Ever since I returned from my October 2024 trip from the White Mountains I have been wanting to return. I had hit the big milestone of hitting 100 peaks of my NE111 (115) list and it was beginning to feel close to finishing. All of my remaining peaks are in New Hampshire, and so I know I will become a 115er in the Whites! Unfortunately it wasn't until March of 2025 that I was able to return, after the re-election of Trump and brewing trade war between Canada and the United States. The 7 hour drive to Gorham was a bit different this time - my car had been having some issues so my husband and I opted to take his truck. A much more comfortable ride but the gas mileage might not have have made up for it! We travelled down on our anniversary and it felt right to be back surrounded by mountains as 17 years prior we had gotten married in the Canadian Rockies. Unfortunately due to a foot injury that he is going to get surgery on he was not able to hike on this trip leaving 3 days and 3 peaks of hiking to me solo!
On Sunday March 9th 2025, Glenn dropped me off at the Carter-Moriah trailhead just before 8AM. As I was jumping out of a the truck, a local resident began yelling at us citing we were blocking his property (which appeared to be an empty lot with a fire hydrant in front of the opening). We explained that we weren't parking there for the day, I was getting dropped off, and Glenn was just turning around in the cul-de-sac but he didn't seem to care. He had obviously had run-ins with hikers in the past and was overreacting to a harmless situation. It didn't feel good to start off the hike like this and I was shocked at how this man and his dog were acting. We had never even been to this trailhead before and there were no signs to say hikers couldn't be dropped off!
I put on my microspikes and quickly headed up the hard packed icy trail. The first 637 feet go straight up before a short break in the terrain before ramping up again. The thaw that had happened a few days before was quite evident in the trail as there were thousands of footprints and snowshoe prints frozen in the snow. Yesterday's winds had blown snow over the trail the higher you went, and the thousands of deep post holes became booby traps. About half way up I became uncomfortable....worried that as a solo hiker and first person on the trail I might fall into a post hole and injury myself. I decided to change into snowshoes to allow a bit more of a safety net with the wider platform.
There are a couple of open look outs on the way up and I could see some nice views of Mount Madison of the Presidential range. There were a couple places that the trail had become erased due to the wind scouring and I had to look around to find it. It wasn't long before I found it again and was back on track. The climbing raised quickly on this hike and seeming to include lots of ups and downs and rolls. The temperature was below freezing which helped me control my temperature I got closer and closer to the summit.
At one point I saw a faint junction, or what I thought might be two directions to travel too. I chose the one that looked more well used and glad I did as it as the spur trail to Moriah's summit. I made it out to the rocky perch and drank in views of the Carters and Presi's. There were clouds building over the Presi's but still beautiful to look at. I had never visited the Whites in winter so the views were quite spectacular. I took some video and photos off the summit and some selfies with the summit marker. I had the summit to myself!
The wind was blowing hard so it didn't take much convincing to get off the open summit and back down into the trees. I texted Glenn and started to go down to find a sheltered spot to have a break. I looked at my watch and had climbed 3400 feet to get to this summit! I passed a couple of guys and a dog heading to the summit in running shoes and ankle socks (brrrr!) and found a place I could eat and drink. I put my hood up while on break and when I re-started again had to duck under a arm-sized branch hanging perpendicular across the trail. With my hood still down I didn't see a spikey branch that was poking out of it and stabbed my scalp with it's sharp spike. I didn't damage myself badly but there was some blood!
On the descent I ran into 20 people in small groups. 16 were women and 4 were men. I was stopped by one group of experienced women in particular who had all sorts of questions for me. One had done the 115 in winter, and so we swapped stories. I love seeing women on the trail!
The rest of the way down was quite treacherous. There were thousands of post holes and uneven ground to negotiate which took quite a lot of concentration. I took my snowshoes off to find skinnier foot placements and I am not sure if that was a good idea or not because I did fall into 2 post holes. A mess of a trail but we got it done!
Distance: 14.3km
Time: 5 hours 22 minutes
Elevation: 1102m or 3615ft
Peak #101 out of 115
On Sunday March 9th 2025, Glenn dropped me off at the Carter-Moriah trailhead just before 8AM. As I was jumping out of a the truck, a local resident began yelling at us citing we were blocking his property (which appeared to be an empty lot with a fire hydrant in front of the opening). We explained that we weren't parking there for the day, I was getting dropped off, and Glenn was just turning around in the cul-de-sac but he didn't seem to care. He had obviously had run-ins with hikers in the past and was overreacting to a harmless situation. It didn't feel good to start off the hike like this and I was shocked at how this man and his dog were acting. We had never even been to this trailhead before and there were no signs to say hikers couldn't be dropped off!
I put on my microspikes and quickly headed up the hard packed icy trail. The first 637 feet go straight up before a short break in the terrain before ramping up again. The thaw that had happened a few days before was quite evident in the trail as there were thousands of footprints and snowshoe prints frozen in the snow. Yesterday's winds had blown snow over the trail the higher you went, and the thousands of deep post holes became booby traps. About half way up I became uncomfortable....worried that as a solo hiker and first person on the trail I might fall into a post hole and injury myself. I decided to change into snowshoes to allow a bit more of a safety net with the wider platform.
There are a couple of open look outs on the way up and I could see some nice views of Mount Madison of the Presidential range. There were a couple places that the trail had become erased due to the wind scouring and I had to look around to find it. It wasn't long before I found it again and was back on track. The climbing raised quickly on this hike and seeming to include lots of ups and downs and rolls. The temperature was below freezing which helped me control my temperature I got closer and closer to the summit.
At one point I saw a faint junction, or what I thought might be two directions to travel too. I chose the one that looked more well used and glad I did as it as the spur trail to Moriah's summit. I made it out to the rocky perch and drank in views of the Carters and Presi's. There were clouds building over the Presi's but still beautiful to look at. I had never visited the Whites in winter so the views were quite spectacular. I took some video and photos off the summit and some selfies with the summit marker. I had the summit to myself!
The wind was blowing hard so it didn't take much convincing to get off the open summit and back down into the trees. I texted Glenn and started to go down to find a sheltered spot to have a break. I looked at my watch and had climbed 3400 feet to get to this summit! I passed a couple of guys and a dog heading to the summit in running shoes and ankle socks (brrrr!) and found a place I could eat and drink. I put my hood up while on break and when I re-started again had to duck under a arm-sized branch hanging perpendicular across the trail. With my hood still down I didn't see a spikey branch that was poking out of it and stabbed my scalp with it's sharp spike. I didn't damage myself badly but there was some blood!
On the descent I ran into 20 people in small groups. 16 were women and 4 were men. I was stopped by one group of experienced women in particular who had all sorts of questions for me. One had done the 115 in winter, and so we swapped stories. I love seeing women on the trail!
The rest of the way down was quite treacherous. There were thousands of post holes and uneven ground to negotiate which took quite a lot of concentration. I took my snowshoes off to find skinnier foot placements and I am not sure if that was a good idea or not because I did fall into 2 post holes. A mess of a trail but we got it done!
Distance: 14.3km
Time: 5 hours 22 minutes
Elevation: 1102m or 3615ft
Peak #101 out of 115
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