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. On the White Mountain 4000 footer list, you can climb as many as you want per day, which makes it very easy to accumulate peaks, especially when they all lie on the same ridge like the summits along the Franconia Ridge Trail, the Wildcats, Carters, the Northern and Southern Presidentials, and the Twinway.
Beside being harder to complete, the Trailwrights list is designed to make you hike more trails in the Whites, which is why I’m drawn to it. For example, if you need to climb Mt Adams, Sam Adams, Adams 4, and Adams 5, you’re not going to want to climb the same trail from a trail head for all 4 climbs. I’m guessing this is by design.
Who are the Trailwrights?
The Trailwrights are a service organization that specializes in providing hiking clubs with trail maintenance education and coaching. So, in addition to climbing all 72 peaks on the Trailwrights list, you need to perform 72 hours of trail maintenance to get your certificate. I think that’s very cool and a great incentive to give back to the trails we rely on.
PEAK | HEIGHT (FT) | DATE | START |
---|---|---|---|
Washington | 6288 | 1/8/2011 | Pinkham Notch Lodge |
Adams | 5774 | 6/10/2011 | Appalachia via Howker/Star |
Jefferson | 5712 | 6/19/2011 | Bowman Trailhead |
Sam Adams | 5551 | 9/15/2012 | Caps Ridge Trailhead |
Clay | 5531 | 6/9/2012 | Jewel Spur/Marshfield Station |
Boot Spur | 5492 | 7/19/2012 | Pinkam Lot/Rt 16 |
John Quincy Adams | 5394 | 8/14/2012 | Pinkham Notch VC |
Monroe | 5374 | 3/20/2011 | RR Base Station/Ammo TR |
Madison | 5367 | 6/6/2009 | Pinkam Notch Lodge |
Adams 4 | 5348 | 9/28/2013 | Lowes Garage |
Adams 5 | 5266 | 8/4/2013 | Great Gulf Trail Trailhead/Rt 16 |
Lafayette | 5240 | 6/4/2011 | Lafayette Place off I93 |
Lincoln | 5089 | 6/11/2012 | Lafayette Place off I93 |
North Lincoln | 5000 | 2/18/2012 | Lafayette Place off I93 |
Franklin | 4904 | 9/5/2009 | Ammonoosuc Ravine Trailhead |
South Twin | 4902 | 10/8/2011 | Gale River TR Pking Lot |
Carter Dome | 4832 | 3/17/2012 | 19 Mile Brook |
Moosilauke | 4802 | 9/1/2007 | Beaver Brook/Kinsman Notch |
North Twin | 4761 | 3/14/2009 | Seven Dwarves Motel Rd |
Eisenhower | 4760 | 8/30/2009 | Crawford Path Trailhead |
Gulf (Slide) Peak | 4760 | 11/10/2012 | Glen Ellis Lot/Rt 16 |
Little Haystack | 4760 | 8/15/2009 | Whitehouse TH/Franconia Notch |
Bond | 4698 | 9/18/2011 | Zealand Brook Lot |
Carrigan | 4680 | 10/10/2009 | Sawyer River Road Lot |
Hight | 4675 | 9/20/2013 | 19 Mile Brook |
Middle Carter | 4600 | 1/28/2012 | 19 Mile Brook |
Lethe | 4584 | 2/2/2012 | 19 Mile Brook |
Guyot | 4580 | 1/16/2014 | Rt 302, Zealand Rd |
Blue | 4529 | 10/26/2012 | tunnel brook/benton tr |
Mossilauke South Peak | 4523 | 11/20/2010 | Ravine Rd Trailhead |
West Bond | 4520 | 6/18/2012 | Lincoln Woods |
North Carter | 4520 | 9/29/2013 | Imp Trailhead, Rt 16 |
Garfield | 4480 | 10/30/2009 | River Loop Trailhead |
Liberty | 4459 | 1/2/2011 | Whitehouse TH/Franconia Notch |
Wildcat A | 4422 | 9/28/2012 | 19 Mile Brook/Rt16 |
South Carter | 4420 | 4/21/2013 | 19 Mile Brook/Rt16 |
North Hancock | 4400 | 4/3/2010 | Hancock Overlook Lot |
South Kinsman | 4358 | 6/24/2007 | Cascade Brook Tr/93 |
Southwest Twin | 4357 | 10/6/2013 | Galehead Lot |
Flume | 4328 | 1/24/2010 | Lincoln Brook Lot |
Field | 4320 | 12/9/2011 | Highland Center/A-Z Trail |
South Hancock | 4319 | 1/30/2010 | Hancock Overlook Lot |
Osceola | 4315 | 10/25/2009 | Tripoli Rd Lot |
Clinton (Pierce) | 4310 | 2/22/2011 | Crawford Path TH |
