By Carrie Thompson for the NY Times On the first day of 2020, my anxiety roared as I approached the summit of Mount Pierce in northern New Hampshire. At about 4,300 feet elevation, the wind was picking up, the visibility dropping to near zero. I was about to turn around in defeat when I heard faint voices ahead of me: two women, zipping up their coats as I approached....
Learn MoreIt was well after dark on a recent evening when Philip Carcia, a record-breaking hiker, emerged from another 28-mile day in the woods, his legs streaked with mud and crisscrossed with bloody cuts, into a desolate parking lot near New Hampshire’s border with Maine. Mr. Carcia, 36, has been living out of his red Toyota Yaris on the outer reaches of the White...
Learn MorePeople are getting outside this summer to take socially distant walks on the beach or go on hikes – anything to get outdoors. But many people who visit scenic areas are noticing trash is piling up. More than 100 people worked together to try to change that in the White Mountain National Forest. “I was seeing a lot of posts about trash,” said an...
Learn MoreAny visitor to New England looking to escape to the mountains faces one major question: The Whites or the Greens? Both of the Northeast’s dominant ranges offer plenty of opportunities to explore but have markedly different environments. Steep and rugged, the White Mountains are concentrated in north-central New Hampshire, extending from the Connecticut River east to just...
Learn MoreRising up from the heart of New Hampshire, where the state’s main highway intersects the Appalachian Trail, are the woodlands and ranges of the White Mountain National Forest: a mix of rolling hills blanketed by trees and exposed ridges dominated by the cathedral of Mount Washington. Standing 6,288 feet above sea level, it’s the largest geological feature in the region,...
Learn MoreThe next time you find yourself cursing as you stumble and sweat up a steep, rocky trail in New Hampshire, here’s one target for your wrath: Horses. Or, rather, lack of horses. “Out West, trails like the Pacific Crest Trail were graded for horses, so the incline never goes above 5 percent. That’s a major reason why they’re smoother and less steep,” said Roger Moor, whose...
Learn MoreIf the array of trails in Massachusetts’ North Quabbin region, including those along the Millers and Tully rivers, could be connected to the network of trails up near Mount Monadnock in New Hampshire, New England would have a world-class hiking jewel of its own. The North Quabbin Trail Association, in partnering with municipalities, naturalists and...
Learn MoreIn 1907, the Appalachian Mountain Club published a little book called “Guide to the Paths and Camps in the White Mountains.” As its rather wordy title made clear, it was a collection of maps and descriptions of trails through the Presidential Range and beyond. Through printing after printing, the book changed titles — the 30th edition of what is now known simply as the...
Learn MoreFollowing the leaves as they turn color from north to south in New Hampshire, the Five Easy Hikes series will catch the early reds of turning maples in Bethlehem, take in a full-moon hike near Lake Sunapee, catch the breathtaking views over Lake Winnipesaukee in Alton, explore a less-traveled trail on Mount Monadnock in Jaffrey and end with a pre-Halloween visit to a...
Learn MoreDartmouth College and The Trust for Public Land entered into a land deal that promises to protect an old farm estate that offers birding and hiking opportunities just 3 miles from Hanover, New Hampshire’s Main Street. Immediately after purchasing the 175-acre Hudson Farm from Dartmouth, the trust gave it away to the National Park Service so that it could be added...
Learn MoreNew Hampshire hikers braved everything El Nino could throw at them — frigid temperatures, harsh winds and snow — to accomplish something no one had done before. Swanzey brothers Collin, 22, Ian, 26, and Ryan Hart, 24, along with their friend Matt Miller, 24, of Wilmot, became the first people to ever thru-hike the Cohos Trail in winter, according to Kim Nilsen, the...
Learn MoreThe 11,000 pictures Jeb Bradley has snapped of New Hampshire’s White Mountains may sound like a lot, but maybe not when spread across The Grid. Bradley, a Republican state senator from Wolfeboro, is among five dozen diehard hikers who have completed The Grid challenge, in which hikers summit each of New Hampshire’s 48 mountains higher than 4,000 feet in each month of the...
Learn MoreFrom a distance, New England’s beloved Mount Monadnock looks distinctly unthreatening. Veteran hikers seeking a challenge might be dubious at first, but this balding geezer of a mountain is plenty rugged. Monadnock rises 3,165 feet in Cheshire County, near the town of Jaffrey in New Hampshire’s southwestern corner. The name comes from a Native American term...
Learn MoreWith more than 4,000 miles of hiking trails, it’s not too hard to get away from it all in New Hampshire. But if you want to get even further away, you could head out on the Cohos Trail, one of the wildest, most remote trails in New England. The Cohos Trail is a 165 miles long approximately. It utilizes new trail, moose paths, existing trails, old ways, old rail...
Learn MoreThis past week, the Society for the Protection of NH Forests announced that The Everybody Hikes Mt. Major fundraising campaign has acheived its goal of $1.8 million for acquiring 980 acres on and near the mountain. “We are very grateful that the campaign received more than 1,900 gifts ranging from $2 to $340,000. Gifts came in from 31 states, from as far away as...
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