11 October 2017: Dickey and Welch Mountains

With foliage season in NH just around the corner I wanted to get onto what is supposed to be one of the best views in the state – The Dickey and Welch loop has nice ledges that offer fantastic views into the white mountains. This was a solo job I took on just to get something productive done with a day off.

History: there wasn’t much out there as far as background on whom these peaks would be named after. If you have any definite info please share! Looking at this ledge I’d say there must have been a substantial forest fire on these peaks some time ago and the terrain never quite recovered fully. The vegetation on this loop once you’re on the ledges seems pretty fragile so hard to imagine it will be a fully wooded peak anytime soon.


Peak Elevation: Dickey Mountain 2734 ft. / Welch Mountain 2605 ft.
Elevation Gain: 1800 ft
Trail: Welch and Dickey Loop Trail, unnamed spur trail to viewppoint on Dickey
Length: 4.4 mi
Time on Trail : 0950
Time off Trail: 1245


I knew what this mountain would offer – nearly 2 miles of open ledges with amazing views. I didn’t quite expect the terrain to be comparable to some of the “easier” 4000 footers in aggressiveness. I read somewhere after this hike that this half0day trip is a good measuring stick for friends who want to do the higher elevation peaks. I wasn’t so lucky here but that’s ok (see first dated entry)

The grading on this loop was pretty manageable. Getting to Welch ledges in no time I kept trucking as I saw that I hadn’t reached the peak of Welch yet. Some of the rock faces going up were fun to stop on because turning around you had this amazing vista behind you. Once I reached Welch’s summit I stopped and chatted with an older couple with their friendly dog. Descnding the col between the peaks, which is deceptively steeper than the topo will lead you to believe, I noted the large cairn. I wonder why that’s there?

Heading back up to Dickey you once again are on a scramble type face, perfectly manageable. The view from Dickey was pretty nice too. I noted on my map that there is a spur trail that leads north to a ledge, about 0.1 mi from the dickey summit. I didn’t see any markings so I followed what I think were a herd path to the small cairns I saw on a rock field of the viewpoint. Breathtaking views see photos. After a brief stop for a snack I descended on the loop;, doing so wasn’t too bad as the trail is marked but sometimes its easy to find yourself wandering off orientation. I also found a blue blazed trail that was not on the maps I had or saw. Does anyone know what this is for? I didn’t see anything online about this but didn’t look very deeply either.

This is a great loop hike perfect for the half-day hikes with astounding views. Absolutely worth the effort and worthy of the 52WAV list.


Photos:

Dickey Mountain and Welch Mountain 11OCT17

Note: this is entry is slightly backdated.