So just making a first post for documenting my adventures in hiking in NH and beyond. As of today I have 28 of 48 of the NH 4000 footers, and just over a dozen on the 52 with a view list. I intend to move on to the NE67 list and to bang out the NH hundred highest after that.
I'll be backdating the ones I have done previously, posting pictures and some commentary on what I recall from the hike. I'll provide distances and trails hiked. I am writing this for my own good but of your get anything out of this then great.
Thursday, September 28, 2017
Wednesday, September 27, 2017
27 September 2017: Cannon Mountain
I intended to go a bit further north today but had trouble getting out of bed in time so i opted for something right off the interstate: Cannon Mountain.
History: Formerly known as Profile Mountain due to the mountain providing the location of the Old Man on the Mountain on its eastern ledges, the mountain was renamed to Cannon Mountain in 1972 by the US Board on Geographic names. This name change came about as the mountain appears to resemble, in conjunction with the sub peaks known as the Cannon Balls, an antique cannon. There was also mention that this peak was also once referred to as Frank Mountain, but I haven’t seen much for supporting documentation.
Peak Elevation: 4028 ft.
Elevation Gain: 2027
Trail: Kinsman Ridge, North trailhead, Rim Trail
Length: 5ish mi
Time on Trail: 0930
Time off Trail: 1330
This hike was a pretty easy straight shot up Cannon. The allure of possibly having a beer at the café at the top was a good motivator. The slopes on this hike were a bit on the steep side but not all too bad. It would have been an easy hike were it not for the sections of eroded trail. This trail crosses the ski trails a few times before veering toward profile ledge, then to the summit of Cannon. The ledge was pretty cool – I imagine a good spot for peeping during foliage season. The trip up also included me encountering a hiker who forgot her boots, so she ventured out in what were bacsically boat shoes to the tiop. Im sure shes seasoned hiker so I just kind of laughed it off but damn. I reached the top and knew the trip down would be quick due to gravity assist, so I took my time to explore the top of Cannon, including the tram station and observation deck. I also did a lap around the rim trail whch had a number of benches one could stop and relax at. I wasn’t too puckish so I drank a lot of water and had a handful of trail mix in the shade of the tram station before descending. The decent was ok, I recalled where the eroded section was and nearly avoided taking any spills. This was a fun, quick and worthwhile solo hike.
Photos:
This is a slightly backdated entry made a bit later in 2017 than the date listed suggests.
History: Formerly known as Profile Mountain due to the mountain providing the location of the Old Man on the Mountain on its eastern ledges, the mountain was renamed to Cannon Mountain in 1972 by the US Board on Geographic names. This name change came about as the mountain appears to resemble, in conjunction with the sub peaks known as the Cannon Balls, an antique cannon. There was also mention that this peak was also once referred to as Frank Mountain, but I haven’t seen much for supporting documentation.
Peak Elevation: 4028 ft.
Elevation Gain: 2027
Trail: Kinsman Ridge, North trailhead, Rim Trail
Length: 5ish mi
Time on Trail: 0930
Time off Trail: 1330
This hike was a pretty easy straight shot up Cannon. The allure of possibly having a beer at the café at the top was a good motivator. The slopes on this hike were a bit on the steep side but not all too bad. It would have been an easy hike were it not for the sections of eroded trail. This trail crosses the ski trails a few times before veering toward profile ledge, then to the summit of Cannon. The ledge was pretty cool – I imagine a good spot for peeping during foliage season. The trip up also included me encountering a hiker who forgot her boots, so she ventured out in what were bacsically boat shoes to the tiop. Im sure shes seasoned hiker so I just kind of laughed it off but damn. I reached the top and knew the trip down would be quick due to gravity assist, so I took my time to explore the top of Cannon, including the tram station and observation deck. I also did a lap around the rim trail whch had a number of benches one could stop and relax at. I wasn’t too puckish so I drank a lot of water and had a handful of trail mix in the shade of the tram station before descending. The decent was ok, I recalled where the eroded section was and nearly avoided taking any spills. This was a fun, quick and worthwhile solo hike.
