Outdoor Diversion: WFT Traverse

Summits: Mount Willey (4,285'), Mount Field (4,340'), Mount Tom (4,051')
Trail route: Ethan Pond Trail, Willey Range Trail, A-Z Trail, Mount Tom Spur, Avalon Trail
Trail conditions: Wet with muddy sections
Weather: Cool, crisp, partly cloudy to clear skies and sunshine
Total miles: 8.5
Total time: 6:55

There was a crisp, clear, cool Fall day in the weather forecast. I would be joining Jill, Scott and Lisa for a hiking traverse to Mount Willey, Mount Field and Mount Tom. With the Fall foliage reaching peak we were anticipating some colorful scenery!

As I drove to the trailhead low clouds were covering the summits. I was hoping they would lift by the time we got up to the summits. We started our hike from the Ethan Pond Trail. The Fall leaves laid down a colorful carpet as we walked along the trail.

We started up the Willey Range Trail and it wasn't long before we got to the infamous wooden ladders. I'm thinking I once counted eleven sets but didn't bother to count today. I was concentrating on just getting up as recent rain had made them a bit slick. We all made it up without any mishaps. The trail continued to climb steeply after the ladders.

Arriving at the Mount Willey outlook we were presented with incredible views. The last remaining cloud bank was moving out and looked amazing against the mountains. We continued on over the summit with barely a notice as there are no views and very little standing room with just a small insignificant cairn.

It was a pleasant hike over to Mount Field. The trail was wet with sections of mud along the way. Once again we reached the summit without any mishaps. This is another summit without any views although there is an outlook just off of the summit. The clouds had completely cleared and there was plenty of blue sky and sunshine as we continued on.

We would now be descending one of my favorite sections of trails in the White Mountains. This section of the Willey Range Trail has a gradual elevation loss and the forest is beautiful through here. It connects to the A-Z Trail with 80 yards to the Mount Tom Spur Trail.

There were quite a few hikers coming down from Mount Tom. When we reached the summit the last remaining hikers were departing and we had it to ourselves as well as a pesky gray jay. One thing of note is while the actual summit has no views the outlooks just off the summit are losing their views as well as the trees grow taller. It won't be long before there will be no more views on Mount Tom.

It was a pleasant 2.3 mile descent to the Crawford Depot train station. The train passed by as we finished our hike. The Fall foliage was bursting with color on the surrounding mountains. A really beautiful day for a Fall hike!

This was a milestone hike for Jill. She has now hiked these three summits in every month of the year. This hike also brought her to 75% completion of the grid, hiking the 48 4,000 footers in every month of the year. That's 432 of 576 summits so far, an awesome achievement!

Fall hiking season is off to a great start!

Enjoy the photos and video!