Date(s) Hiked: July 1, 2006
Trails(s) Hiked: Crawford on ascent; Webster Cliff Trail down to Mizpah; Mizpah Cutoff to Crawford and out.
Total Distance: 6.6-7.0 miles.
Difficulty: Easy; descent by Webster Cliff had some difficult sections.
Conditions: Trails were very wet and muddy in places; Webster Cliff had some new bridges and ladders. Weather: Partly cloudy to start, hazy sunshine, clouds rolled in and a few brief showers in PM. Bugs were not bad.
Special Required Equipment: Map of the area and AMC White Mountain Guide. $$$ for goodies at Mizpah :wink:
Trip Report: I had been looking forward to getting back in the Whites and doing more of my 4000 footers. I had done all of the Presis, or at least I thought I had until I sat down last week and took inventory. Somehow I had missed this one lone summit on the ridge--having done Jackson (9/99), Eisenhower (10/99), Monroe (8/05) and Washington (6/00). So there it was on the map with Mizpah beside it...both unclaimed. I marked it as a nice day hike to bring Ms. Trailboss on.
My original plans were to ascend Cabot on Sunday and then maybe the Carters on Monday, but rain and T-Storms in the forecast for Sunday made this not feasible, so it was on to plan B: two dayhikes--one on Saturday and one on Monday (Hancocks). That would net three more peaks for me...so I made my salespitch to the fiancee and friends and we got together.
We met Chris B and Eric, two buds of mine, at Cannon Mountain before driving up to Mt Clinton lot. I had our brand new WMNF Parking sticker on the car and we decided to carpool so Chris would not have to pay for parking.
We got on the trail at about 10:15...the lot was packed as expected. The ascent was gradual and wet and muddy in places...I stepped into a pretty deep hole at one point and was named "Diarrhea Boots" for the rest of the day :roll: There were lots of folks on the Crawford Path...going up and down. We took a leisurely pace...it was Ms. TB's first hike of the season. After a couple hours, we got some nice views over the Valley and the MW Hotel below us. Within a few minutes, we were on the ledges below the summit. The views of the Presis were awe-inspiring. Ms. TB approved! :beer: The SW wind was a bit cold and bringing in some haze and clouds. We all layered up--winds were about 30-40mph.
After some pics and lunch, we noticed that Washington was clouding up so we began the ascent to the summit of Pierce. The open summit was marked by a small cairn. Some more photos here, a touch of both markers, and we began the "easy" descent to Mizpah...or as we found out, the "not so easy" descent. The bogs on the summit all had new bridges...very nice. The AMC/WMNF crews had also put in new ladders and steps on the Webster Cliff Trail (great to see the parking sticker $$$ being put to good use!!! :beer: ). This trail, though short from the summit, is very rugged. As we made the final approach to Mizpah, it began to rain. We got in just in time....there was some thunder and a brief downpour after our entrance into Mizpah.
We hung out at Mizpah for a while--eating, checking out the cool interior of the camp. I bought a patch, per my tradition of visiting AMC Huts, the boys checked out the girls (except for me of course :wink: ), and we descended the Mizpah Cutoff to Crawford (wet and muddy with some good bridges and stepping stones) back to the car.
We did happen upon a strange insect infestation on the trail....we're still trying to figure out what it was :blink: but otherwise the descent was uneventful.
A nice dayhike with little effort. Great views and fun was had by all!
David Metsky's Page on Pierce for more info...some of the links in this report go to his page as well.
Trails(s) Hiked: Crawford on ascent; Webster Cliff Trail down to Mizpah; Mizpah Cutoff to Crawford and out.
Total Distance: 6.6-7.0 miles.
Difficulty: Easy; descent by Webster Cliff had some difficult sections.
Conditions: Trails were very wet and muddy in places; Webster Cliff had some new bridges and ladders. Weather: Partly cloudy to start, hazy sunshine, clouds rolled in and a few brief showers in PM. Bugs were not bad.
Special Required Equipment: Map of the area and AMC White Mountain Guide. $$$ for goodies at Mizpah :wink:
Trip Report: I had been looking forward to getting back in the Whites and doing more of my 4000 footers. I had done all of the Presis, or at least I thought I had until I sat down last week and took inventory. Somehow I had missed this one lone summit on the ridge--having done Jackson (9/99), Eisenhower (10/99), Monroe (8/05) and Washington (6/00). So there it was on the map with Mizpah beside it...both unclaimed. I marked it as a nice day hike to bring Ms. Trailboss on.
My original plans were to ascend Cabot on Sunday and then maybe the Carters on Monday, but rain and T-Storms in the forecast for Sunday made this not feasible, so it was on to plan B: two dayhikes--one on Saturday and one on Monday (Hancocks). That would net three more peaks for me...so I made my salespitch to the fiancee and friends and we got together.
We met Chris B and Eric, two buds of mine, at Cannon Mountain before driving up to Mt Clinton lot. I had our brand new WMNF Parking sticker on the car and we decided to carpool so Chris would not have to pay for parking.
We got on the trail at about 10:15...the lot was packed as expected. The ascent was gradual and wet and muddy in places...I stepped into a pretty deep hole at one point and was named "Diarrhea Boots" for the rest of the day :roll: There were lots of folks on the Crawford Path...going up and down. We took a leisurely pace...it was Ms. TB's first hike of the season. After a couple hours, we got some nice views over the Valley and the MW Hotel below us. Within a few minutes, we were on the ledges below the summit. The views of the Presis were awe-inspiring. Ms. TB approved! :beer: The SW wind was a bit cold and bringing in some haze and clouds. We all layered up--winds were about 30-40mph.
After some pics and lunch, we noticed that Washington was clouding up so we began the ascent to the summit of Pierce. The open summit was marked by a small cairn. Some more photos here, a touch of both markers, and we began the "easy" descent to Mizpah...or as we found out, the "not so easy" descent. The bogs on the summit all had new bridges...very nice. The AMC/WMNF crews had also put in new ladders and steps on the Webster Cliff Trail (great to see the parking sticker $$$ being put to good use!!! :beer: ). This trail, though short from the summit, is very rugged. As we made the final approach to Mizpah, it began to rain. We got in just in time....there was some thunder and a brief downpour after our entrance into Mizpah.
We hung out at Mizpah for a while--eating, checking out the cool interior of the camp. I bought a patch, per my tradition of visiting AMC Huts, the boys checked out the girls (except for me of course :wink: ), and we descended the Mizpah Cutoff to Crawford (wet and muddy with some good bridges and stepping stones) back to the car.
We did happen upon a strange insect infestation on the trail....we're still trying to figure out what it was :blink: but otherwise the descent was uneventful.
A nice dayhike with little effort. Great views and fun was had by all!
David Metsky's Page on Pierce for more info...some of the links in this report go to his page as well.
