Beautiful Day on Top of Two Presidents

Trip Details

Date: October 7^th, 2016
Total Distance: 9.34 mi (via Trimble Outdoors Navigator Pro on iPhone 4S)
Total Time: 5 hours 32 minutes
Total Elevation: 3073 ft gained
Click for more details.

Mr. No Pants and I have not had the chance to go hiking at all this year. So with the nice weather coming to a close we took advantage of the nice weather to get above tree line and summit two of the Presidentials. This was also Boomer's first time on the Presidential Range. The fall foliage was also at peak or just past peak, which should have provided some great hiking over Columbus Day weekend.

The parking lots at the Crawford Connector Trailhead and Edmands Path Trailhead had a fair number of vehicles on them, but as we ascended Edmands Path we only ran into a handful of people. Later in the day we would run into quite a few more as we descended Crawford Path. The Edmands Path has good footing and is either flat or gradual. It makes for a very easy climb up to Mt. Eisenhower. Just before you get to the junction with Mt Eisenhower Loop the trail has a small section of boulders and looks like a standard White Mountain above treeline trail. It is short, but I did have to help Boomer here. He was hesitant around the uneven footing that was spread between some flat boulders.

Nice colors and a great undercast in the distance.

Closeup of the undercast.

Cog Railway

Mt. Jefferson

The infamous sign.

The steepest climb to the summit of Mt. Eisenhower is when you get on the Mt Eisenhower Loop trail that snakes its way up the doom with short and steep switchbacks. I was thinking Boomer would need some help here as he struggles with you have to scramble, but he got in the zone and bounded up to the summit with little or no help. It was awesome. We got a bit ahead of Mr. No Pants as I just wanted to go with Boomer's momentum and we quickly got to the summit. We hung out and waited for  Mr. No Pants. The wind was whipping, but it was warm so it was not uncomfortable.

Left to Right: Jefferson, Clay, Washington, Franklin, and Monroe

Mr. No Pants

After some photos we started our way down the other side of the summit dome. There are a few ladders before the junction with the Crawford Path. I thought I would need to help Boomer here too, but he found his way around them. He continued to impress on this trip.

Looking towards Mt. Pierce.

Mr. No Pants coming down the first ladder.

The Crawford Path heading over to Mt. Pierce is gradual for the entire length. Eventually you just end up at the junction with the Webster Cliff Trail and do not even realize you descended and climbed back up.

Left to Right: Jefferson, Clay, Eisenhower, Franklin, Washington, and Monroe

The trip from this junction to the summit of Mt. Pierce is so short and the summit is so uneventful that you could easily blow past it if you were just motoring along.

Boomer is not a fan of sitting still so I can take his photo...
This photo is provided by Will Anctil. Used with permission.

Trying to get artsy.

Good day to summit Mt. Washington.

The long trip down Crawford Path was just as miserable as I remember it from two months ago. The trail has miserable footing that provides little time to actually get a good momentum going. This time around I did not blow past Gibbs Falls.

We closed out the trip by making our way over to Crawford Connector Trailhead. It was a great trip and a great day on the trails/mountains.

On the way home their was stopped traffic on Route 302 heading towards Conway. So we took this selfie.

The mileage is approximately off by just over a mile. Trimble Outdoors is retiring their software and service so I will have to find a new tracker shortly.