I was in the mood to do something different today. I had hiked with someone from the Bethel Maine area recently and he wasn't aware of the dayhike route to this summit. Given the winds, I hoped that we would stay out of the wind for much of the trip. For those not familiar with Sunday River Whitecap, it is normally accessed via the Grafton Loop Trail but given the distance in from the road I expect it rarely gets visited in the early spring via the GLT. Its been a few years since I last visited the informal path to the col north of the summit. This path cuts out significant mileage and in general makes it a short day hike. When heading up the logging road to the trail we saw tracks in the mud from most likely yesterday so the trail does get used. The turn off the logging road is now marked with a couple of cairns and the trail through the woods is now far more distinct and marked with several colors of flagging. The area around the col has a lot of blow down and there are signs of recent saw cutting on both the GLT and the side trail. There is now a stone cairn at the junction with the side path. The hike through the woods south on GLT was well graded as usual, the trail in the woods was definitely ice covered but once out of the trees it was bare rock all the way. It was breezy but clear. There were signs of significant use of the trail.
The views from the summit were great as usual, there are 360 views and the great view of the presidentials from a distance. The wooden benches at the summit are a nice plus although the wood is starting to get a few years on it. Due to the wind we didn't stay long but it was 100 plus mile view day. We took our time heading down the icy section and then headed down the side trail. Overall it was 4.5 hour round trip at a casual pace.
Sunday River Whitecap is definitely an underappreciated summit, due to its distance from the southern NH and Mass. I expect the typical New England hiker tends to forget about it and since its not on any of the major lists I expect most folks head to its larger neighbor to the North, Mt Speck. I also expect that some folks get confused with the summits name and the ski area located a few miles south.
In general a nice Sunday trip to a underappreciated summit.
The views from the summit were great as usual, there are 360 views and the great view of the presidentials from a distance. The wooden benches at the summit are a nice plus although the wood is starting to get a few years on it. Due to the wind we didn't stay long but it was 100 plus mile view day. We took our time heading down the icy section and then headed down the side trail. Overall it was 4.5 hour round trip at a casual pace.
Sunday River Whitecap is definitely an underappreciated summit, due to its distance from the southern NH and Mass. I expect the typical New England hiker tends to forget about it and since its not on any of the major lists I expect most folks head to its larger neighbor to the North, Mt Speck. I also expect that some folks get confused with the summits name and the ski area located a few miles south.
In general a nice Sunday trip to a underappreciated summit.