Wildcat C | 4298 | 11/25/2011 | Polecat Ski Trail, Wildcat Resort, Rt 16 |
North Kinsman | 4293 | 7/31/2009 | Mt Kinsman Trail |
North Isolation | 4293 | 8/24/2013 | Rt 16 |
Willey | 4285 | 10/4/2009 | Mt Webster Lot/Rt 302 |
Bond Cliff | 4265 | 6/18/2010 | Lincoln Brook Lot |
Zealand | 4240 | 4/12/2012 | Zealand Rd Upper Lot |
Middle Osceola | 4200 | 5/12/2012 | Tripoli Road |
Jim | 4172 | 11/13/2010 | Ravine Rd Trailhead |
Cabot | 4160 | 12/10/2011 | Berlin Fish Hatchery/York Rd |
North Tripyramid | 4160 | 3/6/2010 | Pine Bend/Kancamagus |
East Osceola | 4156 | 3/5/2011 | Greeley Ponds TR/Kancamagus |
Middle Tripyramid | 4120 | 7/3/2010 | Sabbaday Falls/Kancamagus |
West Osceola | 4114 | 4/27/2013 | East Pond Trai/Kancamagus |
South Tripyramid | 4080 | 10/6/2012 | Livermore Lot.South Slide |
Cannon | 4080 | 9/5/2010 | Kinsman Ridge/Franconia Notch |
Wildcat D | 4060 | 6/5/2009 | 19 Mile Brook Trailhead |
Hale | 4054 | 12/22/2011 | North Twin TH/Little River |
Jackson | 4052 | 1/15/2011 | Webster/Jackson Trailhead |
Mt Tom | 4051 | 12/19/2009 | Highland Center |
Moriah | 4049 | 7/7/2007 | Rattle River Lot/Rt 2 |
Passaconaway | 4043 | 8/28/2010 | Oliverian TH/Kancamagus |
Owl's Head | 4025 | 7/17/2010 | Lincoln Brook Lot |
Galehead | 4024 | 12/28/2013 | Beaver Brook Picnic Lot |
Northwest Hancock | 4020 | 10/7/2012 | Kancamagus Highway/Hancock Hairpin |
Waumbek | 4006 | 7/24/2010 | Starr King Road Lot |
Isolation | 4004 | 9/7/2010 | Mt Davis Lot/Rt 302 |
Tecumseh | 4003 | 2/20/2010 | Mtn Rd Lot/Ski Area |
Whiteface | 4000 | 3/28/2010 | Ferncroft Road Lot |
Trailwrights 72 Official Rules:
Peaks:
- Hikes/Bushwhacks start and finish on foot from any maintained road, class V or better, parking area, or U.S. Forest Service roads open for traffic. Exception: Mt. Washington auto road cannot be driven (not recommended to hike this road).
- Each peak must be climbed individually; therefore, only one peak counts per hike or backpack.
Trail work:
- Trail work will be defined as standard trail construction/reconstruction and repair or maintenance. Includes blazing, brushing, erosion control, etc. or any task designated by crew leader.
- Only hours actually worked may be counted, do not include time you spent driving to and from home. (Use trailhead to trailhead time)
- At least (3) work outings (21 hours total) must be done with Trailwrights organized and led events. These are noted as such on the calendar.
- List organization, the date, work done, trail name.
After completion of the requirements, application may be made by writing to the Hiking Chairman of Trailwrights, 27 North Spring St, Concord, NH 03301. A special patch and certificate will be available to members for no fee. Nonmembers receive a certificate free and patches available at cost. Additional patches at cost. For more information on the Trailwrights 72 Summits Club, you can contact the Trailwrights Hiking Chairman via email at [email protected]..
I’m a little confused. At the top of the article you say “The chief difference between the lists is that you can only count one peak per day on the Trailwrights list” but under the official requirements it says “Each peak must be climbed individually; therefore, only one peak counts per hike or backpack” It seems that I should be able to do two separate hikes that leave from different locations on the same day and count two summits for that day, e.g Middle Osceola from Tripoli Rd and Mt. Jim from Rt. 112. Is this a correct assumption?
As long as you reach a paved road in between. That’s the standard definition of a hike.