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.

Mount Osceola and East Osceola

We chose to do the Osceolas for our next hike, basically because it didn't look like too rough of a hike, taking into consideration that we would get two 4000 footers out of the deal.  Not too far away, either, so we didn't have to worry about changing our time of departure.  And Leela was in good shape to come with us (no paw issues!), so we had Team BALT back in action.

Overview: 
Climbing Mount Osceola and East Osceola from the Kancamagus Highway via Greeley Ponds Trail & Mt Osceola Trail (out and back):

• TIME: 6 hours, 40 minutes (round trip with breaks)
• DISTANCE: 7.6 miles (round trip)
• ELEVATION GAIN: 3,100 feet

Elevation profile (click image to enlarge):

View Mount Osceola and East Osceola via Greeley Ponds Trail in a larger map

This trail is the shortest we've done for the 4000 footers, both in terms of time and distance.  It is also the most dynamic, with steep sections like Carrigain, several nice break points, and then sections where you do some small scale rock climbing.  We thought it would be easy compared to our last two 4000 footer hikes, and I suppose it was in many ways, but I only recognize this in hindsight.  While we were hiking, this trail felt very tough, and having to summit East Osceola, and then do some rigorous climbing to get to the summit of Osceola, and then having to go back and summit East Osceola again was not too fun to have in the back of my head the whole time. 

There they are, East Osceola to the left, and Mount Osceola to the right (don't know the peak all the way to the right).  Taken from a pulloff on the Kanc

I have taken many pictures like the one above from the same pulloff over the years.  The great view gave the Osceolas a special place in my mind, and to realize they were on the list of 4000 footers was really nice.  I have wondered many times what it would be like to be up there, and if people actually climbed these beauties.

We were the first people to park at the Greeley Ponds trailhead, and we did not see anyone on the trail until after the summit of East Osceola.  Seems that many people were coming from Tripoli Road on the other side of the mountains, and when we crossed them on our way to Osceola, they were on their way to the East peak.

Any water crossings were very easy.  They also served as a quick bath for Leela on our way back, after she sunk into some mud up to her shoulders

You can almost always turn and see other mountains through the trees on your way up the trail.  The view opens up a few times before you get to the actual summit of East Osceola, easily better than any views on the Tripyramids.

Very steep in many spots, but not the worst of it yet

First really open view came at a spot with a jagged rock face.  Here are the Tripyramids to the right.

Amy on the rock face

The rest of the view (Autostitch wouldn't blend with the Tripyramids shot for some reason!).  Carrigain is out there to the left.

One of the Greeley Ponds.  Tim and I actually snowshoed the ponds over the winter, which was really great.

OK so moving on up, we're approaching what we thought was the summit of East Osceola, but it was actually just a great spot to get some more great views.  Very steep.  Watch for loose rocks!  I wiped out on our way back down this section.

Summit of East Osceola! Marked by a pile o' rocks

The summit of East Osceola was fairly cool, despite the fact that there were trees all around.  Flat and open.  Would not mind spending a night up there, actually.

Now came the most fun/scary part of the whole trip, the chimney between the Osceolas.  We read about it and did not know what to expect.  There were a few times where we thought some steep sections could have been the chimney, but when you get to it, you know for certain that it's what everyone was talking about.  I'd estimate it's about 20 feet high, and it's actually not to difficult if you make sure to get a good handle on the rocks above.  Our dog did it without any help, believe it or not.

Here's a shot of the chimney on the way down from East Osceola.  The path we took is the squiggly clearing to the right, I think.

Tim took this one.  Leela slipped back a few times, but with Tim ahead of her as incentive, she was able to do it!

Tim loved the chimney and actually went right back down it on our way back

There is an alternative path to get around the chimney, but that doesn't mean it's easy.  We did it on the way down and took our time.

After the chimney, it didn't take long to get to the wonderful summit of Mount Osceola.  Two groups were already there from Tripoli Road, and after we arrived more and more people came pouring in.  We had a relaxed lunch and then headed back to East Osceola.

You could see many 4000 footers from up there, but I'm not going to label any this time.  I recall seeing from the Presidential Range to Tecumseh.  East Osceola, by the way, is the green bulge to the left, between the groups of people.

I'm not sure he's even seen Zoolander

While enjoying our sandwiches and Gatorade, we overheard some peakbagger gossip: "...a friend of mine did all 48 in one winter."  That made everyone at the summit look like a chump!  Congrats to that guy, amazing.

On the way back, it wasn't too bad.  Having to resummit East Osceola was kind of annoying, but if you think of it as doing a 3rd 4000 footer in one hike, the accomplishment makes it seem a little more worth the effort.  At one point, as mentioned in a caption above, I slipped on some loose rocks and almost took Tim out at a steep section, but everyone was OK, myself included.  Some advice for any hikers: don't wear shoes that are a size too big.  Also, avoid being a clumsy oaf.


BRIAN OUT.

