December 21, 2025

Start/End: Crawford Notch, Rt. 302

Peaks: Pierce (4,310'), Eisenhower (4,780')

Elevation Gain: 3,325 ft

RT Mileage: 9.36 mi

Duration: 5 hours, 32 minutes

Snow/Ice Difficulty: Grade I

For my first hike of the winter, I returned to Pierce and Eisenhower after more than three years. Last time, I had intended to ascend the Crawford Path all the way past Eisenhower to Monroe, but was forced to turn back due to high winds and poor trail conditions. This time, I had no such intentions. If successful, my sister would also be finishing her 48 today.

The winter solstice was at 10:03 AM this morning. To count as a winter summit, a hiker has to set out from a publicly accessible road or TH no earlier than that time. Planning around that, we left the house around 7:20, much later than usual, which still put us at the TH at 9:40, with plenty of time to spare. We started out on the Crawford Path at exactly 10:03, not wasting a minute with sunset and the passage of a cold front only six hours away.

The Crawford Path ascends steadily from the eponymous notch. Despite recent rain, the monorail was solid all the way down to TH elevation, interrupted only occasionally by icy and bare spots on the lower part of the trail. It was a windy day, and the wind could be heard howling above the tree canopy hundreds of vertical feet below treeline in the coniferous forest. Winds were even stronger yesterday, and there was evidence of drifting in some spots, but several hikers had ascended before us this morning, and the trail remained nicely packed.

2.9 miles in, we entered the alpine zone and donned balaclavas but unfortunately not goggles as we had left those at home. Then, we took the Webster Cliff Trail the last 60 or 70 (haha) vertical feet to the summit of Pierce, summiting just after noon. It was windy on the exposed summit, but not exceptionally so just yet. Clouds had been drifting in and out all morning, and at the time we summited Eisenhower and Monroe were in the clear but Washington and the northern Presis behind them were socked in.

The snowpack above treeline was thin after the recent rain and wind, and looked even thinner on the ridge between Pierce and Eisenhower, although we later found this to be an illusion. After a short break on the summit of Pierce, which we shared with two other groups, we continued on towards Eisenhower. The trail was surprisingly well packed despite way fewer hikers continuing to Eisenhower from Pierce, although the sides of the monorail were lined with post-holes from when the snow was softer. The half-mile descent to the col between the two summits was mostly forested, though it did open up occasionally.

From the col, it was a 1.1-mile ascent of Eisenhower's south ridge to the summit. As I noted last time I hiked this trail, most of this ascent is back-and-forth in and out of the trees, before finally fully breaking treeline for the last 300 vertical feet. Because the ridge is oriented north-south, the westerly winds hit the ridge perpendicularly, and the gale-force sustained winds really began to get to us. One exposed icy section around 4,300 ft became a sort of crux because the wind was amplified coming over that part of the ridge. Breathing while facing into the wind was nearly impossible, but so was staying upright while facing sideways.

The winds were unrelenting, and each time the trail re-entered the trees was a reprieve. Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end, and soon we broke treeline for good as we began the last 300 vertical feet to the summit. The trail switchbacks on this part, so we were fighting the wind for each step half the time and trying not to get knocked over the other half. Finally, after crossing a snowfield, we approached the summit from the southeastern side, facing into the wind, which was particularly amplified coming over the domed summit from the other side. Fighting all the way to the end, we reached the summit just after 1:30 PM, where I immediately lay down behind a cairn for some partial shelter.

The Mount Washington Observatory was reporting sustained winds in the 75–80 mph range all afternoon. I would estimate the winds on the summit of Eisenhower to be in the 50–60 mph range and 40–50 mph winds on the rest of the ridge. These were the highest winds I have ever experienced while hiking, even beating out the winds I was faced with the last time I hiked this trail, which held the record until today.

The descent from Eisenhower was just as brutal as the ascent had been, but fortunately our progress was faster going downhill, and so the nightmare was over soon and we were safely below treeline. The ascent back up to Pierce was brutal with the adrenaline now gone, but from there it was smooth sailing the rest of the way back to the TH. We were back at our car just after 3:30, and winter 4,000ers #11 and #12 were in the books.