Mt. Tecumseh Hike

We pushed the planned Saturday hike to Sunday on account of a Friday night snowstorm. I didn’t get more than 3” in Ipswich but Fred said they couldn’t have gotten out of their driveway until they were ploughed out so they wouldn’t have made it.  So it all worked out. Six of us (Matt, Russ, Jim, Fred Mo and I) headed up to Waterville Valley on Sunday morning to hike up Mt. Tecumseh (4003'), about 5 miles round trip. The weather was perfect, sunny, no wind, 14 degrees in the morning but mid 30s by the time we returned to our cars.

We used the Mt. Tecumseh Trail and headed off around 8:30am. Jim snowshoed the whole hike, the rest of us used micro spikes, but Russ did snowshoe on the way down. The trail was very well packed. About half way up we side stepped left to a viewpoint off the trail where you can see the Waterville Valley Ski slopes. We continued upward where the actual workout really begins. Everyone kept the good pace, I was the reason we stopped a number of times (water, de-layer, etc.). We got to the summit in an hour and 1/2.  

The view from the summit was specular; the pix do not do it justice. We descended the same way we came up, a true in and out hike. Lots of friendly hikers and a number of awesome dogs. We were back at the parking lot around noon. Most of us stopped at the Mad River Tavern in Campton (on the way back to the highway) where the burgers and fries were good but frankly I had one of the worst salads I’ve ever eaten (play to their strong points- when will I ever learn?). But the tall, 24 year old identical twin waiters Josh and Nate made up for my less than stellar meal.  All around great GO hiking day!!

Please join me for a hike on the smallest of New Hampshire's official 4,000 footers (standing at 4,003 feet tall) which sits adjacent to the Waterville Valley Ski area and there is a large parking lot off of Ski Area Road. It’s just under 5 miles with 2200 ft elevation gain. There may be some ice and a few inches of snow- light traction devices are mandatory and bring snowshoes just in case, could leave in our cars but good to bring. The hike will take approx. 4-5 hours depending upon there group. The route avoids the ski folks, and the trail should be packed down, but there could be a crowd (compared to other winter hikes) so we should still start on the earlier side. If folks are up for it, we could grab a beer or burger at the Mad River Tavern in Campton afterwards. We meet up at Waterville Valley Ski Area parking. Then we will follow the Mount Tecumseh Trail 1.2 miles to a viewpoint, then go another 1 (steep) mile to the cross trail between the Tecumseh Trail and the Sosman trail. From there, the summit is 0.3 miles away. The loop around the summit can be a bit narrow and there are limited views, but it is still beautiful! https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/new-hampshire/mount-tecumseh-trail-via-waterville-trailhead. It looks like there will be 2-3 inches of snow mid-week, and maybe 1 inch Friday night. Temperature looks great (just around freezing and no wind) so should be a great day. I will monitor the weather and send an update by Thursday. Please have the necessary winter gear/clothing needed to hike this time of year including the appropriate amount of layers to keep your core body warm. We recommend winter hiking boots (over regular), definitely micro spikes, wool hat, gloves, hand warmers, warm layers and no cotton. Carry at least 1-2 liters of water, lunch and snacks.