Snow worshipers celebrate this winter. That includes hikers. Packed down trails are in great shape. Using foot traction on them is certainly easier than negotiating rocks and roots in the warm season.
4052-foot Mount Jackson in the southern Presidential Range is a popular peak any time of year. But in the winter, its special qualities seem to shine more. Because of its popularity, the 2.6-mile trail is soon packed down after a snowstorm. From its trailhead on the east side of Route 302, j…
It has been quite a week in the North Country with both cold and snow. This coming week looks great for getting out on the trails with mild temps, blue sky and dry, cold weather powder snow. Some popular trails may be partially packed down a little after this coming weekend. That's what happ…
Last Tuesday, I hiked 1.7 miles up the Tuckerman Ravine Trail from the Pinkham Notch Camp to the Huntington Ravine Fire Road and walked another 0.3 miles along that to the Harvard Cabin.
On Tuesday, I returned to Mount Sabattus (1,253 feet) in Lovell, Maine. Or more accurately, it invited me back while I was thinking of a hike to do. I had just returned from a few days on Orcas Island in Washington, being with my brother’s family after he passed away.
A few weeks ago, there was an ice storm in this area that left tree branches covered with ice. Later, they sparkled in the sun. I happened to be out west at the time and missed most of it, though I did catch some lingering ice in the trees on a road walk in the Ossipee Mountains.
A couple of weeks ago, on a Tuesday, I rode up the 8-mile Mount Washington Auto Road in the Mount Washington State Park snowcat. Patrick Hummel, the state park manager, was kind to let me come up to write about it, which I had done before.
My brother Clay passed away this Tuesday December 23, surrounded by his immediate family. On Christmas morning I flew out to be with them on Orcas Island, Wash.
The 5.2-mile round-trip hike on Mount Jackson is one of my favorite winter 4,000-footer days. I haven't done it yet this winter, but I hope to. Ample snow, a packed down trail with microspikes and blue sky are the perfect conditions for it. Here is a column and photo of a hike I did there a …
Thursday I had a dentist appointment in Conway at 8:30 a.m. But I was aching for a moderate snowshoe after the new snow, and looked at my maps. Eagle Mountain (1,605 feet) in Jackson beckoned. It was only a 0.9-mile hike up, yet I knew it had a steep section, and it would be a modest challenge.
Whitehorse and Cathedral ledges elegantly frame the western side of the Mount Washington Valley. Last Saturday, before the snow, I did the White Ledge Loop around Whitehorse Ledge. I like going back there. It is right next to town yet spectacular.
LANCASTER — Updating the forest management plan for the 40,000-acre Nash Stream State Forest will get underway next year. The issue was raised at the Nash Stream Citizens Committee meeting last Thursday. The committee also received an update on the two new dams being replaced, ongoing timber…
Sometimes a cloudy, wet day can be a great time for an immersion into November woods. Thursday it didn’t rain as predicted. Yet the forest floor was soaked from night rain. In the morning, I decided to head from Tamworth over to the Castle in the Clouds Conservation Area in Moultonborough to…
Thursday was a banner day. I decided to drive up to Pinkham Notch at noon and climb the half-mile trail up to Square Ledge to see the record November snow on Mount Washington.
Last spring, I wrote about a new accessible trail slated for construction in Tamworth. To cut to the chase, it has been completed for a while and is ready for visitors. It is only six-tenths of a mile round-trip, so it can be quickly visited and is worth a quick stop to sample. It is for eve…
This has been an incredible autumn of copper beeches and golden aspens. Signs are of a cold and stormy winter. But there is an in between season after many of the leaves have fallen, and here is a column I wrote about it late November last year.