October 8, 2023

Start/End: Waterville Valley parking lot

Peaks: Tecumseh (4,003')

Elevation Gain: 2,250 ft

RT Mileage: 5.11 mi

Duration: 3 hours, 25 minutes

Rock Difficulty: Class 1

I had initially been planning on spending peak foliage weekend leaf peeping instead of peakbagging, but later figured, "Why not both?" The northern Whites were past peak and had seen significant leaf drop from the storm on Saturday, so I opted for one of the southern 4,000ers. I ended up going with Tecumseh since it has ski trails on its slopes and, consequently, easy views.

Waking up at a rather late 7:00 AM, I was at the trailhead at 9:30 and on the trail ten minutes later. The trail started off simple enough, though a little steeper than expected right from the start. After around 1.1 miles, I made a short detour to a pretty well-known viewpoint on one of the ski trails, and it did not disappoint.

After a 20-minute photography session, I continued onwards towards the summit. The trail steepened considerably after this point and didn't let up until 3,800 ft, another 0.9 miles further. However, most of this bit was essentially a rock staircase, and stairs are very efficient so it wasn't too bad. After another 0.4 miles, I summited at 11:45, only to find the summit socked in with no views.

It was also rather cold at the summit so I didn't linger long before beginning to make my way across the Sosman Trail to the top of the ski area. There, I was surprised to see droves of people at Schwendi Hutte lower down. Apparently today was the resort's annual Schwendi Fest... unfortunate. I avoided most of the people as I made my way down the northern ski trails, treated with spectacular views of foliage the whole way. I made it back down to the parking lot at 1:30 PM, and 4,000er #22 was in the books.