Whether bare-booting, snowshoeing or trekking about with micro-spikes, heading out on the trails in winter is invigorating and often more condicive to solitude — if so chosen.
When properly equipped, traipsing about during the insect-free big chill months shines a new light on summits, ponds and other alpine features.
There are so many places to go.
Craggy Franconia Notch State Park in New Hampshire’s White Mountains is a winter-wandering utopia, with its alpine summits and gelid waterways. Resting in the shadows of Cannon Mountain, the park also contains waterfalls that transform themselves into beautiful frozen sculptures in wintertime.
New Hampshire Division of Travel and Tourism Development communications manager Kris Neilsen suggests a moderate hike with a great pay off, the Falling Waters Trail to Cloudland Falls.
“Actually there are three waterfalls on this route,” she noted.
Eighty feet high and shaped like a giant, upside-down hand fan, Cloudland Falls is the crown jewel of the dazzling trio. Sixty-foot-high Swiftwater Falls and Stairs Falls are the others.
Though the trail from the Lafayette Place lot off Interstate-93 goes to the Little Haystack summit, a 3-mile roundtrip jaunt to Cloudland and back is a delightful outing under the hardwoods with some bridge walking and water crossings.
A notable Upper Valley landmark, 3,144-foot Mount Ascutney via the Weathersfield Trail is a popular hike during the winter, according to Rick White, a forester with the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation.
The strenuous six-mile roundtrip pathway through Mount Ascutney State Park has an elevation gain of approximately 2,000 feet and “should only be attempted by experienced hikers using appropriate gear,” White said.
In snowy conditions, White advises the use of ice cleats or snowshoes with aggressive cleats in order to safely navigate the trail.
The Weathersfield Trail, on the mountain’s south face, is one of four trails that run from the base to the monadnock’s summit and serves up a handful of vista opportunities as well as ice formations on ledges along the pathway. The trailhead is located in Weathersfield off Route 131 and Cascade Falls Road.
Have a hunkering to summit a 4,000-footer during wintertime? Head over to 4,083-foot Camel’s Hump, one of Vermont’s highest peaks. Its ledgy summit is contains dazzling far-reaching looks over the Champlain Valley. In the west, the rugged Adirondacks holds court. The Green Mountains link north-sound and the eastern sky contains the rippling While Mountains.
“The best part of Camel’s Hump in the winter is the alpine summit where rime ice covers the rocks, stunted plants, and trail signs,” said Amy Potter, manager of the Green Mountain Club’s visitor center.
Potter suggests the Burrows Trail from Huntington as a great winter option for the mountain.
Potter says compared to hiking most other 4,000 foot mountains in the winter, reaching the summit is only moderately strenuous. It’s a 4.8-mile undertaking that’s not particularly steep.
Located in the 21,000-acre Camel’s Hump State Park, the beloved double hump is also grazed by the Long Trail across its summit.
Appalachian Mountain Club director of media and public affairs Rob Burbank points to a couple of sub-2,000 foot under-the-radar peaks to try in winter, Peaked and Middle Mountains. The North Conway, N.H., hike isn’t far off the Route 16 strip, with the trailhead reached by first taking Artist Falls Road to Thompson Road.
The 1,739-foot Peaked and 1,857-foot Middle mountains are located in the Nature Conservancy’s 12,000 acre Green Hill Preserve that also offers some nice mountain biking. For hikers, the craggy knoll atop Peaked is a nice vantage point to gaze down upon the Saco Valley and off to Mount Washington and other mountains while Middle’s stage includes Mount Chocorua, and the Ossipee and Moat ranges.
Winter trekkers can reach both both mountaintops on a single 5-plus mile hike using the Peaked Mountain and Middle Mountain trails.
The Old Bridle Path up West Rattlesnake Mountain in the Squam Lakes area is New Hampshire’s cupid shooting an arrow into the heart of would-be hikers. The simple, under-two-mile trek is a year-round delight to a series of ledges overlooking some of the most beautiful frosty real estate in the Granite State. The trailhead leaves from Route 113. For novices who have never experienced the winter woods, or those looking to resuscitate the passion, steps taken there will not disappoint.
Marty Basch can be reached at mbasch@gmail.com