Exploring the Whites

08/16/2025

10/01/2023

Another great but wildfire haze autumn day in the presidentials

06/22/2021

Garmin tells me that I've walked 20 million steps since I started tracking!

06/05/2021

https://www.exploringthewhites.com/trips-2/u1u7r8oniub9ye4ljtfyqhejnrrdw4

This is one of my favorite hikes and although long, the views are spectacular and it is always a great day in the mountains. I use this hike as one of my training hikes on the Presidential Traverse because it offers great views of the Presidential Ridge across Pinkham notch and because it has such n...

05/28/2021

https://www.exploringthewhites.com/trips-2/2016/11/28/walkers-haute-route

This is one of my favorite hikes and although long, the views are spectacular and it is always a great day in the mountains. I use this hike as one of my training hikes on the Presidential Traverse because it offers great views of the Presidential Ridge across Pinkham notch and because it has such n...

04/29/2021

Had a great hike on April 3rd up Tom, Field and Willey with this year's Presidential Traverse group and a few others. Here is the 360 video of that hike for anyone that wishes to virtually relive it with us. If you view on YouTube, you can pan inside the video using your mouse or by moving your phone.

First hike of the 2021 season for Exploring the Whites and what a spectacular one it was! We had crystal clear skies and a beautiful blanket of snow as we d...

03/11/2021

Single day Presidential Traverse and training hikes, http://www.exploringthewhites.com/trips-2/a77vqd6ettq4z2kvc5gs1a73pevpxw

June 20 - Strenuous - 22-26 Miles

Every year, on or around the Summer Solstice, I lead a group of hikers up Mount Madison, across Mounts Adams, Jefferson, Clay, Washington, Monroe, Franklin, Eisenhower and Pierce, before descending back down to the valley at Crawford Notch. If the Mountain Gods are with us, we tack on Mount Jackson after Pierce at the end. We start about 4:00 in the morning and finish around 8 or 9:00 at night and when the day is done we will have hiked between 22 and 26 miles, depending on what is decided by the group at the end about going over to Jackson.

What I am trying to do on this hike, is to offer a monumental type hike to those who have not hiked that much before, lack confidence in their hiking ability, or who are regular hikers but just want to join us for some good times in the mountains.

You must be in reasonably good physical condition. No, it doesn’t mean you have hiked 20 miles before, nobody would expect that, but it means that you are not winded from walking around the block and are keen to do what you need to prepare yourself physically to do this hike. You don’t have to be ready to hike 20 miles tomorrow; we have time to get in shape.

You must have basic hiking equipment including, but not limited to, sturdy shoes, a day pack, and suitable rainwear. You will need microspikes for our first hike and hiking poles are highly recommended.

You must participate in three training hikes that we will do as a group in preparation of the traverse.

The training hikes will focus on different skills and will be three weekend day hikes spaced apart to give plenty of recovery time before the next one. The training hikes are designed to teach hiking skills needed, as well as to build camaraderie among the group, and are often as much fun as the actual traverse itself. The training hikes will all be in the Whites and those who are working on their NH 4000 footer list will be able to check off as many as 15-18 peaks by the time this experience is over. This year’s training hikes will be 4/3, 5/1 and 5/29.

This is our most popular hike and space fills up quickly. If you are interested, please just reach out to me and let me know of your interest.

Cost: $300 including all four hikes

BOOK NOW BY GOING TO THE WEBSITE

09/20/2020

Great Sands Dunes National Park and Preserve. Wire the cool place. These are about 500 feet high and sit at the base of the Sangre de Cristo mountains. This Park is divetse and we barely got to explore it.