The route: Edmands Path --> Mt. Eisenhower Loop --> Crawford Path out and back --> Edmands Path
Total hike time: ~7 hours (Garmin 8 miles in 6:07 then died...+~30 minutes of hanging out at summits)
Summit beer: New Glarus Moon Man (WI represent!)
To complete a week of vacation which involved a TON of hiking (which I will probably have to recap here at some point) including almost 20 miles of hiking through the Porcupine Mountains in MI (summary: MUD MUD MUD, gorgeous forests, river crossings, and eventually some amazing escarpment views) and a lovely little stroll up Mt Potash to test out Dayton's gear and see how he'd fare with hiking, we decided to finish the weekend on a high note by hiking our first Presidential, Mount Eisenhower. Note that at the outset of the day our plan was JUST to hike Eisenhower...let's just say I sometimes have bad ideas. ;)
The weather forecast had been a bit sketchy leading up to the weekend but thankfully the predicted showers had been pushed pretty late into the afternoon, and so with an early start we figured we'd miss out on most of the rain. We were up bright and early and headed to the trailhead off Mt. Clinton Road. There were a few other cars in the parking lot and we chatted with a group of some older women - I forget how we got on the subject, but we were able to tell them about Mount Potash, which I feel like might be one of my new recommended hidden gems of the Whites - such a delightful hike and such high bang for your buck!
We departed the trailhead at 8:45 with our little goober in tow. The weather was fairly cool in the morning but warmed up quickly - this is one of those hikes where the photos show about 6 different outfits before the end, hah. The first mile of the trail is pretty much flat and heads over a couple of bridged brook crossings and into a lovely forest.
We kept good time through the flat first section, and around mile 2 began a more steady climb. I had sort of joked about the description of this path in the White Mountains guide, about how Edmands had "carefully chosen the easiest grades". I have to say, while there were a few sections that definitely got the heart rate climbing and the legs burning, overall it wasn't too bad. The second mile was a pretty steady rock staircase type situation, about par for the course for the Whites. It was fairly cloudy and what glimpses we could see through the trees didn't look like much. After climbing for awhile, the trail leveled out somewhat - again, go Edmands and his moderate grades! If you, like me, have irrational fears of heights you could definitely notice that through the trees to your left there was a pretty significant dropoff! This didn't really bother me while we were walking on a flat path, but after awhile we reached a brook crossing that I was not expecting - a waterfall tumbling from a cliff above and a small waterway to cross that was basically tumbling over a cliff below. This being spring I assume the water was a bit higher than usual, and it actually didn't really bother me on the way back, but on first pass? Suffice it to stay my heart went into my throat and stayed there for a while after that section. I know there are way scarier things in the Whites, but slick rock + cliffs = scary in my mind. That obstacle vanquished, we continued upward and soon reached the sign indicating that we were entering the alpine zone.
This photo doesn't really do the scary waterfall justice haha
And then, like absolute magic, we popped out above treeline and the haze that had enveloped everything drifted away, revealing some of the most incredible views I've ever seen. I spent the last mile or so to the summit of Eisenhower pretty much constantly repeating "this is amazing, holy shit, I can't believe it, this is incredible!" We walked across a talus fall which was probably Dayton's least favorite part of the day, but which he handled gracefully. Nothing too hard here as far as the hiking goes - no scrambling, nothing scary, just a perfect trail to enjoy the climb and take in some incredible views.
Diapensia in bloom!
Lapland rosebay in bloom too!
At the junction of Edmands Path we headed over to the Mount Eisenhower loop, a 0.4 mile jaunt to the summit which was a fun climb up the summit cone. Unfortunately as we climbed we also found ourselves climbing into a cloud, and by the time we hit the summit we were totally socked in! Oh well - still a summit, #9 for me, #7 for Andrew, and most importantly #1 for Dayton!
We sat down behind the summit cairn to have lunch and all of a sudden found we needed to layer up - it felt like it had dropped about 15 degrees and was really windy up top! There were quite a few people at the summit, some of whom had some less than desirable trail etiquette (I mean you, people with the mega asshole dogs who plopped yourself right down into the rare and easily destroyed alpine flowers, grrr). Now, earlier in the hike I had casually mentioned that if we WANTED to, you know, JUST a suggestion, if we were feeling in the mood for it, that Mount Pierce was a mere 1.2 miles (I may have rounded down to 1 mile...and in reality I discounted the extra 0.4 miles of the Eisenhower loop so really it was almost 2 miles...BUT YOU KNOW WHO'S COUNTING) away and we could probably bag it as well if Dayton was doing well. Dayton seemed to be loving his life and maybe it was summit fever or the fact that we wanted a little more in terms of views than Eisenhower had provided today, but Andrew was in agreement to head over to Pierce. We figured we could always turn around if the weather started to look dicey, plus it wasn't even noon yet and the storms hadn't been predicted to roll in until 4 or 5. So, off to Crawford path we went!