Mount Carrigain via Signal Ridge Trail (Another NH 4000 Footer)

For our 3rd New England 4000 footer, Tim suggested we keep going with somewhat strenuous hikes, and directed my attention to Mount Carrigain, a 4,700 foot mountain with what is said to be one of the best views in all of the White Mountains.  It has a lookout tower on the top to get you above any trees for some long distance, 360 degree views.  After doing some quick research and watching this YouTube video, it was decided; Carrigain was next for team BALT.  But since Leela had some roughed up paws from playing in the Portsmouth dog park on Saturday, we decided to avoid further damage and let her have the day off (not that she wanted it), making it team BAT for Carrigain.

Let me just say right now: this is a tough hike with a great reward.  The views were fantastic, and I was able to find 35 of the 48 NH 4000 footers in my photos.  Some panoramic shots follow, with labels.

Climbing Mount Carrigain via Signal Ridge Trail: 

• TIME: 6 hours, 53 minutes (round trip with breaks)
• DISTANCE: 10 miles (round trip)
• ELEVATION GAIN: 3,250 feet
  

Elevation profile (click image to enlarge):

Signal Ridge Trail to Mt Carrigain

View Climbing Mount Carrigain via Signal Ridge Trail in a larger map

I don't know how I wrote the last post the way I did. So detailed but devoid of what happened. Amy doesn't like me telling her what to expect on the trail, she wants to experience it first hand. I think I'll just get my photos up and drop whatever description seems good for this hike. See how that goes.

We started hiking at 7:28 and found the trail to be interesting enough, not dragging on and on like Sabbaday Brook Trail did after we hit the Tripyramids. Water was our companion for a good stretch, with a few easy crossings.

A beaver pond along the trail.  You actually cross at the dam

Once the trail starts to gain elevation, it felt relentless.  The trail is barely wide enough to let other hikers pass for long stretches, and there are so many rocks that my "cross training" sneakers failed to provide sufficient support for many sections, giving my arches a rough time.

Sort of a rock slide going on for a while

There is only ONE spot that opens up before you reach Signal Ridge.  It was a good excuse for a break, but you can't see a whole lot yet. 

This trail was not boring, don't get me wrong.  Just long and hard.  That's what she said.

Starting about 1 hour before we reached Signal Ridge, I kept thinking we were closer than we were.  I must have guessed (out loud) that we were on our final push 4 or 5 times.  The trees change dramatically from deciduous to evergreen, then to dead-like, greenless evergreens, then back to evergreen.  Each of these changes got me thinking we were about to break out of it, and it drove Amy and Tim nuts.  But finally, we made it to the ridge, and it was excellent.  The best spot on any hike I've done so far.

Panoramic view from Signal Ridge

Took the time to label what 4000 footers I could from the photo.  You can see a LOT of them if you know where to look.  I used Google Earth to do it, which was actually a lot of fun. 

Nice view of the Tripyramids from Signal Ridge, really living up to the name from this POV

Amy and Tim on Signal Ridge, with the summit and tower of Mount Carrigain ahead

Ahhhh so awesome!  Tim decided, probably right when I took this photo, that we were coming back here for lunch.

Amy and the great view

After some invigorating views at the ridge we were ready to push for the summit, which was under 20 minutes further from ridge.

Amy is checking out the summit marker, which is dead center under the tower

Panoramic from the tower, looking west to north, with the western peaks of the presidential range all the way to to the right in this shot

Check out all the 4000 footers!

Another panoramic, south to west, taken from the tower

Wish I had done better with getting the 360 view, but hey, more 4000 footers!

At the tower (which is much shorter than I anticipated, by the way), there were two guys who had passed us on the way up who were having a great break.  We talked briefly while I snapped photos and it turns out that Carrigain was the last of the NH 4000 footers for one of the guys!  Great choice to finish with! When I told him about our trek on the Tripyramids his friend started in on a story about how they ditched a blind man, which seemed funny, but the story petered out before I learned more.  Although they were kind of annoying by sort of camping out up there and not letting us have the views to ourselves for a moment, I'm glad they were there.  Inspired me to make sure my last 4000 footer is a good one!

The only pic with all three of us in it...

Lunch on the ridge was excellent.  There were a few spots off the trail that allowed us to perch on the north side and really regain some energy for the trip back down.

Tim made Amy laugh so much for no reason

Tim took this great shot which shows the ridge and Amy and I (we're pretty small in the shot, off to the right)

Mount Lowell fascinated us quite a bit with the designs its side created in our imaginations

This range is one of my favorite views along the Kancamagus Highway.  Osceola is to the left

The hike down was a great improvement upon the experience of last week with Sabbaday Brook Trail.  Though it did seem to drag for a bit at the end of the decline, it was really not that bad.  Plus, having done the trail already, we had a better idea of what to expect.  This lack of mystery was welcome after a hard day of hiking.  We got back to the car at 2:21, making the trip about 6 hours, 50 minutes.

Final thoughts on Mount Carrigain
Are you kidding?  This mountain was awesome.  I think I'll have to do it again sometime with Leela so she can be part of the 4000 footers too.

This mountain was clearly more popular than the Tripyramids, as we saw several hikers.  We even passed a family on their way up for an afternoon climb.  So it is clear that the great views from the top are no secret.  Starting early ensured we were alone for most of the climb, and those that did cross our path were nice and friendly.

BRIAN OUT.