Photos:
Cannon Mountain 27SEP17This is a slightly backdated entry made a bit later in 2017 than the date listed suggests.
Friday, September 22, 2017
22 September 2017: Mount Jefferson
With my hiking friends having kids lately sometimes I go a long time between getting out there with them on the trails. Bishop X was making a return to the trails after such an occasion, Mr Lovegoat and I were glad he suggested a route to the summit of Mount Jefferson that is on the “Terrifying 25” list: the Capos Ridge Trail.
History: As the third-highest peak in the state Mount Jefferson is a stop along the open-face portion of the Presidential Range, named after Thomas Jefferson. The Caps Ridge Trailhead is the highest trailhead in all of the whites, sitting at 3009 ft.
Peak Elevation: 5712 ft
Net Elevation Gain: 2703 ft
Trail: Caps Ridge Trail
Length: 5.0 mi
Time on Trail : 0900
Time off Trail: 1430ish
The return of Bishop X was long-awaited after he had another kid – and this trip was a fun one to come back on! He suggested the Caps Ridge ascent to Jefferson – while the terrain is as rugged as the rest of the whites, this offers a very short route to the summit. Mr. Lovegoat has his entry covering a lot of this trip’s features (Link). Not far into the trip is an open rock with some interesting pothole looking erosion, which I have been told is related to glacial activity a long time ago. The Caps ridge would classify as a rather technical hike, with lots of little scrambles over or around the cap stones along the way. At one point I was vaguely reminded of my trip a few summers back to Angel’s Landing in Zion National Park.
Once I broke out of the treeline and seeing how much further the peak was, I had a feeling that I was in for some sun exposure and noted how ill prepared I was for that. I covered up as best as I could but still got a bit roasted. The summit offers grand, panoramic views, and we lucked out on getting a clear day for the day we chose to go out on our adventure. After having our lunch on the summit area, we made our descent and made up for my sluggish pace up the mountain. I usually do truck down the trail at the end of the day, knowing that gravity is in my favor so long as my joints hang in there.
After the hiking was done, Mr. Lovegoat said we should go check out this cliffdiving thing he had noted on the maps when driving up. His post has video of that. I did not partake but I guess it was refreshing on what turned out to be a warm day in late September. Oddly I only took about 6 pictures the entire day, which i attest to sun exposure.
Photos:
This entry is slightly backdated from later in 2017.
History: As the third-highest peak in the state Mount Jefferson is a stop along the open-face portion of the Presidential Range, named after Thomas Jefferson. The Caps Ridge Trailhead is the highest trailhead in all of the whites, sitting at 3009 ft.
Peak Elevation: 5712 ft
Net Elevation Gain: 2703 ft
Trail: Caps Ridge Trail
Length: 5.0 mi
Time on Trail : 0900
Time off Trail: 1430ish
The return of Bishop X was long-awaited after he had another kid – and this trip was a fun one to come back on! He suggested the Caps Ridge ascent to Jefferson – while the terrain is as rugged as the rest of the whites, this offers a very short route to the summit. Mr. Lovegoat has his entry covering a lot of this trip’s features (Link). Not far into the trip is an open rock with some interesting pothole looking erosion, which I have been told is related to glacial activity a long time ago. The Caps ridge would classify as a rather technical hike, with lots of little scrambles over or around the cap stones along the way. At one point I was vaguely reminded of my trip a few summers back to Angel’s Landing in Zion National Park.
Once I broke out of the treeline and seeing how much further the peak was, I had a feeling that I was in for some sun exposure and noted how ill prepared I was for that. I covered up as best as I could but still got a bit roasted. The summit offers grand, panoramic views, and we lucked out on getting a clear day for the day we chose to go out on our adventure. After having our lunch on the summit area, we made our descent and made up for my sluggish pace up the mountain. I usually do truck down the trail at the end of the day, knowing that gravity is in my favor so long as my joints hang in there.
