned around and headed back towards Mt. Pierce.

Mt. Eisenhower summit cairn

Mt. Washington from Mt. Eisenhower

The hike back to Pierce went well with the wind still blowing and the sun still shining. I headed back up to the summit to take in the views again and because I forgot to get a picture of Miles here the first time. It was busier this time with more hikers that were coming up just to tag Mt. Pierce. I checked the time and it was still earlier than I had planned. Since I was still feeling good and had the time, I decided I would add on Mt. Jackson to today's hike. If I wasn't feeling it, I could always bail out after the hut and come back down using the Mizpah Cutoff.

Getting back towards Mt. Pierce

The hike down to the hut was good except the last tenth or two. Most of the trail was pretty well packed and there was only a few tight places due to snow laden trees. The last stretch though is a bit steeper dropping down to the hut and the track was pretty messed up here. It seems a number of hikers have hiked through here without snowshoes which made for lots of deep, messy, and irregularly space holes to avoid. It took care to stay out of them with my snowshoes and a couple of times I avoided the trail all together to stay out of them. There were some people gathered at the hut and also a pair of hikers that were setting up a tent in the opening. I was still feeling good so I decided to go all the way to Jackson from here.

Heading south after Mt. Pierce

Mizpah Hut with some snow up against the doors

The trail to Mt. Jackson was a mix of conditions. In places it was clear others had used snowshoes, in some places it looked like only people without snowshoes had been through, and in other places the trail was drifted in. There was only one place where the trail was hard to follow. In an open area there were tracks leading in two directions. I checked out both directions and picked the one that looked better. I'm not sure if I picked the right one or not, but the path eventually had to push through a small band of thicker spruce trees, so it probably wasn't actually the trail. It was a short off trail path that quickly came back onto the trail though. The rest of the hike to the summit went smoothly and even the steep last section of rock wasn't bad.

Mixed trail conditions heading over to Mt. Jackson

Getting close to Mt. Jackson

The summit of Jackson was windy so I bundled back up again before spending some time taking pictures and enjoying the last big views of the day. It felt good to look all the way back up to Mt. Eisenhower and see how far I had hiked today. After ample time enjoying the summit to myself, I decided it was time to head down off the mountains for the day. Just below the summit and back into the trees, I took off some layers and switched over to microspikes. The trail from here down was like a packed highway again and the spikes would make for a faster descent.

View from Mt. Jackson

Willey Range from Mt. Jackson

View west from Mt. Jackson

On the way down I passed a few people headed up, but traffic was pretty light being later in the day. I made good time on the way down as there aren't many steep sections through here and the conditions were so good. The only difficult part of the descent was a couple sections of ice where the lower part of the trail has some short steep and rocky sections in the warmer months. Other than that the worst part was needing to walk the side of the road back to my truck once I was down.

Packed trail coming down from Mt. Jackson

View of today's three peaks from the entrance of the Mt. Washington Hotel
From the rounded dome of Mt. Eisenhower on the left to small open summit of Jackson on the right

Google Earth representation of the hike

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

Southern Presidential Range 5-5-15 thru 5-6-15

Since I was having computer problems around the time of this hike, I seem to have forgotten to put together anything about it. So a little bit late, here it is.

DAY 1

Distance: 5.11 mi.
Elevation: 2,368 ft (overall) 2,602 ft (total)
Time: 3:20 (Mizpah) 4:24 (Pierce) 5:11 (Mizpah)
Trails: Crawford Path, Mizpah Cutoff, Webster Cliff Trail

A friend of mine from college was coming to NH for a week this spring and was hoping to do some hiking while here before visiting family. Since she was bringing another friend, she wanted to give him a partial hut experience by staying at Mizpah Hut during self service season. This was fine with me since it would be a much cheaper way to stay at the hut. Being as the hut is so close to the trail head, I don't foresee myself paying full price to stay here at least until my daughter is old enough to hike and do an overnight here.

Even though it was already May, I knew there was still going to be snow higher up. I didn't expect it to be as deep as it was though. Leaving from the Highland Center where the others spent the night, the ground was still bare and there wasn't much mud. It didn't take long however to start coming across patches of ice in the trail. The last remains of the winter mono-rail. Gradually the ice become a constant fixture of the trail. there was just enough grit on the ice that you could still get good traction with careful foot placement.

Starting to see ice

The ice eventually turned into snow and a well established and solid mono-rail. The hard path wasn't overly wide, but it was stable and easy to distinguish. This meant not much sinking in. Up to the Mizpah Cutoff, conditions had been good. Being a regular hiker year round and knowing the conditions so far this spring, I had my snowshoes with me and should have put them on here. Being the largest hiker of the group and the most familiar with these trails, I was in the lead. With the lower use of this trail, the firm mono-rail wasn't as firm and became hard to find in some places. I especially started to sink in more and more. Many steps were seeing me sink in about knee deep into the snow.

