Bald Mountain, Franconia Notch State Park - Located a short distance from Echo Lake, which I wrote about last week, in Franconia, New Hampshire is another great location where photographers will have no problem creating images. Even though some hiking has to be done to reach the summit of Bald Mountain the views of Franconia Notch are worth the short hike.....[Continue reading] ...

Winter Forest Scenes, White Mountains - When most think of the New Hampshire White Mountains, they think of the sweeping landscapes that dominate the region, and not the forests, historic sites, lakes, trails, and wetlands that make up the landscape. Today I want to share with you a few winter forest scenes that showcase the White Mountains...[Continue reading] ...

Thoreau Falls Trail Bridge, My Viewpoint - Like many in the New England outdoor community, I have been closely following the Thoreau Falls Trail bridge removal project. I have had interesting conversations as to why the bridge should be replaced, but nothing yet has changed my position, I fully support removing this bridge from the Pemigewasset Wilderness. I wrote about this proposed bridge removal....[Continue reading] ...

Rock Cairns, Trail Stewardship: A rock cairn is a man-made pile of rocks that marks a landmark or the route of a hiking trail above tree line. They have been used for many centuries and vary in size from one foot to massive piles of rocks. The word “cairn” is Scottish and means a “heap of stones”. Cairns are found throughout the New Hampshire White Mountains and....[Continue reading] ...

Middle Sister Groundhouse, New Hampshire - The Middle Sister Groundhouse (fire tower) is located on Middle Sister Mountain, along Middle Sister Trail, near Mount Chocorua in Albany, New Hampshire. It was in operation from 1927-1948, and according to the Forest Fire Lookout Association it remained in service until 1948. Today, a Forest Service....[Continue reading] ...

Thoreau Falls Trail, Bridge Removal - In August of 2011, Tropical Storm Irene caused massive erosion damage to the White Mountains trail system in New Hampshire. Some trails were damaged so badly that they have been permanently closed. And to this day trail crews are still repairing Irene damaged trails...[Continue reading] ...

Crawford Path, White Mountains - Crawford Path, located in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, is the oldest continuously-used mountain trail in America, and for a period of time it was used as a horse trail to Mt Washington. This eight and half mile historical path came to be in 1819 when Abel Crawford and his son Ethan Allen began building a trail to the summit of Mt Pierce, formerly called Mt Clinton. Once north of Mt Pierce, the Crawford ...

Davis Path, White Mountains - Davis Path, built in 1845 by Nathaniel Davis, son-in-law of Abel and Hannah Crawford, was the third and longest bridle path built to the summit of Mount Washington. After being built the bridle path was neglected, and in 1910 it was reopened as a footpath...[Continue reading] ...

Step Falls Nature Preserve - I was recently in Grafton Notch State Park in Newry, Maine and while there visited nearby Step Falls Nature Preserve. The preserve is known for its cascades and excellent view from the top of the falls, but on the day of my visit it was snowing and very windy....[Continue reading] ...

Mittersill-Cannon Trail, Cannon Mountain - In 2012, Senate Bill 217 was introduced to the New Hampshire legislature. The main focus of the bill was the leasing of the Cannon Mountain Ski Area. It also proposed renaming Franconia Notch State Park to Franconia Notch Veterans' Memorial State Park, the building of a veterans memorial and the development of a hiking corridor on Mittersill Mountain...[Continue reading] ...