Ways to Hike the 48

What are some the ways people have climbed (or potentially could climb) the NH 48 4000-footers? (or any other 'list' for that matter)

Here are the ways I've heard about from one source or another...
~ every peak in any season
~ every peak in winter
~ every peak from all points of the compass
~ every peak in every month
~ every peak on Leap Day
~ stand on each peak's summit at midnight
~ every peak via all maintained trails that go to the summit
~ diretissma
~ solo
~ kiss on every summit (how cute)
~ fastest (fewest amount of days/hours)
~ longest (most amount of years)
~ youngest/oldest person to finish
~ climb each peak twice in the same day (have fun on Owl's Head!)
~ barefoot
~ backwards
~ one per year for 48 years
~ all 48 peaks every year for 48 years
~ every peak on your birthday
~ every peak done while calling out sick from work
~ mini-keg of heinken on every summit
~ all in one calendar winter
~ nude

Any others? Humorous ideas are welcome

Every peak for 48 years for the "Flags on the 48" event has been discussed. I probably won't make it but my boys could. We've done Jackson, Pierce and Eisenhower the last 3.

One of my retirement pass-times may be nude midnight peak bagging. We'll see.

Chip said:

Every peak for 48 years for the "Flags on the 48" event has been discussed. I probably won't make it but my boys could. We've done Jackson, Pierce and Eisenhower the last 3.

One of my retirement pass-times may be nude midnight peak bagging. We'll see.

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I hope I finish my current round before you retire!

But then again, I don't hike at midnight much!

I have a question related to this subject.

I'm 12/48 so far. Someday I'll finish, but I'd like to leave the crumby, viewless sumimts till last.

Which summits should I wait on?
I'd like do the good ones first.

Thanks.
Dave G.

Tom Rankin said:

I hope I finish my current round before you retire!

But then again, I don't hike at midnight much!

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I plan to be known as "Full Moon" Morrison in distant years. A legend of the north woods. Books will be written.

BlackBuffalo said:

I have a question related to this subject.

I'm 12/48 so far. Someday I'll finish, but I'd like to leave the crumby, viewless sumimts till last.

Which summits should I wait on?
I'd like do the good ones first.

Thanks.
Dave G.

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Waumbek, Cabot, Zealand, Middle Carter. Owls Head and Hale - in no particular order.

Some may argue that Hale has a view. Maybe ... depends upon how much snow has accumulated on the top of the cairn.

And Galehad and Passaconaway don't really have views, but they have some minor lookouts near the summit, so I don't personally consider them viewless.

Kevin Rooney said:

Waumbek, Cabot, Zealand, Middle Carter. Owls Head and Hale - in no particular order.

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Hey now! Waumbek and Cabot have views within about 1-3 minutes of their highpoints, and Middle Carter has plenty of nearby views! Those poor, underrated peaks!

Giggy had an interesting variation on "doing" the NH48:



-Dr. Wu

Each peak as the finish to someone else's 48. I've probably got 10-12 of those.

Davebears approach where you bring up as gas grille and cook various types of meat is a nice option.

I would say that Middle Carter has better views than South Carter, although we (Rocket21) both know that you can find a view on South Carter with little effort.

View from Middle Carter of the Baldfaces:


You can sort the 48 into varying buckets based on various criteria... 4 or 5 buckets work pretty well. I won't fill them all in and I am sure I will get flack as well for my choices. Using my buckets, I would want good weather for 1, 2 and 3 at least.

1. Unobstructed 360-degree views (Madison, Adams, Jefferson, Washington, Monroe, Eisenhower...)

2. Excellent summit views but not 360-degrees (Isolation, Pierce, ...)

3. Very good views at or near the summit (North Twin, Tom, Carter Dome, Middle Carter...)

4. Some views from viewpoints along the way/obstructed summit views (Cabot, South Carter, Tecumseh (ski trails), Hancocks, North Tri (slide) ...)

5. Everything else, good rainy-day hikes, etc. -- very little belongs here since most every one can fit into buckets 1-4. Owl's Head has views of the back of Lincoln/Lafayette from the slide, Waumbek has views torwards the Pressies from Star King, etc.

Tim

Kevin Rooney said:

Waumbek, Cabot, Zealand, Middle Carter. Owls Head and Hale - in no particular order.

Some may argue that Hale has a view. Maybe ... depends upon how much snow has accumulated on the top of the cairn.

And Galehad and Passaconaway don't really have views, but they have some minor lookouts near the summit, so I don't personally consider them viewless.

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I'd disagree with Cabot and Zealand.

Zealand has Zeacliff, which has an amazing view. Unless you're combining Zealand and the Twins, you'll pass it on the way up.

Cabot is also just 1.1 miles from The Horn, which also offers a great view (and is a pretty easy HH peak to hit while out on Cabot.)

Sure, neither of them have real views from the summit, but I wouldn't classify them as "viewless peaks" given the proximity of truly great views on both.

Ah, but many peaks will jump out of Tim's buckets if you climb them the "right way". For example, the right way to climb the Tripyramids is to go up the North Slide. The right way to do Isolation is via Glen Boulder and with a detour to Davis (excellent views from each). The right way to do Tecumseh includes a detour to the ski slopes. For Pierce, combine it with Eisenhower, at least. And so on; for each of these you really want good weather.

The only real irredeemable is Peak Above Owl's Head; for that one you want low flood danger if you do it the traditional way. Maybe the "right way" is to circle around it counterclockwise before going up the slide, thus making a *really* long approach. Or maybe the right way is to detour to Owl's Head proper - there's got to be a view from the top of that cliff.

David Metsky said:

Each peak as the finish to someone else's 48. I've probably got 10-12 of those.

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What about wearing that rooster/chicken hat on all of the 48??

Which ones do you have? Do you need Madison for that list???

I am working on doing the list in the shortest time and will have a full report, with time and date stamped photos. Better weather is required.

~ Snow but not winter.

David Metsky said:

Each peak as the finish to someone else's 48. I've probably got 10-12 of those.

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Darn...I was going to secretly work on this list because I thought it was an original idea...guess I was wrong

roadtripper said:

What are some the ways people have climbed (or potentially could climb) the NH 48 4000-footers? (or any other 'list' for that matter)

Any others? Humorous ideas are welcome

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solo (or by yourself since solo is too short )

On skis.

I'll never do them all, but I've done around a dozen or so.

roadtripper said:

What are some the ways people have climbed (or potentially could climb) the NH 48 4000-footers? (or any other 'list' for that matter)


Any others? Humorous ideas are welcome

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I just completed every peak in each of the four seasons. I'm too old to attempt the traditional grid