[…] stay away from this decommissioned wooded lump of iron.
What with all the trees on it, chunks of iron ore scattered all over, and terrible trail erosion, this mountain is losing it. It even has bugs on it and in the air, sometimes. And don’t even get us started on the long, bumpy Class Six approach. It’s no wonder this mountain was taken off the 52 With A View list. It’s not worthy. Everyone should avoid it all costs. We only went there to shake the crowds and to hike in the silent forest one will find there. Boring, we know. Of course there are the view points — it was on the list — but they just show you more mountains and trees. One would expect more bang for the buck… probably why it was booted from the list.
We had one guest for a half day hike. It was her first real hike in New Hampshire, though she is very fit — a runner. Redline Guide Mike Cherim led and decided on Iron Mountain. It was close by. He figured she wouldn’t know how terrible is was, and when she found out, it would be too late. As it turned out, crazy as this sounds, she liked it! She enjoyed the approach, even smiled at the fields and all those trees. The eroded trail was acceptable. Even the view points and the summit, yeah, she liked those, too. Even though the Presidentials and Mt Washington were obscured by clouds. And then the quiet hemlock walk across that ridge and large view point at the end. The “reward,” as they say. We were surprised, she was fond of both. And then Mike showed her that iron mine, all the way down to the actual mine shaft most people don’t about. Lo and behold, she liked that, too. Thought it was really neat. After the iron mine they went back to the viewpoint… he figured she wouldn’t appreciate it having been there already, but you know what happened, right?
She got lucky. Dodged a bullet, so to speak. Who knew she would actually enjoy the hike and all that stuff it has to offer? Even after sweating some to get there. She is surely the exception. Thank goodness the weather was perfect, that there were no bugs at all, and that they had cooling breezes. For the sake of ordinary people, however, we stand by our recommendation to stay away from this decommissioned wooded lump of iron. For those unconvinced, we are adding some photos. Please squint or be sure to shade your eyes with your hand to protect them. Some of these images cannot be unseen — but they are SFW.
See?!
We didn’t hike ultra fast, but this photo sure makes it look that way.
First outlook views.
Our guest was really inspired by the long range views as well as the short range minutiae.
The summit is won. Well done.
The Iron Mountain outlook ledges,
Break time.
Welcome to the iron mine.
This is cool.
End of the tunnel.
What is up with these leaves? They’re turning colors.
Some pencilwoods.
Great job, team. Congratulations on your first NH summit and the many to follow. And thank you for choosing Redline Guiding.