Willey Range peaks

Where: Mts. Avalon (3442), Field (4327), Willey (4255), Tom (4051) - NH
When: 7/26/2022
With: Solo

This was a "strike while the iron is hot" hike. My schedule was clear, the weather was good, and the success of my last hike was fresh in my mind. 8.4 miles, two 4Ks, one twice? Why not try for 10 miles, three 4Ks (one twice again), plus a 3K, just for fun? This route has been described as a good "starter" hike for folks beginning their NH 48 4000 foot peaks list. It hits three 4K summits and the hiking supposedly isn't too tough. Seemed like a good way to add to my list. I filled my car with gas and gear the night before, and was ready to go.

I rolled out of bed at 4:45, being careful to not wake Wilma, and was on the road right at 5:00. Sections of valley fog hid my views as I approached the Whites, but things cleared out in time for my ride through Franconia Notch. I pulled into the lot at Crawford Depot around 7:50, and had boots on the Avalon trail at 8:00. The path was easy at first (as always), in part because the beginning of the trail gets a lot of casual traffic. A short way up, side paths lead to Mount Willard - a popular, easy walk to a classic view - and to a short loop trail to cascades on Crawford Brook. In addition, a train stops at the Depot several times a day with tourists from North Conway, many of whom explore these trails.

I strode past those side routes and the trail turned into the usual rock-filled NH path. At times there were steps (sometimes logs, sometimes rocks). There were also a couple of easy stream crossings. Given the drought conditions back home, it was nice to see the streams running just fine. I had my first encounter with another hiker in this section, a guy sitting on a rock and removing his zip-off pants legs. "Too hot for long pants," he said.

After a bit I arrived at the junction with the A-Z (Avalon-Zealand) trail. It branched off to the right, heading up toward Mt. Tom. The Avalon trail went left, climbing to Mt. Avalon and then the Willey Range Trail. I went left, heeding advice to do the route clockwise. Apparently it's better to come down the A-Z trail from Mt. Tom at the end of the day vs. coming down from Mt. Avalon. I went up just a short ways before I understood that advice. The Avalon trail was steep and very rocky.

 A few minutes after I started, I met a young woman picking her way up the rocks. She mentioned being a little concerned about the rough conditions, since she was out on her own, so I offered to stay nearby for awhile. It turned out to be helpful, because I noticed that we had gotten off the trail, following small paths winding through the woods. Looking to the left, I spotted the true trail, an open gully of rock ascending straight up the slope. We moved over to it and continued our climb, chatting a bit as we went. She lived in the area, but hadn't hiked the trail before. I relayed the advice I'd heard about taking this route and we discussed options for the remainder of her walk. After she assured me she was doing fine, I left her and began climbing at my usual pace again.

[Side note: I've realized I go fastest uphill. It's usually at the start of the hike anyway, when I'm strongest. I just put my head down and power my way up the trail, one step after another. I'm more cautious on downhill sections, placing my feet and poles carefully to avoid falls, and I go slower.]

The tough section ended, and the trail became easy walking. A few minutes later I arrived at a junction with a side trail (100 yards) to the summit of Mt. Avalon. It was a short scramble up some rock faces to the open summit, with views to the east of the Presidential Range. A cloud sat on the top of Mt. Washington, though the other summits were clear. I searched for a summit marker, but only found the stub of a metal pipe in the rock at what appeared to be the highest point. 

I stayed a bit, exploring the small summit area and disturbing a snake warming itself in the morning sun. After taking a few pictures of the mountains I'd be climbing next, I began my descent back to the Avalon trail. The woman I'd met earlier had just arrived and I congratulated her. We had another brief chat about the route she'd take next before parting.

The Avalon trail continued easily toward Mt. Field at first, a level path through a pretty forest. I heard voices, and thought I might be coming upon a group at a campsite, but it turned out to be a couple making their way down from the top. The woman had music playing from a speaker in her backpack! After I passed them, the trail began to climb. Steps had been placed on some sections - logs or rocks - but the trail had eroded and many of the steps (mostly the logs) had been displaced.

The Avalon trail ended when it reached the Willey Range trail. The summit of Mt. Field was 100 yards to the left, a steep, rocky climb to a small summit cairn. A side trail there led to another view of the Presidentials to the east. Mt. Washington was still in the clouds. Again, I searched for a summit marker and explored the summit area, but there wasn't much to see (a few tent sites) so I continued south on the trail toward Mt. Willey.

