A couple of folks came to us hoping to have a White Mountains snowshoeing experience. They certainly picked the right place for it, and at the right time, so we were happy to easily accommodate. They had made specific requests.
- They wanted to go snowshoeing in the Whites.
- They wanted to ascend a 4000-footer peak.
- They wanted to gain experience winter hiking.
- They wanted to avoid anything too challenging.
If you read our write-up about New Hampshire’s 4000-footers you’ll see that when starting out one of our top recommendations is Mt Pierce as it offers the very qualities requested by our guests. This made selection a no-brainer. There’s one other thing we like about this mountain: It’s like looking into a crystal ball as it fuels a mountain addiction — our guests see other must-hike mountains tapering into the distance and they will sometimes hire us for more exploration. Leading this hike is Redline Guide Eric Hansen. What follows are Eric’s photos and a summary…
The quintessential winter hike, we wore snowshoes ‘door to door’ for this Mt Pierce hike. Initially overcast and foggy once at elevation, we had fresh snow of 4-6 inches on Crawford Path with a few people already ahead of us. The conditions were perfect for an intro to snowshoeing in the Whites. This was a fun day with an active couple, as we hiked we spent alot of time talking about what sets winter hiking apart, snowshoe and footing techniques, gear selection, forecasting and planning, and so on. The ascent to Pierce was steady and comfortable, very moderate temps and sheltered by the snow clad trees. We hit the snow-globe summit with a few other people, had lunch, then assessed our options. I did some recon down the path towards Mizpah Hut, it was not broken out and I could tell would be a ‘car wash’ with snow weighted trees across the trail, etc. After describing this, and it would probably add an hour to our descent, the guests (maybe to my surprise) were really jazzed about it! So we did it, broke trail through a foot of snow, with a few waist deep drifts, down to Mizpah Hut. We practiced real-time navigation and trail finding as we veered off the trailbed multiple times through some of the drifted sections. And by the time we got to the hut things were clearing up, too. An easy walk back as we took the connector back to Crawford Path. Great day! —Eric
