Mt. Eisenhower, Mt. Franklin, Mt. Monroe, NH, 07/03/07

Mt. Eisenhower, Mt. Franklin, Mt. Monroe, NH

Date Hiked: 07/03/07

Trails(s) Hiked: Edmands Path, Crawford Path, Monroe Loop

Difficulty: Moderate

Conditions: Partly sunny

Special Equipment Required: None

With working crazy hours at quarter close, I had some comp time coming to me. Thus, I decided to take the afternoon off and hike in the southern Presidentials with the last decent day of weather in the forecast.

Arriving at the Edmands Path trailhead in the early afternoon, I had to make my own space.

The Edmands Path is relatively flat for quite awhile - I was able to get maybe half a mile of jogging in without too much effort before the trail gained a slight pitch. Of the three plus miles of trail between the trailhead and Eisenhower summit, there are only two spots with any sort of pitch (moderate) - the middle third and the last ascent up the Crawford Path.

Though there were a bunch of people at the Edmands Path/Crawford Path intersection, I was fortunate enough to have the Eisenhower summit to myself. As has been my afternoon luck in the past, the views to the west were hazy, however the views to the south/north/east were strong.

My next stop was Mt. Franklin. I started down Mt. Eisenhower and up over fields of rock and grass (tremendous views the whole way) via the Crawford Path, before taking a spur over to Mt. Franklin. Again, I was fortunate to have the summit to myself. The steep topography on the east side of this peak makes the views that much more dramatic.

Back on the Crawford Path, my next stop was Mt. Monroe. My original intent was to take a short spur from the Crawford Path up to Mt. Monroe. I missed this, however (come to find out, its walled off), and decided to enjoy the pleasant stroll around the east side of Monroe - nice views, very little wind, no crowds.

Soon I arrived at the Monroe Loop junction near the Lake of the Clouds. From here to the summit of Monroe was rather steep scrambling (though enjoyable). At a perfect 3 for 3, I had Mt. Monroe's summit to myself.

After putting on the patella strap, getting out a trekking pole, and popping an Aleve, I started my descent through the rocky southwest portion of Monroe. Before I knew it, I was back at the Edmands Path and below the treeline. I used the gentle path to my advantage and jogged the last mile and a half or so - knee didn't like it, but I didn't ask it's opinion anyways. 16 down, 32 to go. Hope to have them done by the time I'm qualified for AARP!


Crawford Path around Mt. Monroe

This is a great up and back. The above tree line ridge walk along the southern Presis, with the Big George summit cone looming in the distance is a great experience. Ike was my first White Mountain so it is special to me.

As nice as the peaks are, I think I like walking through those summit fields the best...the fields just east of Monroe are very scenic.

Agreed. This was about 7 years ago:



Sigh. I gotta get back up there...

What's the length (time/distance) of this hike? How would this hike be with two kids (14 and 10 YO)?

I'll be car camping in Glen NH in a few weeks and this looks like a nice hike to do while I'm up that way...

hammer said:

What's the length (time/distance) of this hike? How would this hike be with two kids (14 and 10 YO)?

I'll be car camping in Glen NH in a few weeks and this looks like a nice hike to do while I'm up that way...

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I think about 10 miles to Monroe up and back if you bypass Ike. Edmands Path is a great trails for kids or folks new to hiking as it's well maintained and only a moderate grade as threecy mentioned. Aim for Ike. If the weather is nice and the kids are into it, head up the Crawford Path and maybe try to get to Lakes. The ridge walk is pretty easy. The Monroe summit cone is pretty rugged but short so that's an option too.

I was 13 when my brother took me to the Whites the first time. We camped off Edmand's path. The next day we summited Ike. We then went on to Franklin and the Lakes hut. I was so psyched and in awe that I convinced my brother to take me up Washington. This was my first real hike (Washington too! Not bad, eh?). Made it back to base camp a bit tired, but certainly not regretting it. Play it by ear and let the kids determine how far you go. Remember how far you go as that's how far you have to go back. It's a good area to expose them to the Presidentials.

hammer said:

What's the length (time/distance) of this hike? How would this hike be with two kids (14 and 10 YO)?

I'll be car camping in Glen NH in a few weeks and this looks like a nice hike to do while I'm up that way...

Click to expand...

With a 10 YO, it might be difficult...it took me about 5.5 hours including going all the way around Monroe...but that's nonstop (other than a few minutes at each summit) with a few miles of jogging.

My recommendation would be to do Ike and Franklin...quite frankly, Franklin has more of a mountain feel to it than Monroe - which seems like a random pile of rocks next to Washington. Ike and Franklin alone is probably something like 9 miles RT, nothing more than a moderate grade.

threecy said:

.quite frankly, Franklin has more of a mountain feel to it than Monroe - which seems like a random pile of rocks next to Washington.

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I used to think of Franklin as really just a lump on a side trail, while the peaks of Monroe required more work to climb.

That said, I can see how Monroe is less impressive when compared with the east side of Franklin, where it drops alllllllll the way down.

threecy said:

With a 10 YO, it might be difficult...it took me about 5.5 hours including going all the way around Monroe...but that's nonstop (other than a few minutes at each summit) with a few miles of jogging.

My recommendation would be to do Ike and Franklin...quite frankly, Franklin has more of a mountain feel to it than Monroe - which seems like a random pile of rocks next to Washington. Ike and Franklin alone is probably something like 9 miles RT, nothing more than a moderate grade.

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MichaelJ said:

I used to think of Franklin as really just a lump on a side trail, while the peaks of Monroe required more work to climb.

That said, I can see how Monroe is less impressive when compared with the east side of Franklin, where it drops alllllllll the way down.

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I agree with MichaelJ. You might even miss the Franklin summit if you blink. I love that area between Franklin and Monroe though. Monroe might seem insignificant in comparison to the huge rockpile of Washington right next to it. It's definitely more of a defined peak than Franklin though.

It's certainly more defined, but that area around the summit cairn on Franklin is awesome (and easily accessible in terms of terrain)...standing on Monroe seems like you're standing on some random pile of rocks.