Mt. Pierce & Mt. Eisenhower via Crawford Path

I was planning to only do Mt. Pierce today, but when I found myself summiting it nearly an hour earlier than planned, and given the indescribably perfect weather, I quickly found myself lumbering towards Eisenhower as well.  Zero wind until that peak, not a cloud in the sky, and mid-teens all day.  Sitting at the summit and staring up at Mt. Washington just three miles up-trail--it was very hard to turn back. 10 miles / 5 hours.

Lessons I Learned On The Trail Today:
(1) I'm very susceptible to peer pressure on the trials.  A mere single hiker saying, “You have to keep going to the next peak” is enough to ensure I do exactly that.

(2) You know that famous Robert Frost poem with the ending: “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-- / I took the one less traveled by, / And that has made all the difference.”  Yeah, that guy never hiked in the winter.  Let me tell you, I tried taking the path less traveled, and you know what I got out of it?  I probably spent a quarter of my day backtracking my own foot steps.

(3) Give me a cup of coffee before a hike and I will fly up the mountain.  I probably wasted a good hour taking pictures across the ridge and I still averaged 2 mph the whole hike.  I can only imagine if I didn't have my camera with me....

Summit of Mt. Eisenhower, looking up at Mt. Washington

Near the summit of Pierce

Looking down the ridge over to Mt. Pierce

Following the trail up to Washington

Honestly, I fell here.  Therefore, it was the perfect opportunity to take a picture.

 

So close to Washington...

 

One of the hardest hikes I've ever had to actually head back down from