Outdoor Diversion: Whiteface and Passaconaway and Bugs

Summit: Mount Whiteface (4,020'), Mount Passaconaway (4,043')
Trail route: Blueberry Ledge Trail, Rollins Trail, Dicey's Mill Trail, Walden Trail, East Loop
Trail conditions: Mostly dry trail with some wet and muddy sections
Weather: Warm start, breezy, sunny, hot finish
Total miles: 11.5
Total time: 7:34

After rain showers and wind on Saturday the weather was looking better for Sunday although temps around 80°F were in the forecast. So my concern today would be heat and biting bugs. I would be hiking with Jill, Guy, Scott and Lisa. Last March I did this hike with Jill, Guy and Marty. We encountered several feet of snow, lost the trail twice and were too tired to hike up to Mount Passaconaway. Today would be in stark contrast to that hike in March.

We met at Ferncroft and the parking lot was quickly filling up. Stepping outside the car was met with a swarm of biting mosquitoes. As much as I dislike putting it on I doused myself with bug spray anticipating that the biting insects would probably get worse on the trail. We started our hike shortly after 7:00 AM.

It was a warm start and it was not long before I was zipping off my pant legs. We stopped at the upper part of the Blueberry Cutoff and I applied more bug spray. Hiking along was not too bad but any stopping was met with a mix of mosquitoes and black flies.

We reached the ledges and wasted no time starting our climb up the granite. There was a nice breeze blowing and the bugs had dropped off. It was a fun time climbing up over the ledges and the views were spectacular. We reached the top and took a short break for pics and a snack.

The Mount Whiteface summit was not far and we were soon there. The last time I was here in March the summit snow was at least six feet deep. With no view on the summit we kept on moving across the Rollins Trail toward Passaconaway. The snow was long gone today and it was a pleasant hike across the ridge although we kept a steady pace to thwart the bugs.

We arrived at the Dicey's Mill Trail and stopped long enough for me to douse myself with bug spray again. I sure hate putting that stuff on. Then it was up to the summit of Mount Passaconaway. The second summit of the day with no views. We then went around on the Walden Trail where there was an outlook with a view to the east. I ate my sandwich here with a nice breeze and no bothersome biting insects.

We decided to descend the Walden Trail and across the East Loop back to the Dicey's Mill Trail. It was a pleasant hike down. When we arrived at the Wonalancet River we all crossed the water on a fallen tree, there were no mishaps and we were all dry when we got to the other side as seen in the video below.

It was a warm road walk back to the Ferncroft parking area. There were many cars parked along the road and we were not surprised as we had seen a lot of hikers along the trail.

This was a much different hike today then it was back in March and despite the biting insects we had a very enjoyable hike.

Enjoy the photos and video!