Gear-less spring hiking recommendation?

I was hoping to do Franconia Ridge with some friends & family in a couple weeks (April 7-8-9) but grouseking's trip report from a few weeks back has me concerned we couldn't do it without crampons - nobody in the group has much ice gear.

any other recommendations for a solid day hike in NH/VT/ME that wouldn't require gear these days? We may have a dog or two, so Monadnock is out.

thanks!

If it's convenient for you, coastal Maine is the place to go if you don't want to hike with sharp pointy things. Everything is dry here... not even much mud.

The Camden Hills and Acadia have lots of good (and underappreciated) hiking... but I do realize it may be a little far if you're close to the Whites.

thanks for the reply

I'm in Boston, so Acadia is a little far for a day hike.

anything specific to recommend in Camden?

Well, I sure wouldn't make the 4+ hour drive from Boston for a dayhike near Camden. But if that doesn't dissuade you, here's a report from a hike I just did:

www.vftt.org/forums/showthread.php?t=12087

Any of the areas I mention is a nice hike in itself.

actually if you take the Pumpelly Trail up Monadnock, your dog can go, as you do not have to pass through the state park gate, along those lines, you also do not have to pay, its just a roadside trailhead, like what one would find in the Whites, some of the other non-state park trails may also be like that, I'd check the Southern NH guide.

As far as the trail itself, its a longer trip up than the rest of Monadnock, but still not too long(8.8 rt), and has better views.

Double Bow wrote a good report on our trip there from two weekends ago, check it out.

Patuckaway State Park in Deerfield is always a good place to go, and the Lakes Region are probably pretty cleared out by now as well.

Welch-Dickey Loop in Campton, NH!! Great views for relatively small mountains, lots of open ledges. I've hiked it many times and haven't got sick of it. About five miles round trip off exit 28 on I-93. Should take you a little more than 2 hours to get there.

Plus, the low elevation and sunny, southern facing ledges should equal little snow and ice. My friend just did it last weekend and she just had boots, no poles or anything else.

Another great southern facing area that could be free of ice is the Mt. Morgan-Mt. Percival Loop off of NH113 in Holderness, NH. Great views of Winnepesaukee and Squam Lakes.

Let me know if you need more info...

There was a recen Mt. Major hike that looked almost ice free so Lakes Region lookd doable if they do not pick up much snow in the next event.

jmegillon149 said:

actually if you take the Pumpelly Trail up Monadnock, your dog can go, as you do not have to pass through the state park gate, along those lines, you also do not have to pay, its just a roadside trailhead, like what one would find in the Whites, some of the other non-state park trails may also be like that, I'd check the Southern NH guide.

Click to expand...

If the rangers are up top they'll ask you to leave. The summit is Park land and no dogs allowed.

David Metsky said:

If the rangers are up top they'll ask you to leave. The summit is Park land and no dogs allowed.

Click to expand...

? The summit itself is under SPNHF's ownership (99% sure of this based on past conv. with Dave Anderson of SPNHF, also see GRANIT viewer, which is a bit quirky to use but you can find out who owns what conservation land according to UNH's GRANIT database); the state park starts slightly to the east. (Not sure what SPNHF's policy is for dogs on Monadnock, I should know that... nor do I know if any of the trails are completely outside of state park land.)

hmmm, this gets more perplexing.

SPNHF does own the summit (or at least the state parks dept corroborates this, see http://www.nhparks.state.nh.us/ParksPages/parknews/parknews05/ClimbMtMonad05.html) but the state has a recreational lease on SPNHF's land on Mt Monadnock and Gap Mtn (from page 8 of the 2003 Monadnock State Park Master Plan:

Also as a result of the 1974 plan, the New Hampshire Division of Parks and Recreation signed a lease in 1979 with the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests to assume recreation management responsibilities on the Society’s Monadnock land. That lease was expanded in 1991 to include the Society’s land on Gap Mountain.

Click to expand...

therefore I'm not sure who gets to make the rules (& in fact you might get different answers depending on who you talk to :/ ).

Consider the Moat Mt. Trail to South Moat and Middle Moat, from Passaconaway Rd. The trail is free of ice and snow to Middle Moat. There's probably minimal snow and ice between Middle and North Moat.

Passaconaway Rd is still closed, so you have to take West Side Rd from Conway to Passaconaway Rd. Also, the new trailhead is about a half mile west of the old one.

Happy Trails!

arghman said:

therefore I'm not sure who gets to make the rules (& in fact you might get different answers depending on who you talk to :/ ).

Click to expand...

I've seen the rangers ask people to leave the summit with their dogs, so they feel that the area is administered under NH State Park rules. I can just report what I've seen.

-dave-

A hike in the NH Lakes Region might be relatively snow free - maybe Mt. Major or Belknap Range. All depends on the upcoming weather. Throwing stabilicers or yak-tracs in your pack might be a good idea.

Regarding the Pumpelly trail on Monadnock - When I hiked that trail a few weeks ago there was a sign near the beginning of the trail stating "No Dogs".

what a dumb rule - I don't have pets - so never had to deal with this.

some rules are meant to be "bent"

Carter dome from nineteen mile is a nice one. Did it with my usual crew last winter when our plan to cross over the Wildcats was thown out due to ice. The only real steep part from the hut up the first section to the summit is in the sun all day so if the temp is above freezing it wont be icy (is quite steep in that section though, make sure everyone is in reasonable shape).

Plus making the loop over to mount height is very rewarding on a day with good views!

Had a lot of fun on this trip last year.

Heather