White Mountains

March is the best month to climb the higher peaks in New Hampshire’s Presidential Range when temperatures warm up and the days are longer, but it’s still full-on winter conditions above treeline. This is home of Mt Washington, the White Mountains highest …

Mount Moosilauke (4802′) was windy. It’s often like that. It was really cold too, registering -1*F at the trailhead at the start of our hike, with a -30*F windchill forecast at the mountain’s bald summit. That meant we’d probably need full-face protection …

Gordon Pond is a remote pond on the Kinsman Ridge Trail, just below Mt Wolf, between Mount Moosilauke and the Eliza Brook Shelter along the Appalachian Trail. I doubt many people visit it (because it’s not en route to a 4000 footer) …

The Grid is a peakbagging list in the White Mountains of New Hampshire where hikers climb each of the 48 White Mountain 4000 footers each month of the year, requiring 12 x 48 = 576 summits to finish. As you can imagine …

Sugar Mountain and Jericho Mountain are located in Jericho Mountain State Park, just outside Berlin, NH (pronounced Ber’-lin), the “City that Trees Built.” While it’s just a short distance from Mt Washington, Berlin has a “border outpost” feeling to it. It’s also …

Eliot needed Mt Eisenhower for his Winter 4000 footer list, so we decided to climb it on the second day of Winter (12/23). Eisenhower (4780′) is a bald dome in the Southern Presidentials, located about halfway up the ridge between Mt Monroe …

The Carter Ledge Trail is considered one of the scariest trails in the White Mountains because it requires scrambling across an open ledge above a cliff. Carter Ledge is also on the Terrifying 25 List, which is a popular list of sketchy …

Sandwich Dome (3980′) is not quite a White Mountain 4000 footer but it’s still a popular mountain to climb because it commands such an impressive view. It’s also a huge mountain that can be climbed from a number of different directions along …

The Great Gulf is a glacial valley that lies between Mt Washington and the Northern Presidential Range in New Hampshire. It’s ground zero for many of the toughest and steepest trails in the White Mountains, including the Great Gulf Trail which climbs …

The Great Gully Trail is one of the steepest trails in the Whites climbing 1700 feet in one mile. It begins at the bottom of the King Ravine headwall (3700′) on the north side of Mt Adams (5774′),  the second tallest peak …

Mt Adams is the second-highest peak on the White Mountain 4000 footers list, with an elevation of 5774 feet. The most direct route to the summit follows the Airline Trail, which climbs 4,500 feet in 4.3 miles. It’s a tough climb up …

  The Dry River Valley runs from Mt Washington down to Crawford Notch about 2000 feet below the Crawford Path, the oldest continuously maintained hiking trail in the United States. While it’s within spitting distance of the most popular peaks in the …

I spent most of this month off-trail down in Boston, helping a family member recuperate from major surgery. It was important that I be there, even though it meant leaving my beloved White Mountains for close to four weeks. I decided to …

Boott Spur is a 5492′ sub-peak of Mt Washington and forms the southern headwall of Tuckerman Ravine. While it lacks the glamour and popularity of its massive neighbor it’s also a formidable rock pile and major alpine zone crossroads. Boott Spur is …