Crawford Path was again, fairly easy hiking, although 1.6 miles in the mountains takes a little longer than say...1 mile in the mountains haha. Parts of the trail were quite wet and muddy especially when we really got down into the col between Eisenhower and Pierce. We hadn't seen too many hikers besides at the summit of Eisenhower up until now but there were quite a few groups out on Crawford. The views continued to be stunning - just expansive vistas looking back at Eisenhower and over to the rest of the Presidentials, off towards Pierce, and on and on. I could tell that once we had chosen this path Andrew was a little more stressed about the time component, particularly with the added challenge of trying to keep our feet dry, but I really just couldn't get enough of the views. One notable happening was that I actually fell right at the intersection between the Eisenhower Loop and Crawford Path - I stepped on a rock that was more slick than I thought and went down, catching myself with my arm. My shoulder was a little sore but otherwise nothing to dramatic - I was mad at myself for making such a silly mistake and vowed it wouldn't happen again (little did I know...)
After another hour or so of hiking, we reached a gorgeous viewpoint just before the summit of Pierce! We took our "summit" photo there as we were told the views were better than at the actual summit before heading a short distance up the trail to the true summit of Mt. Pierce.
Our time at the summit of Eisenhower hadn't been super relaxing, so we were pleasantly surprised to have both sunshine and the summit to ourselves at the top of Pierce! Dayton decided that some relaxation in the sun was in order and Andrew and I enjoyed some cheese curds and a beer for a snack. After awhile, two women and their dogs appeared from the other side of Crawford Path, and we were excited to be able to welcome them to the summit of their first 4000 footer! I haven't even been in the hiking game that long but the community is so supportive, and it was really fun to cheer someone on as they joined the club!
Finally we decided that time was ticking onward and that we should probably start our 5 mile journey (oops) back to the car. We basically just backtracked, although took Crawford Path all the way back to Edmands instead of going back over the Eisenhower summit (which would have added more distance). The sun and clouds were pretty amazing on the way back towards Eisenhower and the views remained incredible - the mud/water also seemed less bothersome on the way back, maybe because we knew we had already reached our destinations for the day.
Edmands Path down was a lot like Edmands Path up, although it had strangely become MUCH more wet and muddy since the morning! I think we were both a little stressed about getting through the waterfall section that had scared me earlier, but strangely on the way back it didn't bother me at all - in fact, I thought to myself, why the hell did that bother me so much? The last couple of miles down and out were a bit of a slog. Dayton was tired and I think sick of being wet/muddy, so he kept taking his own route through the woods which created some challenging situations. I fell again slipping down a wet rock while simultaneously trying to wrangle Dayton - I ended up sliding a little way down the path and only ended up stopping when my elbow slammed hard against a rock. Ow. Nothing severely damaged, but it hurt like hell - thank goodness for carrying ibuprofen in the first aid kit! Not 10 minutes later, Andrew ripped open his elbow when a controlled slide down a rock became an uncontrolled slide. I think after 35 miles of hiking in the week and a large chunk of that involving mud and water, we were just so damn tired of slippery rocks. By the time we got to the car (with a few stops to try to motivate Dayton to keep going - I think hikes under 8 miles are going to be his thing from now on!) we were all totally beat, but in that wonderful, I-had-a-great-day-in-the-mountains sort of way.
Donezo
It was a great day in the mountains! Dayton absolutely surpassed our wildest expectations - watching the wheels turn in his head as he tried to figure out the best way to negotiate the rocks was adorable, and the times when the rocks were just too big and we had to pick him up like a suitcase using his backpack were even more adorable. Aside from it's length, this hike really wasn't terribly challenging and would be a great way to start the 4000 footer journey. The views of the Presidentials were unreal and I loved spending so much time above treeline! I'm excited to have made it into double digits on my NH48 adventure and with Andrew not far behind. Plus, after how well Dayton did on this hike, I think he may get to join us for more 4000 footers than we expected! Can't wait for the next one...
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