Mount Eisenhower and Mount Pierce, September 15, 2023, Southern Presidential Range, White Mountain National Forest

Panorama from Mt. Eisenhower Summit

On a Friday with a decent forecast following a week of unsettled weather and summits in the clouds, I decided against my original plan of hiking up to my favorite Presidential peak -- Mount Jefferson. I knew that there would be way too many people for my liking up on the big guys. But since it had been a while since I'd been on the Presidentials, I really wanted to pay my respects. So ultimately I decided that Mount Eisenhower via the lesser-traveled Edmands Path would get me where I wanted to go while also providing a better chance for some peace and tranquility while getting there. 

Eisenhower Loop Trail

Edmands Path, I think, is the best approach to Eisenhower. Named for the revered trail builder, the path meanders its way up the north side of Eisenhower, taking care to follow the best grades for sure footing the whole way up. It's long, rocky, and steep - as one might expect in the Whites - but it is clear how much thought the trail builder put into his project. The extensive, hand-built rock cribbing that still supports the trail a century later is a further testament to his diligent efforts.

View from Eisenhower Summit to Mt. Washington

In order to avoid a shorter up and back, I decided to turn the hike into a 10+ mile loop hike over both Eisenhower and Pierce and a return via the more-popular Crawford Path and a 2 mile road walk on Mt. Clinton Road back to the car park. I made quick work of Edmands Path thanks to the quality of the trail. After a few minutes on the loop trail up to the summit, I had the pleasure of having Ike all to myself for my first trail break of the morning, even if I needed to put on my winter garb due to the cool autumn temps and brisk, bone-chilling winds. I wish I could have hung out longer, but it was COLD.

Neat Alpine Zone Veg

Once off the notoriously-exposed summit, the wind and cold subsided and the hiking conditions were absolutely perfect. I only passed a couple of hikers on my way over to Pierce and then made the knee-breaking descent to Mizpah to fill up my water. After that, I took the cutoff down to Crawford Path for the rest of my descent. As expected, this is where my quiet, peaceful morning turned into congestion central with numerous parties heading up as my day was nearing its end. 

Gibbs Falls

I took my final trail break at the pretty Gibbs Falls. Most folks on their way up blow by the spur trail to the falls since they are intent on the many miles and elevation gain ahead and don't want to waste any time. Therefore, I had the place all to myself and stayed long enough to enjoy the tumbling waterfall and recharge for the roadside hike on Mt. Clinton Road back to my car. The narrow road is in terrible shape for auto traffic with overgrown foliage on blind curves, frost heaves, pot holes and crumbling asphalt. But it winds its way pleasantly through the deep woods and actually made for some nice walking to round out the day. As long as you watch out for any speeding A-holes in Jeeps.

Crawford Path marker

My overall timing, it must be said, was absolutely perfect. Just as I was driving past the winter gate to get off Mt. Clinton Road, an F150 with Texas plates pulling a 30-foot camper was about to take his monstrosity up that tiny road. If Mr. Everything's-Bigger-in-Texas went through with his stupid plan and got stuck, there would be absolutely no way for him to turn around. Further, any vehicles coming down the road from the trailhead parking would have no way to pass him. Had I gotten off the trail ten minutes later, I might have been stuck up there for hours.

Always some kind of drama in ever-popular Crawford Notch.

Peaks: Mt. Eisenhower Mount Pierce
Elevation: 4,760 and 4,312 feet feet (Gain: 2,950 feet)
Distance: 10.5 miles
Route: Loop: Edmands Path to Mt. Eisenhower Loop to Crawford Path to Webster Jackson Cliff Trail to Mizpah Cutoff to Crawford Path to Mt. Clinton Road
Conditions: Fog to mostly sunny, 55 degrees F

Dix Mountain, October 11, 2022, Eastern High Peaks, Adirondack Park

View of Noonmark, Round Mountain and Giant from Dix Mountain Summit

I always overpack when hiking solo in the Adirondack High Peaks. Even on the heavily-trafficked trails, I still want to have enough gear to spend a night in the woods in the event of some wilderness calamity. Usually, I'll also bring along a summit bag and find a higher-elevation spot to stow the heavy pack before tackling any final, super steep sections. Per usual, I took a full pack with me on a recent hike to Dix Mountain. The trail via Round Pond, however, just didn't really offer a naturally-convenient place to stow my pack so I wound up lugging all of my gear the full distance up to the summit. Oh well, that just meant a slower pace and a bigger-than-expected workout. No worries.

Round Pond

I was fortunate to get the last of the handful of parking spots available at the Round Pond lot. Since I was already getting a later start, I was particularly happy since snagging a spot here meant that I could take the Round Pond route as opposed to my backup plan - hiking in from the AMR, which adds another 400 feet of total elevation gain. I was on the trail with a headlamp at 6:30 a.m. and followed the trail up and around the east shoulder of Round Mountain, arriving at the shore of Round Pond at first light. There, I was treated to a great seasonal view of the vibrant autumn leaves and the moon reflecting in the gleaming waters. From the pond, the trail again gains elevation - consistently but at a gradual, easier grade - until the turn off to the Old Dix Trail that leads up from the AMR. This is also the junction for the trail to Noonmark.

