The White Mountain landscape is defined by its mountain passes (called Notches), perhaps even more than its peaks. Crawford Notch, Pinkham Notch, and Franconia Notch are just a few of the great valleys that channel visitors from one region of the White …
Read More »Tag Archives: 4000 footers
The Desolation Loop Trip Plan: Backpacking the White Mountains 4000 Footers Guidebook
The Desolation Loop is a moderately strenuous 41 mile backpack through the eastern half of the White Mountain’s Pemigewasset Wilderness, bounded by the Bonds, Ethan Ridge, Carrigan Notch, and Hancock Notch. There are many excellent swimming holes and wilderness campsites along the route, which will …
Read More »The Kate Sleeper Loop Trip Plan: Backpacking the White Mountain 4000 Footers Guidebook
The Kate Sleeper Loop is a 2 day, 20 mile backpacking route that climbs four 4000 footers: North and Middle Tripyramid, Whiteface and Passaconaway. The Tripyramids and Whiteface/Passaconaway are usually climbed on separate days by day hikers, but they’re linked together by …
Read More »Climbing Tom-Field-Willey in March
Mt’s Tom, Field, and Willey are a group of three 4000-foot peaks that are usually hiked together because they’re all clustered along a single ridgeline above Crawford Notch. It’s not a difficult hike in mild weather, but it’s a reasonably long one …
Read More »Climbing North and South Twin Mountains
“South Twin must be the most climbed mountain on the 4000 footer list”, said my friend Lisa, “It’s on the way to so many other peaks”. South Twin Mountain is at a cross roads for anyone hiking from the Pemigewasset Wilderness to …
Read More »Book Review: The 4000 Footers of the White Mountains
If you like to climb 4000 footers in New Hampshire, I recommend you get yourself a copy of The 4000-Footers of the White Mountains. It’s co-authored by Steve Smith, a member of the AMC Four Thousand Footer Committee and co-editor of the …
Read More »A Taste for Bushwhacking by Steve Smith
As I remember it, my first bushwhack in the New England woods was a fiasco. I was working at the Mt. Snow ski resort in southern Vermont during the snowless winter of 1979-1980, and I had plenty of time to hike because …
Read More »The Trailwrights 72
If you found hiking the White Mountain 4000 footer peakbagging list easy, try hiking the TrailWrights 72, which is a lot harder. The chief difference between the lists is that you can only count one peak per day on the Trailwrights list. …
Read More »Mount Passaconaway
The weather was perfect today for my ascent of Mount Passaconaway (4,043 ft) in the Sandwich Range of the White Mountains, with morning temperatures in the low 40’s, climbing to the low 70’s by late afternoon, under mostly sunny skies. This was …
Read More »AT Section Hike: Walking on the Treetops
Winter Section Hike I just got back from an incredible 2-day backpacking trip in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. We had fantastic weather and took full advantage of it by extending our hike, doubling our planned mileage, and bagging a few …
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