A Hiker's Ride up the Mt Washington Auto Road

Lately I’ve found myself explaining this one a lot: I’m an avid hiker who prefers to explore on foot but I’m also the proud holder of a Mt Washington Auto Road season pass. I do love being a contradiction...!

Snow in June... that's a contradiction!

Admittedly, I used to roll my eyes at the mention of the Cog or Auto Road - the motorized methods of transportation to the summit of the northeast’s tallest peak. But simple things, like working for a travel agency and watching Tango truck on through lessening body awareness and muscle strength, softened my view and helped me acknowledge what I knew deep down: however one gets to the beloved summit, there is tremendous value in the fact that visitors invest their time and money to get there.

Summit structures

Pulloff shortly below the summit

While, yes, I still go crazy from some of what I see on my way up and at the summit and never make a trip without trying to politely, even lightheartedly, impart a little LNT knowledge, it's a wonderful trip.  And I acknowledge that vehicles allow people who might not otherwise have the means (time, gear, stamina, health, etc.) to access a summit that holds the power to mystify them, wow them with sweeping vistas, and make them more emotionally connected to the landscape.  We, as a society, need that for so many reasons.

View north from the observation deck

Little flowers, big attraction

One of the beautiful views attained by less than a quarter mile 
of descending the aptly nicknamed 'rockpile' (summit cone)

As Tango approaches his 12th birthday, I’m presented with two facts:   

1. I love Mt Washington and the alpine zone. It is my happy place, my Disney World, my heart’s home.

2. Tango’s lower back weakness betrays his otherwise youthful trail smiles. A properly choreographed hip check from a dog friend and he’s in a sit faster than any rally dog… just nowhere near as clean.

So how do I get to continue to share my “happy place” with both my dogs/not exclude Tango because of something that’s beyond his control? Enter a perfectly timed birthday and family that understands that my dogs’ happiness is my happiness - the gift of the Mt Washington Auto Road Pass.

2019 pass #4!

Since our first visit a couple of years ago, the Mt Washington Auto Road has really grown on me.  The itinerary options for a visit are much broader than they seem at first glance. I’ve found the state park (accessible only via the auto road, cog railroad, or on foot) to be a wonderful way to get our non-hiking friends out for a unique experience while challenging Tybee and not being too taxing on Tango.

Although not representative of the hiking experience as a whole, the availability of hot food and “real" bathrooms helped ease our greener companions into hiking and contribute to their positive experience. Moreover, I thought, surely, the appreciation for the work associated with summiting on foot would be lost of our companions. Not so! I made a point of stopping and getting out of the car every 1500 feet or so for us to acclimate to the changing temperature and wind gusts. The drastic change from the valley floor was well understood and the rock hopping off the summit cone isn’t a cake walk, so even the shortest of hikes offered a reasonable challenge for them.

Not a walk in the park!

The classic summit picture is at the cairn in the background.
Usually, there's a line of people waiting their turn.  

Another benefit of the auto road is the ability to combine a visit to my favorite summit with other activities. So far, that’s allowed us to see a whole lot of lupines, kick back at Chocorua Lake on the way home, and more!

Finally, there's something intrinsically satisfying about the chance to enjoy the trails and support the local economy at the same time.  The truth is, I sort of pride myself on finding cheap adventures around this incredible little state, usually away from the crowds.* On the other hand, I also wholly appreciate the value in supporting NH businesses.

The auto road and state park are dog friendly.  Ty loves when I
open up all the windows for the ride, especially the hatch!

Sure, there are concerns like carbon emissions, and yes, if you got there on foot, you should totally get to cut the line at the summit cairn, but I see the auto road & state park as a joint opportunity for regional visitors and residents to connect with what we hikers get to see and experience regularly. The truth is, we need as many advocates as we can get to continue to protect these places as our world changes. 

Our friend taking in Carter-Wildcat Ridge from a pulloff
shortly before the subalpine zone withers into talus

From my perspective, the auto road folks are dedicated advocates for Mt Washington, demonstrated through a number of earnest green initiatives and support of scientific studies.   And they’re always up for a good time, hosting a bunch of niche events to bring out the community, from runners to ATV’ers, and are a part of the Mt Washington Valley community at large. The way these guys tie all that together into a successful business is impressive and all the more endearing to someone who is selective about where she spends her money.

A day visiting George, supporting a local business I respect, engendering a greater appreciation and respect for nature in our friends, and making both puppers happy all at once proves what a great experience the Mt Washington Auto Road can be for anyone from the casually interested to diehard hikers.

*I recommend an early start, visiting towards the shoulders of their open season, or (to some degree - summer is still tourist season) a weekday visit if you and/or your dog prefer a less crowded experience.

Final Note: regardless of how you summit, Mt Washington is no joke.  Check the forecast, prepare for cooler temps, and pack a bag.  One should be prepared for even the smallest of adventures!  Lastly, the cafeteria is cash only, plan accordingly.

Snowshoeing Zealand Road

Blog Gods please forgive me; it's been six months since my last post.  I couldn't have made this one any easier for myself, hopefully as a reintroduction to regular reports!

On Sunday we met up with Hannah, Amy, and their furkids to hike up the seasonally closed Zealand Road off of Rt 302.  Parking is about a quarter mile down the road on the opposite side of the highway at the Ammonoosuc Lower Falls Trailhead.  I'm not sure if it is marked as such but, coming from the south, there is a sign warning hiking trails are coming up.  This time of year, there's always a mix of pick up's trailering snomo's, the snow-covered vehicles of the hardy folk who camp at the hut, an us day-adventure types.

