 |
| Edmand's Path Trail-head |
With the weather forecast looking absolutely gorgeous for this late in September, Paloma and I decided to tackle the two remaining southern Presidential mountains on our list, Mt. Monroe and Mt. Eisenhower. On Saturday morning we set off for the Edmand's Path trail-head, located on Mt. Clinton road off of Route 302 in NH, at approximately 6:40AM. The ride up was relatively uneventful and quick - the weather was looking great, 65 degrees and not a cloud in the sky.
 |
| Paloma's Best "I'm Scared" Face |
When we arrived at the trail-head the parking lot was already full but we were able to find a spot alongside the road just outside of the lot. Looked like there were plenty of others taking advantage of the weather. We threw on our gear and made our final preparations, officially beginning our hike at 9:10AM. Our route for the day was to hike up Edmand's Path to the junction with the Crawford Path, hike over to Mt. Monroe, and then return and summit Mt. Eisenhower, returning back to the car by Edmand's Path - a total of 9.8 miles round-trip.
 |
| The Ridge |
The beginning of Edmand's Path was very easy and the trail was in excellent shape. Early on we crossed a few streams on well-built man-made bridges. I was surprised at how dry the trail was given that nearly every trail in the White Mountains we have hiked on have been pretty wet. Needless to say, we were cruising at a pretty good pace. After a mile or so the trail began to steepen a bit but remained pretty mild until only a half-mile or so before the junction with Crawford Path. The trees began to thin quite quickly and we could begin to hear the whistles from the Cog Railway across the ridge on Mt. Washington. We also began to catch some views of the Presidential Range and down to the Mt. Washington Resort. Things were looking beautiful.
 |
| Shoulder of Eisenhower |
When we finally emerged from the trees onto the rocky shoulder of Mt. Eisenhower, we were treated with views that were nothing short of amazing. It seemed fake. Both of us were in awe at how beautiful it was. One would think that after hiking so many mountains with great views that it would get old, but no...it doesn't. We continued skirting along the rocky shoulder of Eisenhower until we reached the junction with Crawford Path, reaching it at 10:57AM. There were quite a few people climbing up to the the summit of Eisenhower, so Paloma and I decided to head over to tackle Mt. Monroe first.
As we eventually learned, you cannot see the summit of Mt. Monroe from Mt. Eisenhower. It is indeed, actually quite far away but is blocked by some rolling hills. When we got to the top of the first rolling hill we realized we were only about a quarter of the way there. The hike along the exposed ridge was awesome, though. The sun was shining so even though it was windy it was quite warm. I even managed to get a bit of a sunburn on my face. We eventually passed the summit of Mt. Franklin, a non-4k and continued over towards Monroe.
 |
| Looking back towards Eisenhower |
When we reached the junction of Crawford Path with the Monroe Loop, we got a bit mixed-up, If you continue on Crawford Path you actually circumvent the summit of Monroe. We started this way for a few hundred yards but realized quickly that it was not leading us to the summit. We backtracked and took the Monroe loop up. Whoever designed this trail is a sick, sick person. The trail literally climbs up the steepest outcrop of rocks before bearing right across a field to the final climb up Monroe. If the trail was just 100 yards to the right you would avoid this rocky mess but no, the trail decides to go right over it. Oh well, the views from the top of this rocky mound were great. After this we cut across an alpine field and began the final climb up the rocks to the summit of Monroe, reaching it at 12:25PM.
 |
| Summit of Mt. Monroe |
There were a few other people at the summit soaking in the sun and views but it was much less crowded than the summit of Eisenhower which we could now see, miles away across the ridge. We enjoyed beautiful views of Mt. Washington and the Lake of the Clouds while eating lunch hunkered down behind a large boulder. It was quite windy at the top which was actually quite refreshing. It was neat to look back across the ridge we had just hiked across to Eisenhower, though knowing that we had to hike back all that distance seemed daunting. We let our food digest for a few minutes and were back on the trail at 12:40PM.
 |
| Summit of Mt. Eisenhower |
Thankfully the hike back across the ridge was quite a bit faster than our hike out. We were cruising back towards Eisenhower, passing many people along the way. I had to ask Paloma what she put in our PB&J sandwiches because my energy level was at an all time high. We reached the original junction of Crawford Path with Edmand's Path at 1:36PM, this time continuing straight towards Eisenhower. At this point it was quite crowded, so we decided to haul ass to the summit of Eisenhower, take a few photos, and began the descent to the car. We reached the summit at 1:50PM, snapped our photos, and were on our way down at 1:56PM. I hate crowds.
Our hike down was the fastest hiking I have ever done. Aside from getting stuck behind people at many points, we were borderline running down Edmand's Path. I was treading a thin line between hiking fast and being completely out of control on the descent, grabbing onto trees and sliding down boulders. Paloma and I both worked up quite a sweat on the way down the trail. Unfortunately, many people on the way down seemed to have little knowledge of trail courtesy. If someone is coming up from behind you, move aside and let them pass! There were numerous points where we were right on the heels of groups of others and it took ten minutes for them to finally stop and move over. Annoying!
 |
| Paloma and I at the Summit of Eisenhower |
Near the end of the hike we crossed back over the streams we had crossed at the beginning. Submerged in the last stream was a man making strange grunting noises, clearly enjoying the refreshing water as his dog sat on the shore with a bewildered look on his face as if saying "I am NOT with this guy." Hey, to each their own I guess. It did, after all, look quite refreshing. We finished the final few hundred yards of the hike, reaching our car at 3:22PM. Overall this hike was on the easier side and had some tremendous views.
We quickly changed into new clothing and began the ride home. I was shocked at how many cars were parked along the various trail-heads that we passed on the ride. It looked like everybody and their brother were hiking the Franconia Ridge mountains as cars were parked for what seemed like miles on each side of Rt. 93. We stopped at the
Lucky Dog Tavern in Plymouth on our way home for dinner and ate perhaps the best plate of nachos I have ever consumed - pulled pork nachos with cheddar cheese and diced pickles. Sounds strange but was absolutely phenomenal. All in all a solid day in the mountains!
Hike Stats
Trails: Edmand's Path, Crawford Path
Total Time (Including Breaks): 6:10
Distance: 9.8 Miles
Elevation Gain: 3,800'
No comments:
Post a Comment