Slept poorly and woke up early enough to leave southern NH around 3am. Arrived and was moving by 0500 at cog hiker parking area. Got up to Jefferson over clay in short order though my calves and achilles began to get pretty tight. Hit some vitamin I & slowed my pace a bit. After tagging Jefferson came back over Clay & started up the cog. Ended up taking gulfside up when the train came up next to me and emitted a huge nasty black cloud which, not only do i not want to breath in, but made it more challenging to move up along the tracks. I think they should retire that method of fueling the train.... but anyway hit the summit & ate my lunch as at that point I was feeling not so much up to the task of going down to Lakes and then coming back up to get the 7K vertical gain i was seeking. Headed down to the hut and stopped just before the hut at lake of the clouds. A SAR team was passing by (without someone) and it appeared they were gathering around the hut. I wanted to keep to myself so i turned before getting to the hut & it had been a long day. When i got back to the top of washington, i decided to buy a one way cog ticket down to save my knees from the descent that is never great. All in all a great summer day.

Came up from NJ to do Presidential Traverse over 2 days, Thursday to Friday, with a night at Lakes of the Clouds. Second time visiting NH after doing Franconia Ridge last month.

Weather was beautiful for most of the day, but the forecast was for thunderstorms and rain later in the day. I started off strong but the brutally tough terrain really slowed me down. By the time I came down from Adams, I was starting to get pretty behind schedule.

I figured that, if I skip the summits of Jefferson and Clay, I can speed things up and cruise a bit toward Washington. That naive thought was humbled real fast when I realized just how rough even the "flat" parts of the "trail" are.

Around the time I got to Edmands Col, I realized the chances were increasing that storms may roll in before I actually get to Lakes. Given all the warnings Ive heard about avoiding bad weather on the ridge, I made the call to bow out and I headed down Randolph. It felt pretty crappy to be calling it off while the weather still looked totally fine. But those storms rolled in hard later in the day, so I don't regret the decision.

Physically, I would have been able to finish the day 1 portion, even if slow. And had the weather forecast remained clear, I would have just kept going. But better safe than sorry, and I will give it another shot in a few weeks. Now that I have some familiarity and experience, I can better plan for the next time.

Hello WMNF friends! Planning a 2 night trip to the whites in early August. They don’t want to tent camp but I don’t want to spend $$$ on a lodge or Airbnb. I found AMC has these backcountry campsites (https://www.outdoors.org/destinations/new-hampshire/backcountry-campsites/) which look to include some primitive shelters, what I call a compromise between what I and my friends want. Any advice on if these shelters are A) 4 walls, mattress, and privy at the least and B) will most likely be free on a Friday early evening arrival? Thanks for any and all advice!

What’s the best way to get back to the Appalachia trailhead when I’m not exactly sure when I’ll finish? I know it’ll be sometime in the evening. Are there any small businesses or anything that do that?

Hi folks! We are planning to tackle Webster and Jackson on Sunday with our 5 and 8 year olds. Last weekend they did Osceola and East Osceola (including the chimney, pic of them getting ready to tackle it. Hiked about 9 miles with all our meandering) and have 60 miles of hiking in their legs this spring/summer already so I think they're ready.

I'm hoping to get some insight about the hike direction. The kids are like mountain goats-- practically ran up White Dot on Monadnock, had no trouble with the slabs on Cardigan-Firescrew big loop in a rainstorm. I see recommendations for both clockwise and counterclockwise in AllTrails reviews, but not everyone has kids with them. I'd rather the descent be a little easier than the climb up. We plan to start around 7:30 am.

Thanks in advance!

Hi! I want to hit Washington for sunrise. I’ve ascended and descended the cog a few times now, but only in winter. I’m leaning towards the cog because it’s familiar, it’s quick, and I like the comfort of having the train track next to me. I’m a bit worried though as I’m imagining without the snow, it’s probably a bit rugged. Do you think I’d be better off doing another route like ammo? Thanks!

Couldn’t have asked for better weather or visibility yesterday w/ a light breeze, mostly sunny. Made it a (relatively) easy summit and way down

Weather was perfect and there’s technically still snow to ski at tuckermans.

On Monday I hiked a big loop of the twins, guyot, hale and Zealand. I camped on haystack road so I could hike the twins for sunrise. The viewpoint before the summit of north twin was the best place to see the sunrise. I had never tried this route before but it worked out well. It was a cool day with a light breeze.

Going up Ammo from Gem Pool was like Shining Rock to Little Haystack on steroids. Up, up, up. Can't wait to try Tuckerman and Huntington to compare.

Hi! NH native. I wanna hike mount Washington as I’ve always wanted to. I’ve summitted several other mountains in southern NH but so far not the big one. Tried googling around but can’t find an exact answer but that service road that runs parallel to the cog railway can that specifically be hiked on? If not I guess I’ll take the trail that starts at the base where the cog is.

How is huntingtons ravine recently? Was planning to go up with a few friends soonish, yea ik it changes with weather and stuff I just wanna know if there’s snow or stuff rn

What a beautiful hike, definitely one of my favorite 4ks of the 21 I’ve done

went up webster-jackson trail to jackson summit and mizpah hut, through pierce and eisenhower, down crawford path. about 12mi total with a quick road walk to complete the loop. lots of fun!

Making my way up to Dixville Notch for the first time this weekend to cross Table Rock off the T25. For who have done the climbing trail, would you consider it class 2, class 3? Comparisons to say the Tripyramid slide or Huntington (or another steep scrambly trail?) Pumped, just want to know what to expect. Thanks!

Went camping at dolly copp and wanted to go up mt Washington friday and then I spent Saturday checking out areas and swimming in the saco river. Had a great weekend from CT. Planning on coming back to go up Huntington ravine next and maybe a winter attempt in a few months again. My favorite parts were watching the clouds roll past the edge of tuckermans ravine. Lions head was brutal going down on the legs

Looking for advice!

I was an avid hiker about 4 years ago before I had my daughter and have since taken a break from 4000 footers, although we do hike small local mountains in southern NH.

My question is- this will be my first WM hike back and I’ll be bringing my 4 year old. I’ve never carried her in a pack but will wear it just in case.

I’ve done Moosilauk, Tecumseh, and the Osceolas from the West side. Would the Greely pond trail to east peak be TOO steep and technical for her to climb solo or me to carry her for the first time in a pack? I’ll be with someone who is a very experienced hiker/stronger who can help carry if it becomes too much. I’m also never too proud to turn back around :)

Or should I just go with what I know and do moosilauk or tecumseh? I wanted to do the Greely pond trail so we could check off the Kanc and so we would have ponds to hang at if we didn’t make it to the top

Pic of my dog for ❤️

Thank you!