The trail quickly dropped off the summit and began a rocky descent, quite steep in spots. I'd hoped for more of a fairly level ridge walk to Willey, but that was not the case. I caught a glimpse of Willey along the way, and it seemed rather far away. I began to be concerned about the return trip to Mt. Field, and sort of regretted not tagging Mt. Tom first (vs. Mt. Avalon). If I'd done that, I could have continued past Willey to Route 302, done a road walk back to my car, and gotten my three 4K peaks. Since I hadn't, I had no choice but to do a boomerang.

My concerns increased as the trail went through a series of small climbs and descents vs. a single drop and climb. It turns out there's an intermediate summit along the ridge that isn't especially apparent on the topo maps. Still, it was an interesting area. At one point there was an section recovering from a blowdown event. Lots of large trees on the ground with light streaming in on new, small trees. Another area had a lush blanket of moss under the trees. 

Part way across, I met an older man coming back from Mt. Willey. I'd meet him again later. He wasn't very sociable, barely responding to my greeting as we passed. I also met an older couple, hiking with a black lab whom they'd trained to come back to them when it encountered someone on the trail. I came up from behind them, so they were alerted by the sound of my hiking poles rather than the dog. The woman had a British accent, and we wound up crossing paths twice more during my hike. 

After a small col, the trail began to climb steadily and I was finally on my way up Mt. Willey. I'd been keeping track of my pairs of climbs/descents, and this marked the start of the 3rd (I had 5 in total - Avalon, Field, Willey, Field, Tom). There was at least one false summit sighting, but all in all the final climb was very easy. One last very small rock ledge (and the best view from Willey for me) and I was there. Frankly, it was a bit anticlimactic. A small rock cairn set in some trees at the side of the trail marked the summit. No marker (again) and no view [I learned later that there was a nice view just a few yards further south beyond the summit]. I checked the trail app on my phone to confirm I was on the summit.

I only stayed a few minutes before beginning my return trip to Mt. Field. As I left, I heard voices coming up the trail from the south, and I wanted to leave the summit to them. I stopped briefly at the rock ledge for a picture, then continued on down the trail. Fairly quickly I was at the base of the Mt. Willey climb and I initially counted it as the end of my 3rd up/down. I changed my mind as the trail retraced the intermediate climbs/descents along the ridge. I noted landmark spots - the blowdown area, for example - and met the couple with the black lab again, along with a number of other folks. A young couple (the guy was doing trail clearing), an older couple, several twosomes of guys, and a few others. One man I met commented that he'd also expected an easy ridge walk between the peaks!

At last I came to the base of the climb up Field. I recognized the loose rocky surface and a change of rock type. Both coming up from Avalon and going down I'd noticed the trail surface above a certain elevation was often small pebbles of orange-colored rock (iron content). Again I noted several familiar spots as I climbed - a ledge where I'd disturbed another snake on the way down, roots and other obstructions in the trail. Then the path leveled off, followed a curve through the woods, and arrived back at the summit cairn.

I barely stopped long enough to take a photo (for the timestamp) before continuing down, though I did stop at the top of the final descent to take a photo of what I thought was my next destination, Mt. Tom. As I was finishing up, a young woman with a full backpack appeared from the south with a young yellow dog. She said she was aiming for Guyot that evening, a hike of close to 9 miles. It seemed like a long way to go, but it was only a bit after 11:00 and she had plenty of time left in the day. After she left, the folks I'd heard coming up Mt. Willey appeared. They appeared to be a father & son. They returned my greetings in English, but were conversing in German as they went on ahead of me.

I finished my picture taking and began the hike to my final destination for the day, Mt. Tom. The Willey Range trail dropped steadily down from Mt. Field, on a fairly easy path through a gorgeous forest. I seemed to have it all to myself, never seeing another person. Though the woman and her dog had walked it ahead of me, I never saw them. I guess they were keeping up a fast pace.

Just as I began to wonder when I'd reach the end of this section of trail, the junction with the A-Z trail appeared, with the Mt. Tom spur trail just 80 yards away (and in the direction of my car!). I scooted down the trail to the spur, completing the 4th of my up/down combinations. One to go. I started up the trail and quickly crossed paths again with the young woman I'd met on Mt. Field (heading to Guyot with her dog). She had a companion with her now, an older woman I think I met along the trail to Mt. Willey. I was somewhat surprised that she'd taken the side trip up Mt. Tom, given how far she had to go to get to Guyot. Perhaps it was where she'd arranged to meet her friend.

