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Ascent of Mount Pierce on 2017-02-11

Climber: Floyd Greenwood

Others in Party:	Outdoor Pursuits Winter 2017
Date:	Saturday, February 11, 2017
Ascent Type:	Successful Summit Attained
Motorized Transport to Trailhead:	Car
Peak:	Mount Pierce
Location:	USA-New Hampshire
Elevation:	4310 ft / 1313 m
Ascent Trip Report Entered 3/18/2018. This overnight was done with Outdoor Pursuits Winter 2016-2017. We drove from school Friday afternoon to the Highland Center near Crawford Notch State Park. We stayed in a 12 person bunkhouse separated from the center itself. We cooked our own food on the porch. It didn't feel like a genuine camping experience since there were bunk beds and heating, but it would have been FREEZING in a tent. The next morning we began our hike on the Crawford Path, the oldest continually maintained trail in the country. It was right across the road from the Highland Center. It was a beautiful morning and the view of Mt. Willard, Tom, Avalon, Field, and the Crawford Notch made for a picturesque backdrop. The Crawford Path brought us steadily upwards. We took a left to continue on the path instead of the Mizpah Cutoff. When we reached the summit the clouds blocked the view and the wind was gusting. We spent about 15 minutes there as Donny set up his camera equipment for a group photo and we explored the trails around the summit. I will include it as an attempted climb because we tried to summit Eisenhower but a lack of time and difficulty finding the trail in low visibility forced us to turn around about a third of the way between Pierce and Eisenhower (we made it to the low point in the col). We descended on the same route. Although I had done Mt. Pierce with Outdoor Pursuits that fall, it was interesting to see the difference between a fall and a winter hike on the same mountain.