Southern Whites Loop with 11 4K Summits

[tomcat32]

Last fall I wanted to knock off a bunch of 4000 foot summits while backpacking last fall and visit new parts of the Whites I haven’t been. I came up with an 81 mile loop out of Waterville Valley that hit 11 summits. I hit the Tecumseh, the Osceolas, the Hancock’s, Hale, Carrigain, Passaconaway, Whiteface, and the Tripyramids. I originally planned on the Willey Range to but a rain delay cut the start short. I ended up with a nice 81 ish mile loop and pretty good weather after the initial rain. Thorough TR and lots of photos at the link if you want inspiration for a non traditional approach to knocking off these peaks. Backpacking and Peakbagging in the Southern White Mountains

 

[Rhody Seth]

That's a journey and a half. Well done! I need to start trying some more multi-night backpacking outings - there are some great routes to make up there.

 

[Quietman]

Very nice write-up, it was a good read and well illustrated with the pictures!

 

[kiteflyer]

Excellent photos and trip report! I thoroughly enjoyed it. Thanks for posting!

 

[Dr. Dasypodidae]

Enjoyed this trip report, Curious about the number of blow downs and their height above the ground on the Shoal Pond Trail?

 

[tomcat32]

Enjoyed this trip report, Curious about the number of blow downs and their height above the ground on the Shoal Pond Trail?

There wasnt an abundance of blowdown. Mostly just brushy and very muddy.

 

[Dr. Dasypodidae]

There wasnt an abundance of blowdown. Mostly just brushy and very muddy.

Thanks. Of course, all could change by the next winter when we hope to revive our one-day, Pemi ski-through after a hiatus of several years. Shoal Pond Trail is the only viable route now with removal of the bridge at the lower end of Thoreau Falls Brook Trail.

 

[JoshandBaron]

Thanks. Of course, all could change by the next winter when we hope to revive our one-day, Pemi ski-through after a hiatus of several years. Shoal Pond Trail is the only viable route now with removal of the bridge at the lower end of Thoreau Falls Brook Trail.

FWIW, the southern Thoreau Falls Trail crossing isn't much worse than Stillwater/Carrigain Branch in winter.

 

[Daniel Eagan]

Thanks, always like your reports

 

[Dr. Dasypodidae]

FWIW, the southern Thoreau Falls Trail crossing isn't much worse than Stillwater/Carrigain Branch in winter.

Over about 40 years, we pretty much split our Pemi ski-through trips between the two routes. We usually scheduled our trips in late February to early March to maximize daylight hours before the snowpack begins to diminish. We always found the crossing at Stillwater at the south end of Shoal Pond Trail frozen over, as the water depth is much shallower there than at the south end of the Thoreau Falls Brook Trail where the water was only rarely frozen over, where we were happy to have the bridge to save bushwhacking upstream.