June 15, 2024

Start/End: Pinkham Notch Visitor Center

Peaks: N/A

Elevation Gain: 2,470 ft

RT Mileage: 6.66 mi

Duration: 4 hours, 52 minutes

Rock Difficulty: Class 1

Since I only have six hikes left to finish the 48, I decided I could afford to take a weekend off from peakbagging and see some summer snowfields instead. The biggest snowfields left in the Whites right now are in Tucks, so that’s what I went with. A couple of friends have been wanting to get into hiking anyway, and this was the perfect opportunity to take them.

Despite missing a couple hours of sleep overnight when the power went out, I got myself out of bed at 4:50 AM, and was out of the house by 5:10. One of my friends walked over to my house, then we drove across town to pick up my two other friends. We left for Pinkham Notch at 5:40, and arrived at the trailhead at 8:25. The parking lot was nearly full already, as it was a busy day on the trails. We started out from the trailhead just after 8:35.

The Tuckerman Ravine Trail from the trailhead to Hermit Lake was essentially a rocky road. Although the grade was fairly gentle by Whites standards, this was my friends' first hike, and they were having a tough time. We were passed by probably a couple dozen groups on the way up. We saw many of these groups go right at the fork with the Lion Head Trail. It was a chilly day, and I was a little surprised to see so many people going for a Washington summit.

We made it to Hermit Lake just before 10:30. I somehow missed the obvious trail to the lake and ended up leading my group on a bushwhack around the other side of the lake to get to the viewpoint. It was rather chilly on the lakeshore so we ate inside the lean-to. After around a half hour at the lake, we donned light jackets and gloves and resumed hiking towards the base of the ravine.

We broke treeline at 4,100 ft, from where we were treated to views of Boott Spur and Lion Head on either side as well as the Wildcats and Carters in the distance. My friends really liked this view and spent over a half hour taking photos of each other. When we finally got going again, we didn't stop again until we reached the base of the ravine at noon.

At the base of the ravine, we hiked onto a large snowfield, previously hidden from view. Standing on the snowfield with mountains on all sides, it genuinely didn't feel like we were in New Hampshire anymore. We even saw a skier getting some turns in on the snowfield, and I got some decent photos of him.

My friends had planned to take photos on the way down, but they ended up being too tired to stop. We did stop for a quick snack at the Hermit Lake shelter though. Near the end of the hike, we took a quick detour to see Crystal Cascade, which we had skipped on the way up. We made it back to the parking lot just after 2:30 PM, and my first group hike had been a huge success.