Trip report
GetFit Hike #5: Mt. Pierce Hike
Hiking/Walk DATE: 06/26/2010 - 06/26/2010
Trip/Event Location: Bretton Woods, NH
US
Trip Leader(s): Gandalf
Max # People: 15
Trip Guiding / Event Fee: No, I will not be asking participants for money
Difficulty Level: Moderate to Strenuous
This is it! The 4,000 you've been training for!
Both the summit and portions of the hike between the hut and peak offers fantastic views!
This loop hike brings you to Mount Pierce [4312'] in the
...The traihead for the Crawford Connector is located off Mount Clinton Road, off of Route 302, in Crawford Notch. We will be driving a blue FJ Cruiser. The Mount Clinton Road is near the AMC's Highland Center on the other side of the road.
From Boston, central and south-central New Hampshire (Manchester, Concord, etc.):
- Take Interstate 93 North to Route 3 North (Exit 35).
- Take Route 3 North to Route 302 East (near Twin Mountain).
- Take Route 302 East approximately 8 miles, then turn left on to Mount Clinton Road. [If you reach the AMC Highland Center, you've gone too far]. Almost immediately turning onto Mount Clinton Road, take your first left into a large parking lot.
From eastern and southeastern New Hampshire (Portsmouth, etc.):
- Take Spaulding Turnpike North to Route 16 North.
- Take Route 16 to Route 302 West (in Glen).
- Take Route 302 West approximately 10 miles to the Highland Center. Then 0.2 miles after, then turn right on to Mount Clinton Road. Almost immediately turning onto Mount Clinton Road, take your first left into a large parking lot.
From Portland, Maine: Take Route 302 West approximately 10 miles to the Highland Center. Then 0.2 miles after, then turn right on to Mount Clinton Road. Almost immediately turning onto Mount Clinton Road, take your first left into a large parking lot.
Trip Report/Photos
This was our last GetFit Hike so why not move it further north in the Presidential Range! So we did the first mountain in the chain, Mt. Pierce this past Saturday.
We started at the Mt Clinton parking area at 10:30 and took the Crawford Connector to Crawford Path. Temps were in the 70's and comfortable! The bugs were not an issue.
Proceeded to climb up the Crawford Path. We would take this to Webster Cliff Trail then from there head south to the summit. It was a little hard starting out but once we found our rhythm it was easy going. Along the way we took a small detour to Gibbs Falls. We were doing better than I thought since we hit the Mizpah Cutoff at noon when according to the book we should have been there for 12:10. Not too shabby. Jon took out his salty nuts and fed some Canadian Gray Jays. The views we should have had were not to be found that day, just a big white void. We got some nice views of Diapensia alpine flowers though. Its starting to look the alpine flowers are gone for good.
We made it to the summit of Pierce at 1pm but didn't linger too long since there wasn't much to see and it was drizzling. Congratulations to both Bill and Chris who did all the GetFit Hikes and climbed their first 4,000 footer! After maybe 5 minutes we started down Webster Cliff Trail heading for Mizpah Hut. Made it there in 30 minutes. There were a good amount of people there but we were still able to find a table. We had lunch and rested for maybe 30 minutes and then headed down the Mizpah Cutoff Trail to get back to Crawford Path. This part wasn't steep and was a nice gentle down the whole way. Considering we were hiking up a 4,000 footer we didn't feel all that tired.
Got back to Crawford Path and continued heading down to the Crawford Connector and back to our car. Total time was 5 1/2 hours and mileage of 6.6. Definitely not a bad day.
There are 42 photos in Album (Note: Move mouse pointer over larger pic and click on NEXT for better viewing)
What Members Are Saying About This Trip/Event
- It might have been cloudy with a little rain, but there were no dampened spirits on this hike. Thanks Mike & Job for leading this hike, for the wonderful meal and most importantly thanks to all for a wonderful day. :) - DaveSchumaker
|
|
||