Mizpah Cutoff

Finally I had had enough and put on my snowshoes (enough being stubborn). This made it easy going for me from here to the hut. But my friends didn't have any snowshoes, so they still had to go slowly. They were trying to find the hard spots before sinking in and even going as far as using large sticks to test conditions before taking their next step. Eventually we all made it to the hut and dropped off our overnight gear and extra supplies.

Leaving Mizpah for Pierce

From here we planned to summit Mt. Pierce and maybe venture a bit further depending on conditions. Without the others having snowshoes, we didn't want to get over ambitious with our plans. The hike up from the hut was a bit slow. I was still in the lead and using snowshoes, but my friends were finding lots of places where they were postholing. The snow was getting deeper as we went on and in places it was hard to push through the branches blocking the trail. Most of the branches were bent over into the trail due to the snow load on them. They then got stuck there, which meant they were across the trail even at a height that would normally be easy to pass through.

View from bare section of trail

In some places higher up the snow wasn't overly deep. This was mainly the few places were there is exposed rock in the summer that gets lots of sun. Just before the summit, I stuck my trekking pole into the snow just off trail. Trying to put it in handle first, I never did hit solid ground. Based on the length of my trekking pole, this meant the snow was still about 4 feet deep. The cairn at the summit of Mt. Pierce was just barely poking out of the snow. I know from being here before that this cairn is a little over 4 feet tall.

We spent some time above treeline in the sun and taking in the views. It was a gorgeous day out and it was nice to be wearing shorts and a t-shirt... even if I was still wearing snowshoes on my feet. The hike back down to the hut went a bit quicker being downhill. We also weren't quite as worried about getting wet from the melting snow since we had dry gear back in our bunks. It was amazing to see how much softer the snow had gotten though in the short time since we had come up through here.

Summit of Mt. Pierce

Coming back down to the hut

Back at the hut for the evening and in dry clothes again, we all made up our own meals and talked with the caretaker. She informed us we were to be the only guests for the night, so it should be very quiet. We enjoyed talking with her enough, we all spent the next few hours together in the kitchen just telling stories. The caretaker has hiked the AT before, and my college friend is hoping to hike it next year. So we went over lots of stories from her hike.

DAY 2

Distance: 5.12 mi.
Elevation: 248 ft (overall) 803 ft (total)
Time: 1:52 (Jackson) 4:14 (Parking Lot)
Trails: Webster Cliff Trail, Webster-Jackson Trail, Saco Lake Trail

After a small breakfast and a bit of time for things to warm up, we started our hike over towards Mt. Jackson. It's easy to tell this section of trail doesn't see much traffic in the winter. There was very little sign of tracks or anything firm snow underneath from past hikers. I was smart today and started off on my snowshoes, but my friends were going to have to hope for the best still. A little ways down the trail we did find some recent moose tracks. It had hiked down the trail briefly before venturing back into the trees.

The trail along the ridge was mostly easy to follow. It's a well established trail that is nice and wide by normal standards. In a couple places today though, the branches and trees were bent down across the trail. There were also a couple places were it wasn't clear which opening in the trees was the correct one. I believe the blazes might have been partially buried, but we were able to stay on course well. My friends were still constantly sinking into the show, but it had gotten to the point where we were all laughing about it. We even took a couple pictures of me standing on top of the snow with them sunk into the snow appearing much shorter than I am.

Webster Cliff Trail

Small bog near Mt. Jackson

The summit of Mt. Jackson was bare rock from the sun and it was another great day. Again, it was nice to be snowshoeing in shorts and a t-shirt with temps near 50. We finally starting seeing other hikers now too. Coming down the mountain, I stayed in my snowshoes as long as I could. With this trail much more traveled than the ridge, it was easier for all of us to stay on top of the snow. But things were softening up quickly. Once the snow became patchy, I took of my snowshoes and tied them to my pack. We had a nice smooth hike after this. there was a bit of mud in places, but he ground was mostly dry and quite firm (a relief to my friends). The hike down from here went smoothly with some others still headed up. We even went around the back side of Saco Lake so the others could see that short trail too.

