Mt. Tecumseh - 4003' (Paloma reaches the midpoint!)

After a long and cold few months, the weather finally looked like it was going to cooperate.  Paloma and I were excited to try out some of our new gear and decided to do our first “real” winter hike on Saturday (we have hiked in the snow before, but mostly snow that resulted from a “freak” storm).  We chose to hike Mt. Tecumseh as A) it is the only 4k that I have hiked that Paloma hasn’t, and B) we were pressed for time and needed to make it a quick one.  I have hiked Tecumseh numerous times before but was excited to hike it again fully in the snow and get my body back in “hiking shape” for the coming season.



Trailhead w/ my microspikes

We had plans to attend my Grandmother’s 85th birthday party (Happy Birthday, Grandma!), in the afternoon, so we left our place in Bradford at just around 5:30AM.  We are used to waking up this early to go to the gym before work so it truly wasn’t that tough getting up.  The ride up 93 was relatively uneventful, and I was happy to see that they have upped the speed limit to 70MPH just past Concord.  Needless to say, we made it up to mountain pretty quickly, pulling into the lot just after 7:10AM.  The temperature at the base was 14 degrees, but we knew it was going to warm up quite a bit as the day continued.  For those who are unfamiliar with Mt. Tecumseh – the trailhead for the Mt. Tecumseh trail is located in the parking lot of the Waterville Valley ski area, so parking is ample (well, at this hour it was…).  We weren’t sure how long the hike would take us so we quickly tossed our packs on, took a couple of photos at the trail head, and began our hike to the summit at 7:20AM.

We chose to hike the Mt. Tecumseh trail, which is exactly five miles round-trip, as we heard that the trail tends to get packed down pretty good in the snow.  We had brought our snowshoes in the car with us but upon seeing the trail, decided that our microspikes would be enough, and left the snowshoes behind.  This is my first time using microspikes and let me tell you, I am a HUGE fan.  The traction that they provided on the packed snow was incredible.  Such a simple invention that works amazing.  We were hiking at a pretty decent clip and shortly into the hike had no need for our hats and gloves as we were working up quite a bit of heat.  The only trace of others that we saw during our ascent was a few footprints, snowshoe prints, and the far-off noise of skiers and boarders arriving at Waterville Valley ski area. 

Woodpecker Damage

It was quite peaceful hiking in the snow, as most of the noise is muted by the covered trees.  The trail was in great shape, and it was nice to be able to hike without staring at the ground to avoid slippery rocks and roots.  We passed by a tree that had been ripped to shreds by, as I would find out from my uncle at the birthday party later, Pileated Woodpeckers (think Woody the Woodpecker).  Dang, these things must have power tools attached to their beaks!  At one point, the trail was virtually straight up for quite a ways, and I could only imagine how fun skiing/sledding down it would be.  Maybe next time I will bring my skis!  This particular section definitely got our heart rate going and also burned my legs all the way from my Achilles tendon to my, well, ass.

The trail finally flattened out and we knew that we were closing in on the summit.  We passed the junction with the Sossman trail, and cruised through the one last steep section to the summit, reaching it at 9:00AM on the dot.  We were shocked at how quickly we had summited.  Typically, we would just be starting out on a hike at this time and here we were, at the top of a 4k!  The sky was beautifully clear and offered us amazing views of the surrounding mountains.  In the distance we could see Mt. Washington, which looked like a giant glacier, completely covered in snow. With an eye on the time, knowing that we had an obligation at 1:00PM in Concord, we quickly wolfed down our PB&J sandwiches and took a few summit photos, heading back down to the parking lot at 9:05AM. 

Summit of Mt. Tecumseh

To say that we cruised down is an understatement.  We flew.  At many points we were actually full out running down the mountain.  I am not sure what Paloma put in our PB&J sandwiches, but I felt like I had enough energy to hike up and down this mountain ten more times.  Once again, thank you to the snow for removing the threat of tripping over roots and rocks!  As we got closer to the base of Tecumseh we finally began seeing some people hiking up and could hear people making first tracks on the ski slopes adjacent to us.  Most people we passed were shocked that we were already on our way down from the summit, as it was still very early.  We reached the car at 10:05AM – about an hour or so faster than we had anticipated!  By this time, the parking lot was bursting at the seams.  It was completely filled by skiers and snowboarders – people had to begin parking along the access road to the mountain.  We gave up our spot to a friendly family and began heading towards Concord.

Paloma reaches 24 peaks!

We stopped at a store on the way to Concord to kill some time, then stopped by my cousin’s house for a much needed shower.  After that, we joined the rest of the family at my Grandparent’s place for a great birthday luncheon, where we talked, visited, and of course, enjoyed some delicious beers.

All in all a beautiful day for the first hike of the year, and what a great way for Paloma to officially reach the “half way” point of the 48 4ks with me!

Hike Stats
Trails: Mt. Tecumseh

Total Time (Including Breaks): 2:40
Distance: 5.0 Miles
Elevation Gain: 2200'