White Mountains

Mt Adams (5774′) and Mt Madison (5367′) are the second highest and fifth highest four thousand footers in the White Mountains. They’re usually hiked together on the same day because they’re adjacent at the northernmost end of the Presidential Range. Climbing Adams …

Backpacker Magazine got it right when they named Mt Washington (6288′) one of the 10 most dangerous hikes in America. While avalanches are a concern, safe routes exist to climb the peak as long as the weather is favorable. But it often …

Winter isn’t so much of a season in the White Mountains as an altitude. The onset of winter always starts at the higher elevations first with freezing rain and snow before the snow line drops into the mountain passes and valleys below. …

The Terrifying 25 is a popular list of difficult and at times terrifying hiking trails in New Hampshire’s White Mountains compiled by Trish Herr, the author of Up! A Mother and Daughter’s Peakbagging Adventure, and her daughters Alex and Sage when they were …

The White Mountains 4000 Footer Grid, called The Grid, requires hiking all 48 of the mountains on the White Mountains 4000 footer list, once each calendar month. That equates to 48 x 12 or 576 climbs, although you can climb multiple peaks …

The forest service road (Haystack Road, also called FR #304)  that leads to the North Twin Trail trailhead is gated in winter. While you can hike 2.5 miles along Haystack Rd to the trailhead from Rt 3, it’s much shorter to park …

I’d been hoping to climb Mt Washington and Mt Monroe early in the month before it snowed and got winter-like above treeline, but winter came earlier than expected this year. But then I sprained my ankle on November 3rd while hiking back …

The Dry River Valley runs through the heart of the Presidential Range-Dry River Wilderness from Mt Washington to Crawford Notch. It is a wild place and one of the toughest regions of the White Mountains to hike and backpack in. It’s also …

The Pond of Safety is located in the area of the White Mountains called the Randolph Community Forest (RCF). Randolph is a small community located just north of Rt 2 across from Mts Madison, Adams, and Jefferson in the Presidential Mountain Range. …

The first trail I ever hiked in the White Mountains, the Beaver Brook Trail, climbs Mt Moosilauke (4803′). The initial ascent is a beast of a climb 2000′ up a cliff with iron bars and wooden steps anchored on the rock next …

The Dry River Valley in New Hampshire’s White Mountains can be challenging to access because the trails leading into it and through it are remote, rough, and difficult to follow. Scarred by avalanches, washed out by floods, or ravaged by hurricanes, the …

Boott Spur is a subpeak on Mt Washington’s south face in the White Mountains and the Bigelow Lawn is the grassy tableland between them. It’s not an area frequented by most White Mountain hikers because it isn’t on the official 4000-footer list, …

Mt Parker is a 3004 ft mountain in the Presidential-Dry River Wilderness with expansive views of Mt Washington and the Southern Presidential Range. It’s also on the 52-With-a-View Peakbagging List, which many New Hampshire hikers gravitate to after they’ve completed a round …

Pliny Mountain is a 3605′ bushwhack close to Mt Waumbek, a 4000 footer in the Pliny Range of the White Mountain National Forest, which includes Mt Starr King and the three Weeks, North, Middle, and South. It’s considered a trailless peak but …