After the hiking was done, Mr. Lovegoat said we should go check out this cliffdiving thing he had noted on the maps when driving up. His post has video of that. I did not partake but I guess it was refreshing on what turned out to be a warm day in late September. Oddly I only took about 6 pictures the entire day, which i attest to sun exposure.
Photos:
Mt. Jefferson 22SEP17This entry is slightly backdated from later in 2017.
Monday, September 18, 2017
18 September 2017: Sandwich Dome and Jennings Peak
Decided to spend the day going up to bag 2 peaks on the 52WAV list. I decided to take the longer, but easier route up to Sandwich Dome and Jennings peak.
History: The original name for Sandwich Dome was Black Mountain, the name given by the local residents. This changed when the geographer Arnold Guyot published his map of the White Mountains in 1860, when he applied the name Sandwich Dome to the massive peak that straddles the towns of Sandwich and Waterville Valley because there were numerous Black Mountains in New Hampshire. There still are, actually. 15 years later the name was utilized by Charles Hitchcock’s state geological survey, and Moses Sweetser adopted it for his 1876 guidebook., reasoning that the mountain is the most conspicuous peak in Sandwich and that from the lake country to the south it appears as a flattened dome.
Peak Elevation: 3980 ft (Sandwich Dome), 3460 ft (Jennings Peak)
Net Elevation Gain: 2800 ft (approx)
Trail: Drakes’s Brook Trail, Sandwich Mountain Trail, Jennings Peak spur
Length: 11.4 mi
Time on Trail : 0915
Time off Trail: 1500
Getting there is pretty easy, taking NH-49 into Waterville Valley. The parking there is free and the trailhead wasn’t too terrible to find. There are picnic tables there by the trailhead. The Sandwich Mountain Trail departs from the other side of the parking lot. Drake’s brook Trail essentially starts off as an access road that must be or have been used for logging. There are a number of what I presume are Nordic skiing trails along the way.
A partly cloudy day turned out to be a great day to go out and get some elevation therapy. The elevation change over this mileage makes it a nice, easy graded path up for most of the way. Reaching the junction with Sandwich Mountain Trail, I opted to go to Jennings Peak first. The views were pretty good in spite of the low-laying rolling cloud cover that was in the process of burning off as I ascended. I chatted up a gentleman there for a few minutes and then moved on to Sandwich Dome, where I stayed for a bit chatting with two women and their dogs while I basked in the sun a little bit and had a snack. The descent I opted to descend the same way I went up, even though the other route I would have taken would have put me in the same parking lot as I started.
Photos:
This entry is slightly backdated from a time later in 2017.
History: The original name for Sandwich Dome was Black Mountain, the name given by the local residents. This changed when the geographer Arnold Guyot published his map of the White Mountains in 1860, when he applied the name Sandwich Dome to the massive peak that straddles the towns of Sandwich and Waterville Valley because there were numerous Black Mountains in New Hampshire. There still are, actually. 15 years later the name was utilized by Charles Hitchcock’s state geological survey, and Moses Sweetser adopted it for his 1876 guidebook., reasoning that the mountain is the most conspicuous peak in Sandwich and that from the lake country to the south it appears as a flattened dome.
Peak Elevation: 3980 ft (Sandwich Dome), 3460 ft (Jennings Peak)
Net Elevation Gain: 2800 ft (approx)
Trail: Drakes’s Brook Trail, Sandwich Mountain Trail, Jennings Peak spur
Length: 11.4 mi
Time on Trail : 0915
Time off Trail: 1500
Getting there is pretty easy, taking NH-49 into Waterville Valley. The parking there is free and the trailhead wasn’t too terrible to find. There are picnic tables there by the trailhead. The Sandwich Mountain Trail departs from the other side of the parking lot. Drake’s brook Trail essentially starts off as an access road that must be or have been used for logging. There are a number of what I presume are Nordic skiing trails along the way.
