Hiking in the White Mountains: Saturday Morning in the Southern Presi's : Eisenhower and Pierce

Date of Hike: 11/29/14

Crawford Path: 4.1 miles / Mount Eisenhower Loop: 0.8 miles / Crawford Path: 1.2 miles / Webster-Cliff Trail: 0.2 miles / Crawford Path: 2.9 miles
Total Miles: 9.0 miles (3,550 feet elevation gained) Garmin GPS Forerunner 910 XT

Trip Report:
- Saturday morning was cold, around ten degrees, but there was not a cloud in the sky and hardly any wind so Whitney and I decided to get in a quick hike above treeline before she had to work. We headed over to Crawford Notch and jumped on the Crawford Path and moved at a decent clip to warm up as we hiked through the frigid snow blasted pine forest.
- The Crawford Path becomes a super highway in the snow, it gets packed down and takes on the appearance of a gradual uphill snow ramp. Unfortunately, there is still not enough snow to make this happen but there was enough to hide most small rocks and roots making it an easier hike up than in the summer.
- We had the whole trail to ourselves as we gained the ridge of the Presidential Range just below the summit of Mount Pierce. Views were crystal clear as we reached treeline on our way north to Mount Eisenhower. The snow depths increased and drifts started appearing more regularly as we descended to the Eisenhower - Pierce col. Before long we donned the snowshoes and kept them on until we were back at the Webster-Cliff junction on our way out. We took turns breaking trail which was wicked fun. Some spots the snow drifts were two to three feet deep but mostly it was around a foot or so of powder. The best part was heading up the Eisenhower Loop Trail where we took turns breaking trail until the last tenth of a mile when the snow became solid enough to support our body weight. The only wind of the day was found on the summit of Eisenhower, which is to be expected as it is a bald - round summit.
- After taking a few pictures we quickly headed back south and up Mount Pierce for the last of the excellent views of the day. On the summit of Pierce I ran into my friend Michael who I don't believe I've seen since a winter hike of Mount Isolation in 2011. I also ran into Val and her friend Mark descending the summit, and then Chris (who is in love with my dog, Mr. Smackers).
- Whitney and I didn't see a single soul until we summited Mount Pierce on the way back out, from there we ran into close to three dozen hikers heading up to take in the views from above treeline.
- I was thrilled we got such an early start so we could break out the Crawford Path and Eisenhower Loop Trail north of Mount Pierce. It was also nice to have the winter wonderland of the trails all to ourselves!
- Pics taken with my Apple phone with the auto fix used to sharpen images. The zoomed in pictures do not come out that well on my iphone, they look kind of painted, like a pastel painting, kind of crummy paintings but still kind of cool looking, enjoy!