One way to make hiking the NH 48 a little easier is peakbagging, or summiting more than one peak in a single hike. This is really helpful when doing a list like the NH 4000 footers because many of the mountains are close together. It’s easier to traverse from one to another than go all the way down and start at the trailhead again. The only rule is that for a peak to count for the list, the mountains must have a prominence of at least 200 ft from one another. In other words, you must go down 200 ft and then back up 200 ft for them to count as seperate peaks. Mt. Tom, Mt. Willey, and Mt. Field are all very close together, so they are a common combination for peakbagging in the Whites. We also added in Mt. Avalon, which misses the 4000 footer mark standing at 3,442 ft.

The day started out early with the drive to the Highland Center where we left one car for the car spot. I was hiking with my cousin Libby and her husband Paul, and I was grateful that they had an additional car that we could use since the starting point was about 4 miles from the end of our hike. We then took another car to Willey Station to park for the Ethan Pond Trailhead. We ended up hitting the trail a little later than we were hoping, but still early enough to beat the crowds and get a good parking spot.

We immediately crossed the railroad tracks where the Conway Scenic Railway runs. No trains today! Ethan Pond Trail was really beautiful and the weather was perfect for hiking. It was about 60 degrees at the trailhead with bluebird skies. It’s been so hot recently that this was a nice, cool break from the heat. It was Libby and Paul’s anniversary weekend, and I hadn’t seen them since the wedding so it was really great to catch up with them! They also recently moved to NH so there was a lot to celebrate!

We reached the famed ladders of the Willey Range Trail in good time, and we knew this is where the climb was going to begin. They almost looked like the Lincoln Logs I used to play with as a kid! It was really fun going up them, and I was again thankful for the car spot that allowed us to do both this trail and the A-Z and Avalon trails on the way back down. When we reached the summit of Mt. Willey we took a quick break for a snack and water. There was a really nice view at the top, and you could see many of the fellow 4000 footers from there. We weren’t completely sure which were which, so I used the Peakfinder app to help us out.

Next was Mt. Field, the tallest of the three standing at 4,331 ft. The hike between the two mountains was pretty easy, gradually sloping down for a little bit and then slowly climbing back up. There was an area where there had been some really bad blowdowns with trees down everywhere almost creating a clearing. We summited Field and quickly moved on to Mt. Tom.

The trail descended quite a bit from Field to Tom losing much elevation in between the two. Mt. Tom is the lowest of the three at 4,052 ft, but there was a solid climb back up via the Mt. Tom spur. When we reached the summit, there was a group of people eating lunch and celebrating one of their 48 finishes! I think we were more excited than he was, seeing as he had intended on finishing with Moriah the week before but forgot that had missed the spur to Tom when he did Field and Willey years ago.

On the way back down to the Highland Center, we used the A-Z trail and the Avalon trail because it seemed like that combination would be less steep than going back down Ethan Pond. If I only had one car, I probably would have ascended and descended this way, but there would have been a considerable amount of backtracking involved. Better than the extra 4 miles along Rt. 302 though! We also stopped at Beecher Cascade on the way down to see the waterfalls. They were small but beautiful! It ended up being a full day of hiking because we took a few long breaks and went at a leisurely pace making it a great day of hiking!

Overall, this was a really nice hike especially to test out some new gear. I have new Vasque hiking boots, so it was good to try to break them in. Unfortunately, I got quarter sized blisters on the back of both heels. Looks like I need to pay more attention to how I tie them in the future! I’m hoping they’ll heal before I embark on the Pemi Loop this Friday, but it’s looking like moleskin and duct tape will be my best friends for that. I was also testing out my new Osprey pack, so it was good practice wearing it for longer periods of time. It felt really light despite it being almost 20 lbs.

Mt. Willey (4,285 ft), Mt. Field (4,331 ft), Mt. Tom (4,052 ft), and Mt. Avalon (3,442 ft) via Ethan Pond Trail, Willey Range Trail, A-Z Trail, and Avalon Trail.