I wrote this column in the late fall of 2023. It is not often that I print a column that took place in another season. But I thought it might be the most effective way to convince people to head now over to Mount Cardigan, a beautiful peak in Orange and Alexandria. I haven’t been back since,…
Friday, Aug. 14, was a beautiful day. I didn’t get outside until late morning. I headed to Pinkham Notch Camp to hike the Old Jackson Road to Low’s Bald Spot.
On a hot Thursday this week, I headed over to the other side of the mountains and climbed Mount Pemigewassett (2,552 feet), also known as Indian Head. It was a good moderate choice, considering the heat.
Sometimes you are inspired to do a hike by seeing it from another location. Once I was sitting on the South Ledge viewpoint on Iron Mountain in Jackson. It is a dramatic place — you rest comfortably on smooth ledges with stunted pine and look west and southwest over many mountains. The next …
My friend Carl Schildkraut is up from New York. I've led him on hikes for many years. I'm meeting him today in North Conway for lunch.
This time of year is a good time to travel a distance for a unique hike. I did this hike a few years ago with an old friend who has since passed on.
The 2.5-mile Caps Ridge Trail to Mount Jefferson (5,716 feet) is a favorite for many hikers. Starting at 3,008 feet on the dirt Jefferson Notch Road, it requires less elevation gain than any other trail to reach a Presidential peak over 5,000 feet.
On a hot day this week I hiked to Carter Ledge, a unique bare granite ridgetop below Mount Chocorua and Middle Sister. This 5.6-mile, round-trip hike offers good exercise and spectacular views. That was why I went. The added bonus of a breeze from the west on top was welcome.
There is a hike in Randolph that you won't forget. The fact that I took it during the pandemic is interesting, maybe as therapy.
The 626-acre Chain of Ponds Community Forest in Madison is an exciting place in many ways. It is a place still being discovered.
Thursday, I headed over to North Chatham and climbed Little Deer Hill (1,090 feet) and Big Deer Hill (1,367 feet), something I haven’t done in a few years. I am always glad when I do. Some small mountains have class, and these do.
The Dry River in the 27,000-acre Dry River Wilderness drains the southern side of Mount Washington from Oakes Gulf to the Saco River through a deep and narrow, steep-walled ravine. The 9.5-mile Dry River Trail runs along it from near Route 302 to the Crawford Path near Lakes of the Clouds Hut.
I thought it would be fun to revisit a hike I did with the late Bob Gordon in 2016. He was a fine artist from Conway. For those who knew him, reading this might spark one of your own memories.
In a column a couple of years ago, I suggested Bridal Veil Falls in Franconia as a great waterfall to visit. For those of us in the Mount Washington Valley, it offers a nice day excursion to the western side of the mountains, seeing new places and doing a substantial, yet, fairly easy, 2.5-m…
The Squam Lakes Association closes its trails every spring in mud time to prevent trail damage. This year, they were reopened on April 17. So, I thought this column a few years ago would be a good one about one of my favorite spring hikes in the Lakes Region.
The Mountain Wanderer Map and Bookstore in Lincoln is an institution in the White Mountain hiking community. In business since August, 1998, it has been a go-to location for new guidebooks, maps and outdoor books, as well as trail information and hiking tips. Its founder, Steve Smith, has an…