Winter Hiking Mount Pierce and Mount Eisenhower - NH 48 4,000 Footers
/Winter Hiking Mount Pierce (4,310') and Mount Eisenhower (4,780')
HIKE STATISTICS
Total Distance: 9.4 miles
Elevation Gain: 3,200 feet
Hiking Time: 6 hours, 30 minutes
Difficulty: Moderate
Curious to learn more about these peaks during the summer time when there is no snow? Click here for Mount Pierce and click here for Mount Eisenhower!
HIKE DATE: 01/02/2019
Description: Mount Pierce and Mount Eisenhower are usually hiked together due to their close proximity to one another. These are such picturesque mountains in the winter, especially since the hike is not too difficult. From the open summits of both peaks, you’ll get to enjoy pristine 360 degree views of the Presidential peaks and other surrounding mountains!
Trails Used: Ascend via Crawford Connector to Crawford path to the summit of Mount Pierce. Continue following Crawford Path to a junction where you will go left to the summit of Mount Eisenhower. Descend by reversing your direction and going back down Crawford Path the way you came. You could also descend by Edmands Path and walk on Mount Clinton Road to make a loop.
Trail Summary: The trailhead for this hike is just off Mount Clinton Road. One thing to note about Mount Pierce/Eisenhower in the winter is that Mount Clinton Road is closed. Sometimes the very first portion of the road is plowed to the trailhead parking lot, but it is not guaranteed. Both times we have gone, the road was not recently plowed… Since Adam has a Jeep, we drove right over the big snowbank at the end of the road and through the snow to get to the trailhead parking lot (do this at your own risk!). For non-4WD or small cars, the best thing to do is to park across the street at the Highland Center and then walk to the trailhead. For a winter hike, these peaks have a very high reward. Crawford Path to Mount Pierce is very popular in the winter, so the trail is almost always packed down, allowing one to wear spikes. Still, we carried our snowshoes with us just in case! The wind whips around a lot of the snow, so sometimes there are big drifts or the packed trail has been covered - be cautious as you navigate between the peaks. The wind can be very fierce and with wind chills, it can get very cold very quick. Always wear extra layers and face protection above treeline!
You will be taking Crawford Path to both Pierce and Eisenhower, and then back. This trail is known as one of the oldest maintained trails in the United States. From the trailhead, you have to take the Crawford Connector Trail for 0.4 miles to Crawford Path. It is a gradual climb to the junction. The entire duration of Crawford Path from this junction to the summit of Mount Pierce climbs at easy/moderate grades and does not have any tricky areas, offering a great winter hiking experience. After hiking Crawford Path for 1.5 miles, you will come to a junction with the Mizpah Cutoff. Here you can either stay left to continue on Crawford Path to the summit or you can take the Mizpah Cutoff which goes by the Mizpah Spring Hut to the summit. Both routes ascend easily to the summit and take roughly the same amount of time and distance (about 1.2 miles). We chose to stay on Crawford Path this time around. As you near the summit of Mount Pierce, there are ledges that begin to offer views. You will reach a junction where you need to go right and head 0.1 miles to the true summit of Mount Pierce, which is open and offers amazing views.
Heading up the very gentle grades of Crawford Path towards Mount Pierce
How could you not fall in love with views like these!? We got very lucky with the weather on this day!
Some of our clothes got a bit frosty from all of the cold, wind, and snow!
After enjoying the summit of Mount Pierce, it’s now time to make the journey over to Mount Eisenhower, which is 1.5 miles away. When we headed over to Mount Eisenhower, we put on our snowshoes because the snow was deep in spots due to drifts. As you make your way towards Mount Eisenhower, Crawford Path goes in and out of patches of scrubs, meaning there are consistently open areas with incredible views all around. At some points it may be tough to judge where the trail heads, but just follow the cairns and they will guide the way. Ascending Mount Eisenhower is fairly straightforward and easy for above treeline travel in winter, but it was very icy when we were there. There was one spot in particular that we would have liked to have had crampons on as opposed to snowshoes. This spot was more of an issue on the descent rather than the ascent. Still, we were very careful with our foot placement and made it fine. As you near the summit, you will come to a junction where Crawford Path continues right, but you will want to go left here to get to the summit of Mount Eisenhower. At this point, it’s only 0.2 miles away with about 300 feet of elevation gain. You will know once you’re at the summit once you’ve spotted the giant cairn. Here you can enjoy panoramic views of the surrounding Presidential peaks. To get back to the car, retrace your steps all the way back using the same way you came. You could also continue north for 0.4 miles to get back to the junction with Crawford Path where you will take a left and descend for 2.9 miles on Edmands Path to get to the road, where you then walk 2.3 miles back to the car. It was a great day for Winter 48 numbers 2 and 3 for us!
More phenomenal views from the summit of Mount Eisenhower; what a day it would have been to climb Mount Washington!
Goggle selfie from the summit. You can actually see the large summit cairn in the reflection of Adam’s goggles!
Looking towards Mount Pierce as we begin our descent from Mount Eisenhower
