Mount Eisenhower and Mount Pierce

Since we went two weekends in a row without a hike, picking the next 4k(s) to do was quite difficult. I've been anxious to take care of the Willey Range (with the three 4ks Willey, Tom, and Field), but not for any particular reason. Since we didn't really want to risk doing 3 peaks on our first day back in action (one of them twice, possibly) we decided to head over to the Presidential Range for the first time (for Tim and I, anyway) and hop up to the peaks of Eisenhower (4780 ft) and Pierce (4310 ft).

As an added bonus, Amy's mother Mary came along, making it team.... BLAMT? TAMBL? T-LAMB?  And since this meant we'd have another car at the trailhead, we decided to make it a traverse, going up Crawford Path to the peaks, and then down Edmands Path from Eisenhower.

Overview
Climbing Mount Pierce and Mount Eisenhower as a traverse up Crawford Path and down Edmands Path:

• TIME: 6 hours, 50 minutes (with breaks)
• DISTANCE: 8.1 miles (round trip)
• ELEVATION GAIN: 3,100 feet

Here's an interactive Google Map I made of the trails you can use for these two mountains.  It's pretty fun to view in Earth mode (will require plugin).


View Mount Eiesenhower and Mount Pierce Hike, via Edmands Path or Crawford Path in a larger map

Elevation profiles for the different legs/trails (click images to enlarge):

Crawford Path to Pierce

Pierce to Eisenhower

Edmands Path to Eisenhower

I'll just give some quick notes on the three legs, and dump some photos to keep this post simple.

Crawford Path to Pierce: Great trail, easy to follow, never too difficult or steep.  Took about 2 hours at our group pace.

The rocks on the way up to Pierce were often damp, so we had to watch our footing, but otherwise very nice

Summit of Mount Pierce: Had to go onto another trail to go up to the summit, which had some gray jays checking in on whether we dropped any food.  Good views of the Presidential Range ahead of us, with Eisenhower seeming within easy distance.

Panoramic from a viewpoint near the summit of Pierce, with more of the Presidential Range ahead, to the right in the shot.  Click image to see larger version.

Tim, Amy, and Mary coming up to the summit of Mount Pierce

Pierce to Eisenhower (Crawford Path): Fun terrain, with lots of views and wind.  Occasionally muddy, but otherwise a fun hike.  As you approach the summit of Eisenhower, it gets steep, but the trail is not difficult and clearly marked with large cairns.

Amy, Mary, and Tim, somewhere between Pierce and Eisenhower

We could see the steep/fun climbing from a distance

Tim coming up to the summit of Mount Eisenhower

Summit of Mount Eisenhower: Extremely windy!  Several hikers huddled by the large cairn marking the summit since it was blocking the wind.  We stopped for just a few minutes and then moved on to find a spot to eat lunch with some protection from the wind.

Amy and I at the summit of Mount Eisenhower, with Mount Washington, etc., in the background

Panoramic at the summit of Mount Eisenhower, looking towards Mount Washington.  Hi Leela! Click the image to see full size.

Another panoramic from the summit of Mount Eisenhower, looking East. Click the image to view full size.

Edmands Path: Another very nice trail!  Nothing too difficult to speak of, and it was a pleasure to be out of the wind finally.  Leela started finding sticks to play with, showing no signs of wear.

This is the AWESOME sign you'd see if you were on your way up the Edmands path

Tim heading down the Edmands path

Leela cooling down near the end of the hike

Final thoughts
Total hike time was a gentle 7 hours.  I feel like this was the most normal/easiest 4000 footer hike we've done so far.  I can't wait to get back onto the Presidential Range!

BRIAN OUT.