Generally speaking, hikers and skiers walk along the edge of the snomo trail to get to Zealand Road.  After the picnic area and bridge, the snomo trail veers to the left and the road goes up a hill.  About a mile up, just before the bridge that precedes the Sugarloaf Trail, the road shares paths with snowmobiles once more.


We've always done our best to stick to the side during these junctions and the snomo drivers have always kindly given us a wide berth.  Truly a mixed-usage trail success!

Of course, with the blizzard that's currently dumping snow on us, trail status is irrelevant so I share mostly to highlight the enjoyability of walking Zealand Road this time of year.  Thanks to the hut and its suitability for crosscountry skiers, we've yet to break trail on the road.  Snowshoes have always been our foot gear of choice here. 

The road is gentle and elevation gain is minimal.  For us, those qualities afforded the perfect opportunity for Ty to explore and feel accomplished while carefully building up Tango's mileage, in hopes he will want to join us for bigger adventures in the future.  I'm thrilled that these 7.5 miles passed well and he was jovial and loose the next morning!

 

Most of the road had one well-trodden route and a less packed but still broken out path running parallel.  Hiking as a group, this was a nice feature that offered us the ability to break from the usual single file formation and/or pass easily.  The road follows the river for much of the way and there are a couple of scenic breaks in the trees.  Otherwise, the surrounding woods are pretty dense.

Sleds make great tracks to follow!

Snowshoeing Zealand Road checks a lot of boxes: to gain confidence in the winter, to get outside on the days serious exertion isn't of interest, in a secluded area but you're not alone, and not too long nor too short.   This is a pretty, non-dramatic hike where it's easy to become absorbed in good conversation and the airy peacefulness of the area.

Looking for the easy way down?

Small hikes, big views: Pine Mountain

Chapel Rock

Howdy! This is our first post since the spring and we've mostly been visiting the Belknaps and a couple excellently short, bang-for-your-buck hikes in the Whites.  In doggy notes, Sage was adopted, we got to hike with Titus again, and Tango has been doing a couple sports for conditioning/strengthening while I search for a trainer to address Ty's excessively predatory behavior.  To make a long story short, here's a quick-ish write up of one of our hikes back in May that I think is definitely worth consideration!

Pine Mountain in Gorham, NH seems to be a well-kept secret.  While a surprising number of people arrived on the summit during our visit, the trails were quiet and I found very little literature on the interwebz about it. Other than the obscene amount of no see um's and other flying evil doers, it was an awesome hike!

A lollipop can be made of this summit from either Pinkham B or downtown Gorham in order to see all it has to offer but we did a short out-and-back from the former.  The Horton Center is a religious retreat that owns a large portion of the land the trails winds through and graciously allows hikers access.

Most of our hiking was up the dirt road to the center and it was pretty darn nice!  Where the trail departs the road is well signed and we were suddenly on a narrow trail in stark contrast to where we just were.  We tip toed on a handful of bog bridges but didn't gain much elevation before reaching the trail's junction.

On the trail:

Here's our sign

At the junction I failed to take a picture of, we opted to head straight up to the summit by taking a sharp right.  Going straight ahead would've brought us closer to the center's grounds and Chapel Rock (pictured above due to formatting).  Instead we got a nice view of it from the first viewpoint along a short, marked path off shooting from the trail.

First viewpoint, shortly off the trail and well marked

 We stopped at most of the marked viewpoints as we walked along.  The trail was enjoyably pretty through conifers, hemlock if I'm bold enough to guess.  Footing was very nice and easily navigable.  It was also a lower grade than the steepest parts of the road.

We took breaks due to the heat before and after the concrete remnants of an old summit tower and enjoyed the views from the ledgy section of trail that brought us to the south cliffs where many people could enjoy the views of 'the big mountains.'  From there we crept down the smooth rock face, attempting to do the loop part of the hike.  Despite seeing people come up from that direction, we just couldn't figure out where they had come from.  Not overly interested in asking nor the climb that we sensed was likely on the other end, we opted to simply head back the way we'd come.  It was certainly nice enough to repeat in reverse!

Decent signage, we just couldn't seem to get the map in our brains to work that day!

Arriving at the south cliffs.  Still some pockets of snow up high!

Gorgeous view of Pinkham Notch we don't often see!

And more views behind us!

Where to go?

Discussing the prospects

Exploring one possibility

The trail ladies say if it ain't the right way, we're moving on so hurry up!

I don't have much to report about the descent.  I bounced ideas off of Hannah about Ty's deer chasing, we watched the dogs' gaits for issues, and were slightly less attacked by bugs than on the way up.

Pine Mountain is foster pup approved!

Coming in at a fun-filled three miles, it was a perfect hike for the day since we were already up there and we elongated the duration by meandering.  If done as a loop it will be a bit more depending on which direction one comes from.  It's absolutely worth the views; I can't say enough about that!  Writing this well after the fact, I don't recall many water sources except in the shallow trench alongside the road and believe it or not, I did run out of water!  The grade and footing are very "active senior" and "recovering dog" friendly.  I've probably said that before about rockier trails but I speak the truth on this one!  I harbored a little nervousness about Ty in the less-traveled woods but it was truly a great hike for everyone.  We followed the signs and found it easy to get to our primary goal but I managed to confuse myself about the loop business.  Something to explore for next time!

Pine Mountain resources: 

WMNF trail description: https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb5365158.pdf

 1 Happy Hiker report: https://1happyhiker.blogspot.com/2013/09/a-little-loop-hike-to-pine-mountain.html

Section Hiker report from downtown Gorham: https://sectionhiker.com/a-winter-hike-up-pine-mountain/