This is the second most summited mountain in the WORLD that's right I said it in the WORLD!!!!
The key to hiking this mountain is get there early. Parking is limited and once it is full it is full. You can also go to their website and reserve a spot. But if you don't like the crowds or wanna beat them, I would recommend getting there early and/or go during the off season May/ October.
Alltrails describes this mountain as "Experience this 3.8-mile loop trail near Jaffrey, New Hampshire. Generally considered a challenging route, it takes an average of 2 h 27 min to complete. This is a very popular area for hiking, so you'll likely encounter other people while exploring. The best times to visit this trail are April through November." This mountain also has an elevation gain of 1774 ft and the trail I took is a loop.
Not much really happened on this hike except...
Hikers Log: 12May22
Time start: ~8:30Am
Time Summit: ~11:00Am
Time completed: ~12:45Am
Total Time: ~4 hours
Weather condition: Sunny and HOT
This day started how I start most of my hiking days. Get up early, pack the remaining of my bag and head out for the few hour drive to the trail head.
Once I got there I paid for my entrance fee which was $15, and the hike was on.
I went up the white dot trail and down the white cross. This is the most difficult loop to reach the summit.
The trail starts off very gradual then about half a mile in the elevation picks up very quickly.
Just before the trail picked up (ascending quickly) I saw this tree that had a big chunk missing from it, as always pictures do not do justice for how a scene really looks but it looked interesting. This is on the back side if you are going up the white dot trail. The only reason I saw it was because I saw a pinhole or what seemed like a pinhole of light coming into the tree.
I was struggling with the ascent needing a breather every 100 yards or so, however there are tons of points to look out along the white dot trail. Because I started hiking early I only saw a few people pass me. Not only was I struggling but I also go at a slower pace than others because I want to fully immerse myself with my surroundings.
On my way up to the top I got a notification on my phone that some shoes I was interested in buying were going to release soon so I stopped at a lookout and tried to get a pair of the shoes I wanted, and guess what I GOT 'EM. That was just icing on the cake to a wonderful day.
After a bunch of scrambles I made it to the summit, where there was a nice cooling breeze to a hot and sweaty hike.
There were multiple groups/individuals on the summit so I found my little area, sat down, and enjoyed some PB&J sandwiches.
I love the view from the top of mountains, It is so interesting to see how small things are from the perspective of the mountain.
(side note I really need to stop taking videos in portrait Jeez).
On my way down is where the fun happens...
I went down the white cross trail because as the sign says.. Least steep way down. That sounds like it is for me...
It is funny how you may think it is not so steep and you look back and it like damn I just came down there.
One of my favorite parts of this hike was this one section, there was a small group waiting for me to come down so that they could go up. It was a steep flat rock with a tree overhang. I said this is either going to go amazingly and this will be fun or this will fail and I may get a small injury. I decided to pull a Tarzan and use the tree to propel my body down the rock (I swung from the tree). That was soooo much fun and definitely one of the highlights from this hike.
(This is not the tree I swung from however I did think this tree's roots looked cool so I am adding it here).
From here it was just going down, stopping at a few lookouts, and keep moving. I really do not stop as much on the way down.
I did decide to stop at the gift shop/supply store on the grounds and I bought some things for my bag and my water bottle (this is a great spot to pick up anything you may need or had forgotten before hitting the trail). I cover my bag with pins of all the places and challenges I complete same for my bottle just with stickers! Kind of a momento thing...
As always try to be prepared for your hikes, do your research, and check the weather...
Hope to see you on the trails!
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