It was a smooth, easy trail to start and I entertained a brief fantasy that the rest of the way to the summit would be the same. Nope (of course). The trail began to climb, a bit at first and then more seriously. Soon I was scrambling up small rock ledges before the trail leveled off in a forest of gnarly, lichen covered trees. It curved around a few times, then ended at a small clearing with a rock cairn. No views, once again. As I was arriving at the cairn, the older man I'd seen earlier was heading back. I don't think we exchanged much more than a "hello". 

I explored some side trails at the summit area, hoping to get a view, but had no luck. It was now time for the final "down" of the day. I passed a couple of girls (seemed to be in their teens/early 20s) coming up Tom, followed by a young man of a similar age, then a final meeting with the older couple with the black lab. The older man was just a short distance ahead of me all the way down, walking at about the same pace as I (maybe just a bit slower). I thought he'd pause at the junction with the A-Z trail, when I might pass him, but he just turned toward Crawford and kept going.

I paused a bit to take pictures and let him get ahead some. The trail effectively fell straight down off the side of the ridge, an 1800 foot drop back to Crawford. It was quite steep, and unrelentingly downhill. Fortunately the path was in good shape. I could understand the recommendation to return down this route versus coming down the Avalon trail. Still, it was the end of the day and Rubber Legs time for me. In addition, I was dealing with some pain in my right foot. I'd slipped on a damp root during the return hike to Field, bashing my foot against something, and now the toes on that foot were throbbing. I feared they'd be black when I finally removed my boots & socks. Bottom line: I made my way down cautiously.

Despite my cautious pace, I was moving slightly faster than the hiker in front of me and I kept catching up with him. Passing him would have required me to speed up more than I was comfortable, so instead I stopped from time to time to take pictures or just to let him put some distance between us. About halfway down I began to hear young voices behind me. I assumed they were the folks I'd seen climbing Mt. Tom, making fast time down on young legs and enthusiasm. I figured they'd pass me and the other man, but before that happened the man came to a rock in the trail and sat down. Perhaps he was weary of hearing my hiking poles clacking on the trail behind him. I took the opportunity to stride on past him and head down the trail at a much faster pace. 

In short order, I rejoined the Avalon trail (at the end of the A-Z trail), passed the two ends of the cascade loop trail, and approached the end of my hike. As the Mt. Willard trail came in, I began to see more casual walkers (tourists), including families with children. I also heard the sounds of a train. Sure enough, I emerged from the trail just as the train was pulling in to the Crawford Depot. A picture of the train served as my end-of-hike timestamp.

The train was blocking the direct route to my car across the tracks, so I walked around the front to get to the platform. I dropped my pack & poles in the car, then joined some of the train's passengers at picnic tables on the platform in front of my car to change my footwear. To my relief, my toes looked just fine, and they appreciated being back in sneakers. In short order I was back on the road for the long (2:45) ride back home.

More pictures are here

Notes & numbers:

• It was a 10 mile hike (pretty much exactly), with an elevation gain of 3540 feet. Standard time for it is 6:46. I did it in 5:33. I gained most of my time getting to the top of Mt. Field (1:06 faster), then pretty much met the standard for the rest of the hike. As I said earlier, I'm fastest on the uphills.
• Timestamps:
• Leave home - 5:00
• Start of hike- 8:01
• Mt. Avalon - 9:00
• Mt. Field - 9:44
• Mt. Willey - 10:31
• Mt. Field (again) - 11:17
• Mt. Tom - 12:05
• Hike finish - 1:34
• Return home - 4:30
• This was NOT an easy hike. There were very tough sections all along the way. Steep, rugged climbs up Avalon & Field, and a rough traverse between Field & Willey. If I'd gone up to Tom first, I'd be facing a 2.3 mile steep climb right from the trailhead, then another 0.9 mile climb up to Field. A beginner doing this to start their NH48 might decide to not continue the quest.
• I got the gear right this time. Brought a headlamp, anorak, and Lifestraw (used none of them), and used a smaller hydration bag (1.5 liters). Everything fit just fine in the REI Stoke 9. I also tried wearing two pairs of socks to address a blister problem I've had on my right foot. It seemed to work. No blister. And I remembered to bring a pair of fingerless workout gloves, which helped with the poles.
• I made a point of remembering to drink water all along the hike. Still didn't come close to going through the 1.5 liters I'd brought, but I did drink.