Mt. Jackson summit

Mt. Jackson summit

Ice and snow coming down

View from Bugle Cliff

TOTALS
Distance: 10.23 mi.
Elevation Gain: 3,405 ft (total)
Time: 9:25

All in all this was a fun hike. It was nice to hang out with a college friend and meet one of her friends. I was certainly glad I brought my snowshoes just in case. It was interesting to see just how deep the snow could still be up high where down low you couldn't find much anywhere. It also dawned on me after this hike that from my first hike of the winter season where I saw snow until now had been 7 months. So for more than half a year now, I had been hiking in at least some snow for parts of my hikes. Over half the year with snow on the ground and still more to melt.

For all the pictures from the hike, just go HERE

Extended Presidential Traverse 8-21-14 thru 8-23-14

DAY 1

Distance: 9.41 mi.
Elevation: 3,207 ft (overall) 4,958 ft (total)
Time: 2:35 (Jackson) 4:12 (Pierce) 5:16 (Eisenhower 6:50 (Hut)
Trails: Webster-Jackson Trail, Webster Cliff Trail, Crawford Path, Eisenhower Loop

Having done a Presidential Traverse before from the north, I decided this one would be from the south. I would also throw in an out and back hike of Mt. Isolation on day two of the hike, making the actual Presidential portion 2 days of the hike. This would be a great way for me to get 9 peaks done in 3 days to help me on my goal of the New England 67 in one year.

I parked the car near the Highland Center and started off of the Webster-Jackson Trail. Knowing today would be a significant amount of elevation gain anyways, I opted to not hit Mt. Webster on the way. Everything went smoothly on the climb up to the summit of Mt. Jackson where I saw my first hikers of the day. A pair of thru-hikers that were trying to figure out which trail went which way. I helped them out, and they were on their way.

The hike to Mizpah hut was quick and easy. Shortly before the hut though, I came around a corner to see a family of Ruffed Grouse on the edge of the trail. I stopped and backed up some so I could get a picture. Once I did that and they settled back down, I tried to go past them on the other side of the trail. I hope they get a bit more timid of humans in the future. After a quick rest stop at the hut, it was up the short climb to Mt. Pierce.

After Pierce, I was off up the range to next get Mt. Eisenhower. As the way up the Eisenhower Loop Trail, it started to lightly rain. I could see the rain building around me, but it didn't look heavy in either direction. Once at the summit it was just enough to warrant putting on my rain coat. With the light rain and the fact that I think the summit of Eisenhower is a bit boring (bald, smooth and rounded, and with only a summit cairn for features), I only spent enough time here to talk to a couple hikers and take a few pictures.

I was headed for the Lakes of the Clouds Hut now. Having not been on the Crawford Path around the summit of Mt. Monroe, I went that way. Allowing me to check in at the hut and drop off some gear if I decided to hike Monroe this afternoon. Once at the at I did just that and went back outside for a bit. I was thinking about doing the quick climb up Monroe, but decided that since it was still raining off and on that it wouldn't be worth doing tonight. I headed back inside, put on some dry clothes, and talked with some other hikers (including the two thru-hikers I saw on Mt. Jackson).

Early section of trail

Today's trek seen from Mt. Jackson

Family of Ruffed Grouse next to the trail

View from Pierce

Light rain on the summit of Eisenhower

Coming to the hut

DAY 2

Distance: 10.3 mi.
Elevation: 432 ft (overall) 3,429 ft (total)
Time: 2:52 (Isolation) 6:08 (Hut) 6:25 (Monroe) 6:43 (Hut)
Trails: Crawford Path, Camel Trail, Davis Path, Isolation Spur, Monroe Loop

The plan for today was to head out from the hut over towards Boott Spur and then down to Mt. Isolation, then come back the same route. I would then make the quick hike up Mt. Monroe as well. The route started off on the Camel Trail. You can tell is it used less than some others in the area, but it was still easy to follow. After some gradual climbing and a quick pass though a clump of trees, the trail gets up to the Davis Path.

I headed out the Davis Path towards Boott Spur and into the clouds. Just before Boott Spur, the trail turns right and heads down to Montalban Ridge. Before long you start to duck back into the trees. This area saw some heavy damage during Tropical Storm Irene a few years ago, but it was all cleaned up by now. The trail was pretty easy going.

Once down to the Isolation Trail, it becomes a pretty gradual ridge walk to get to the Mt. Isolation Spur. Through here I came across another Ruffed Grouse. This one was more timid of humans than yesterday's, but kept flying down the trail rather than ducking into the trees.

Once at the Spur for Mt. Isolation, I headed up the short and steep trail. The summit was completely socked in with clouds and there was absolutely no view. This was a shame since there is a great one here. After a change of socks, it was time to head back out the way I came. The climb up to Boott Spur was different since normally the climbing is at the start of the hike, but it went pretty easy. Once up on the ridge, views were even more limited than before. I could only see one or maybe two cairns ahead on the trail at best. Good thing it's easy to follow through here.