Icy Slide on Dix Mountain Trail

The next 3+ mile section is one of long, easy miles with no elevation gain leading all the way to the crossing of the north fork of the Boquet River. After the crossing, the trail again gains elevation - again fairly gradually - until it emerges from the forest at the base of a huge slide. I took a long break on the slide, admiring the direct view to the craggy peak of Noonmark and across the valley to Giant. It turned out to be a good spot for a break because it is here that the real climbing begins, first up the slide itself and then into the woods and up an unrelenting, very steep section. I was glad that it had not rained recently because this is the kind of ADK trail that turns into a waterfall-filled stream. It was on my slow slog up this section that I got passed by another hiker. I'll chalk that up to the fact that he was carrying nothing more than a tiny daypack and half-full 12 ounce bottle of water. 

Entering the Alpine Zone on Dix

The steep climb finally eased up not far from the summit where the trail from Elk Lake connects and the alpine zone begins. From here, the trail to Dix climbs much more gradually until it reaches the rocky summit ridge and its wide, sweeping views in all directions. I found the bolt that signifies the true summit and took a long break there in order to take in the fantastic views. Looking east, one can observe the full distance covered on the day with the Round Mountain starting point appearing far off in the distance between Noonmark and Giant. The clear, full-sun conditions, light winds, colder temperatures, beautiful fall colors and sweeping views made for a great day hike. Even better, I only encountered five people during the entire eight and a half hours of trail time. Gotta love weekday hiking in the Fall. 

Peak: Dix Mountain
Elevation: 4,857 feet (Gain: 3,569 feet)
Distance: 15 miles roundtrip
Route: Out and Back: Dix Trail via Round Pond
Conditions: Sunny, 40 degrees F

Lost Pond, October 14, 2022, Hurricane Mountain Wilderness, Adirondack Park

Lost Pond

It's always nice to revisit the Hurricane Mountain Wilderness. After all, Hurricane Mountain proper was one of our first hikes in the Adirondacks. But since the summit gets so much traffic, I much prefer some of the other trails in the area, especially the trail to Lost Pond. We first visited Lost Pond back in 2019. As we remembered it, the hike to Lost Pond was a pleasant, not too difficult uphill hike to a secluded pond with a large rocky beach on which we took a long, comfortable lunch break, skipped stones, and admired the pleasant scenery on the opposite shore. With that memory in mind, we decided to use one of our last days on a recent ADK trip to visit Lost Pond once again.

The most difficult thing about the Lost Pond hike is the parking. To get to the trailhead, you have to wind your way up a very narrow road with blind curves and washout gullies on either side which leave just enough room for one vehicle. Meeting an oncoming car, therefore, is an absolute disaster. But if you make it there, the reward is a very pleasant trail. The first mile, fully on the level, leads to a hillside lean-to and the turn off for one of the trails to Hurricane Mountain summit. It seems that most people on this trail are heading to Hurricane, so after the junction it becomes pretty quiet and lightly-trafficked. The second mile is a long, steady climb via switchbacks through a pleasant forest with the sounds of a nearby brook pretty much the whole way.

Upon reaching the pond, we turned to one another with matching looks of confusion. We both had remembered a wide open, rocky beach but no such topographical feature even remotely existed. There was no shoreline at all, the water of the pond actually pushing its way well into the woods. Thinking that our fondly-remembered destination must be farther along the trail, we continued along the path around the western shore of the pond. By the time we reached the Biesemeyer Memorial lean-to, we still had not found what we were looking for and decided to backtrack to that first point where the trail meets the pond. Returning to that spot, we scrutinized the landscape more closely and realized what had happened. There were noticeable signs of heavy beaver activity on the eastern edge of the pond at the outlet point. Indeed, beavers had decided to build a dam there, seemingly enlarging the pond and completely flooding the rocky beach that had served as our special lunch spot several years prior.

Laughing off our mistake, we found a fallen log and used that as seating for a long, much-needed lunch break and then took a bunch of photos of the pond and the beaver constructions. On the return hike, K's phone started acting funny by suddenly showing the wrong date and time. We didn't pay it too much mind until later when we realized that all of the photos that she took of the pond were completely gone, as if she never took them and/or we were never even there.

Further, when we checked our 2019 photos from the first trip to Lost Pond, they didn't show a rocky beach at all.

Worm Hole? Close Encounter? Brain Fart? Whatever. There's something strange about Lost Pond.

Destination: Lost Pond
Elevation: 2,840 feet (Gain: 650 feet)
Distance: 4.2 miles roundtrip
Route: Out and Back, Hurricane Mountain Trail to Lost Pond/Weston Mountain Trail
Conditions: Partly Sunny, 40 degrees F