Yesterday, July 26, 2014, I took a day trip to start knocking peaks off my list. I decided to start with Whiteface and Passaconway in the Sandwich range because 1. They are closer to Boston and 2. They make a nice circuit for a long day.
I have been looking at possible trails and found that I would try for the 11 miles on this route:
This starts me at the parking lot on Ferncroft Rd. Takes me about a mile and a half until it splits into the Tom Wiggins Trail, to the Blueberry Ledge Trail. After hitting the Whiteface summit, you take Rollins trail across to Mount Passaconway and then I did a little loop at the top and back to the lot via the Dicey’s Mill Trail (while I actually thought was humorously called the Dicey Milk Trail and will continue to think of it as such).
I woke up around 5:30am. Got all packed, stopped New England’s favorite breakfast chain– Dunkin’ Donuts– and got a muffin and a plain bagel. The muffin I scarfed down and the bagel I saved to bring with me on the trail.
When I got to the parking lot at 8am, it was already nearly full! Luckily, I snagged the last spot and didn’t have to awkwardly park on the grass. I had with me my new 2 Liter Nathan vest, various Hammer gels, a plain bagel, my iphone, a map, and my Garmin watch.
The Dicey Milk Trail starts slowly ascending. It’s covered well and full of rock. Things started to get interesting once I hit the Tom Wiggins Trail. That trail immediately becomes all overgrowth, nearly impossible to find the route. Most hikers, as I learned later, travel the Blueberry trail up so the TWT didn’t see much action. Very soon we came to a stream crossing, only about ankle deep and felt refreshing. Then the TWT starts to climb. It is very steep, hand-over-hand climbing while also avoiding over growth from pine trees. Also, the rocks were very slippery from run-off making it extra important to watch my footing– I did slip a few times and had to stop and rethink my route. I’d say from the start of the climb on the TWT to the summit (including the Blueberry Ridge) I climbed about 2,000ft in a mile on the trail, including some bouldering sections.
But isn’t it worth it?
Peak 1.
At the summit of Mt. Whiteface, I stopped to eat a gel and some of my bagel and take in New Hampshire. I met a man on top who was triumphant and excited and I asked him why. He was just completing the last of his 48 peaks that very moment where I was completing my first. It was a mental ‘passing of the torch’ ceremony that I think we both really appreciated. He worked most of last summer, bagging 39 and the last 9 this summer. He told me that most guide books don’t recommend Mt. Whiteface when it’s wet and that the scramble up I just did was one of the worst of the whole series. That gave me confidence. We exchanged climbing stories and I got some advice for the future. He told me his favorites and his least favorites and we both wished each other luck, and I took off down the wonderfully runnable Rollins Trail.
The Rollins trail was not quite along the ridge between Whiteface and Passaconway, but instead dipped and rolled towards the valley and back up. It was extremely runnable, fun turns, some beautiful view points, and very enjoyable to be able to run again after that TWT climb. Once the trail hit the Walden and Dicey Milk Trails again, I began my second summit climb, this one not nearly as dangerous or overgrown.
Appropriately pointed up.
After the summit, I had another gel headed back down the Walden Trail to make a nice loop. Once I hit the Dicey Milk Trail, I found the trail to be super easy to run down. It was about 4 miles of just downhill, runnable trail and I felt sheer happiness, positivity, and new energy. On the way down, I passed waaaaay more people than I saw at all on Mt. Whiteface. I suppose Passaconway is the more popular hike, and no wonder why given the WTW climb I faced. I ran into a couple with their two dogs, one being a larger sheepdog mix but the other one, well, I thought it was either a baby pig or a baby deer from a far, but no this is a dog:
A Brussels Griffon who is also a dog model. They said it is actually a great climber and would have no issues getting to the top– although I wasn’t quite as convinced.
Overall, the elevation looked like this and I spent just about 3:30 on my feet for 11 miles.
Elevation profile Mt Whiteface and Mt Passaconway
After the run, I changed, called my mom so she’d stop worrying, and then went down into Squam Valley to get homemade peach ice cream along the lake. Overall, I’m very happy with this first adventure!
Yum!
Because selfies on a mountain are better
48 peaks 