Once back to the hut, I adjusted gear quickly and made the short climb up to Mt. Monroe. It went quick and provided the same socked in view that I had on Mt. Isolation. After a few quick photos, I headed back down the trail to the hut again.

At the hut I put on dry clothes and grabbed a book to read. While reading, I couldn't shake a chill I had developed. While hiking I was warm enough, but the cool temps and constant moisture from being in the clouds had caught up with me. After laying under my blanket for a while still with the chill, I finally went and drank a couple cups of hot chocolate and that seemed to do the trick and warmed me back up.

Camel Trail

Davis Path

Mt. Isolation summit

Limited visibilty near Boott Spur

Mt. Monroe summit

DAY 3

Distance: 13.3 mi.
Elevation: 1,328 ft (overall) 3,888 ft (total)
Time: 1:04 (Washington) 3:10 (Jefferson) 4:56 (Adams) 6:25 (Madison) 8:48 (Trail head)
Trails: Crawford Path, Trinity Heights Connector, Gulfside Trail, Six Husbands Trail, Mt. Jefferson Loop, Lowes Path, Star Lake Trail, Osgood Trail, Valley Way

For the last day of this trip, the plan was to leave the hut in the morning and hike over all the peaks in the northern presidentials to the Appalachia trail head. After a filling breakfast and topping of the fluids in my pack, it was time to head out. The hike up Mt. Washington went will with a good trail to climb. It was still early so there was no line of people at the summit sign when I got there. So I grabbed a photo and headed inside for a bit. After enjoying the great views for a bit, I knew I needed to head out. So down the trail I went.

Just after passing the cog tracks, I could hear the steam train coming up just about to crest the section of mountain nearby. I quickly got to where I could take a picture. After heading back down the trail, two diesel trains came up as well. Looks like it will be a busy day for the trains and at the summit. While I know Mt. Clay has an awesome view into the Great Gulf, I went around the back side to hit a section of trail I haven't before and to save some effort.

I then worked up the trail towards Mt. Jefferson. At the loop trail junction I continued straight to start going around in order to get more trails I haven't been on yet. I used the upper section of the Six Husbands Trail to get up to the summit. It was getting a bit cloudier at this point, but the views were still good.

From here it was the quick descent of Jefferson to the long gradual ascent of Mt. Adams. This portion went smoothly, even though I was getting a bit tired at this point in the 3 day hike. I made a stop at Thunderstorm Junction, and then headed for the summit. Adams is my favorite of the northern presidentials, but this trip to the summit was ruined somewhat by a group of younger kids that decided burning some trash and tree bark right at the summit was a better way to keep warm than bringing the right gear (hint: it isn't). The leader of their group also didn't follow through when he told them to put it out (and he should have had them better prepared).

So after a shorter visit than planned to Mt. Adams, I headed down the steep Star Lake Trail towards the hut. The trail is steep and a bit rocky, but I made good time down. At the hut I took a break and grabbed some more fluids. I was getting even more tired by this point, so I actually thought about skipping Mt. Madison. But since I was doing well on time and I didn't want to make a trip back up here for just this peak, I slowly made my way up. The trail isn't overly hard, I was just tired and a bit slow. Once at the summit, I was glad I didn't skip it. I enjoyed my time up there and called my wife to see where she was since she would be meeting me at the trail head.

After more views and resting, I headed back to the hut to then head down the Valley Way Trail. It was hard to keep going past the hut as the Thanksgiving style meal they were cooking looked and smelled real good. The hike down went well. The trail is a bit steep in it's higher sections, but it gets easier as you descend. Even knowing how long the trail was, it did seem to take longer than I would have expected. Once at the trail head it was just a matter of waiting for my wife to show up. We'd have something to eat in Gorham before driving back to my car and then heading home.

Headed up Washington with scattered clouds

View from Mt. Washington

Steam cog headed up

Adams from Jefferson

Madison from Adams

Looking back from Madison

Google Earth representation of the 3 day hike

TOTALS
Distance: 33.01 mi.
Elevation Gain: 12,275 ft (total)
Time: 25:41

The hike was fun and I'm glad I did it the way I did. I've now done both directions and can use that for future planning reference. The weather could have been better, but given it was the Presidential Range, it also could have been much worse. I saved some weight in my pack on this hike versus my Pemi-Loop hike, but I still need to get lighter when doing long treks like this. Hikes like this just give me more respect for those that can do them in a single day.

For all the pictures from the hike, just go HERE