Mount Clinton? Pierce? Reagan?

[thetrailboss]

So we are probably going to hike this mountain tomorrow:



Which was originally named after this guy:



And then renamed in honor of this guy:

Who was a U.S. President from New Hampshire.

As time passed, people called the mountain:



+




And then one day someone realized that the mountain shared the same name as:



Some folks thought this was blasphemy so they started a movement to scrap the old names and rename the mountain for:



So my question is this: what the he&* is the name of the mountain we are hiking tomorrow?



DO NOT take this thread to be political....

[thetrailboss]

Maybe I'm thinking of the wrong mountain.

[Greg]

Originally Posted by thetrailboss

Maybe I'm thinking of the wrong mountain.

You are. Clay (really just a Northern shoulder of Washington, between Big George and Jefferson) was renamed Reagan, at least according to the state. Most hikers still refer to it as Clay.

Jefferson, right. Clay and the Great Gulf headwall, left (June 1994):

[Greg]

Originally Posted by Greg

(June 1994):

Notice the small snow patch on Jefferson? This is a closer shot of me and the snow field:



Skiable?

[thetrailboss]

I think that in that debate they were considering renaming Pierce for the cited reason....

[Mike P.]

You are looking at hiking Mt. Pierce, named after the only President born in NH. The road which runs between Base Road & Route 302 still carries the Clinton name.

As far as I know they never considered changing the name of Pierce to Reagan as Pierce was a native NH citizen.

Plenty of debate over changing Clay, an important historical figure. Ron's greatest (unintentional) legacy for the environment was naming James Watt Secretary of the Interior.

Until then backpackers & environmentialist were thought of as a group of unorganized hippies. Watt was such a pro-business pick, it forced groups like the Sierra Club, the Wilderness Society & to a lesser Degree, the AMC, ADK & ATC to organize & lobby.

Had he picked an enviornmentalist & then either ignored the position, the business that would have benefited with weak unorganized environmentialist would have been better off.

We are tettering on the brink of politics, I've already altered some of the name calling in your orginal post.

[David Metsky]

Mike is correct; no one ever considered changing the name of Mt Pierce to Reagan. That mountain was changed to Pierce (from Clinton after Gov Clinton of NY) by the NH legislature in 1914. It was still listed as both names (Pierce and Clinton) on the AMC Maps until the early 1980's and the name was still in common use. Before Clinton was elected President it had begun falling out of use. The road still bares the name, as well as the Mt Clinton trail.

The first proposal for the Reagan name was Boott Spur. Eventually the powers that be in the in NH Legislature settled on Mt Clay to rename. While it was passed by the State of NH just like the Pierce/Clinton change, at this point in time it has almost no impact. Essentially, no one cares what the state of NH calls the mountain, it won't bear that name in any USGS map or data, nor on any of the trail signs in the WMNF.

You are hiking Mt Pierce.

-dave-

[Greg]

Originally Posted by Mike P.

I've already altered some of the name calling in your orginal post.

I LOVE IT! A mod gets edited! WTG, Mike P.!

[thetrailboss]

Originally Posted by Mike P.

We are tettering on the brink of politics, I've already altered some of the name calling in your orginal post.

Actually there was no name calling at all. If you read the last section:

DO NOT take this thread to be political....

You'd understand that.

Nice try.

[riverc0il]

Originally Posted by Greg

Skiable?

it certainly has been done. log slog for a small patch though.

i still call it mount clay for the record. so does everyone i know. i have actually never heard it referred to as regan except by the NH legislature.