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…
Trail conditions in early April are different every year. When I did this hike a few years back on one of the Sandwich Range’s iconic peaks, I encountered a lot of ice, but not much deep snow.
Where do you go for a walk on the first warm day of the season? I like it when it includes some views, some dramatic nearby landscape and water. Some may not know it, but the Ossipee Range has plenty of those qualities.
Water and ice are directly affected by weather patterns and spring melting is never the same. This is a column about visiting Arethusa Falls, the highest waterfall in New Hampshire, a couple of years ago, while ice still clung to it, yet after considerable rain, creating unique beauty.
I generally don’t like hiking with large groups (unless I’m leading them). But this hike in March eight years ago on Mount Osceola was a pleasure.
Tuesday was phenomenal, with temps in the 70s in the valley. On top of Mount Washington there was a balmy high of 42 degrees. I picked that day to climb up the Tuckerman Ravine Trail to Hermit Lake and continue to the base of the Tuckerman Ravine Bowl.
On a recent morning, we woke up to a few inches of white stuff in Tamworth. It was a beautiful morning. I decided to snowshoe into the unique Big Rock Cave, located in the Sandwich Range Wilderness. It is a 1.9-mile hike from Wonalancet, part of Tamworth.