A partly cloudy day turned out to be a great day to go out and get some elevation therapy. The elevation change over this mileage makes it a nice, easy graded path up for most of the way. Reaching the junction with Sandwich Mountain Trail, I opted to go to Jennings Peak first. The views were pretty good in spite of the low-laying rolling cloud cover that was in the process of burning off as I ascended. I chatted up a gentleman there for a few minutes and then moved on to Sandwich Dome, where I stayed for a bit chatting with two women and their dogs while I basked in the sun a little bit and had a snack. The descent I opted to descend the same way I went up, even though the other route I would have taken would have put me in the same parking lot as I started.
Photos:
Sandwich Dome, Jennings Peak; 18SEP17This entry is slightly backdated from a time later in 2017.
Friday, September 8, 2017
08 September 2017: Stinson Mountain
On this fine day I decided to sleep an extra two hours but still wanted to get out to do some hiking. I guilted myself to hit the highway without a plan and I settled on Stinson Mountain since I got off to a late start this morning. I had scouted this trailhead out on the maps for just such an occasion. This peak really shows off the beauty of the Rumney / Plymouth area of the state.
History: Once a peak with a fire lookout, initially established in 1911, with a 16' wooden tower. In 1927 a 27' steel tower was erected. This tower remained in service until 1967, and was removed in 1985. The origins of the name evade my research but I imagine it was named for a family that settled in the area, as was the lake bearing the same name.
Peak Elevation: 2900 ft.
Elevation Gain: 1381 ft.
Trail: Stinson Mountain Trail
Length: 3.6 mi
Time on Trail : 1045 ish
Time off Trail: 1300 ish
Getting there mid-morning, I parked right at the trailhead since Doetown rd was driveable in my Jeep. walking that would probably add another half mile total to the hike if you had to hoof it from the main road (Cross rd) to the trailhead. No parking fee here. The trail starts off rather low grade and works up to something a bit more moderate. At about 1.1 miles, there is a split where the hiking trail goes right and a snowmobile trail veers left. I recall a number of what looked like other less official snowmobile trails along the way. The hiking path was pretty easy to follow. Towards the top is some open rock faces with some scarring from snowmobiles.
The view here was fantastic as I had scored a very clear day. The summit used to have some type of watchtower, as evidenced by the footings and steps remaining. There was not much to explore up here. After a quick snack I opted to descend the peak. I was alone my entire time there - the only other soul seen was someone driving past in a truck as I was popping my boots off. A short hike that I imagine is good for easy snowshoeing or winter hiking.
Photos:
Another slightly backdated entry made in 2017
History: Once a peak with a fire lookout, initially established in 1911, with a 16' wooden tower. In 1927 a 27' steel tower was erected. This tower remained in service until 1967, and was removed in 1985. The origins of the name evade my research but I imagine it was named for a family that settled in the area, as was the lake bearing the same name.
Peak Elevation: 2900 ft.
Elevation Gain: 1381 ft.
Trail: Stinson Mountain Trail
Length: 3.6 mi
Time on Trail : 1045 ish
Time off Trail: 1300 ish
Getting there mid-morning, I parked right at the trailhead since Doetown rd was driveable in my Jeep. walking that would probably add another half mile total to the hike if you had to hoof it from the main road (Cross rd) to the trailhead. No parking fee here. The trail starts off rather low grade and works up to something a bit more moderate. At about 1.1 miles, there is a split where the hiking trail goes right and a snowmobile trail veers left. I recall a number of what looked like other less official snowmobile trails along the way. The hiking path was pretty easy to follow. Towards the top is some open rock faces with some scarring from snowmobiles.
The view here was fantastic as I had scored a very clear day. The summit used to have some type of watchtower, as evidenced by the footings and steps remaining. There was not much to explore up here. After a quick snack I opted to descend the peak. I was alone my entire time there - the only other soul seen was someone driving past in a truck as I was popping my boots off. A short hike that I imagine is good for easy snowshoeing or winter hiking.
Photos:
Stinson Mountain. 08sep17Another slightly backdated entry made in 2017
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)