South Paugus - October 20, 2026

Four of us OTHH had yet another great mid-fall hiking day for a trip in to the south peak of Mt Paugus, a 52WAV. The air was clear and dry, with almost no breeze at all. We did the loop route, hiking first up past Mt Mexico and down to Big Rock Cave, always a nice place to stop for photos. Below is a shot of Charlie well back into the major cave.

From the cave, we went down some more, crossed Whitin Brook, and began a long climb, at times quite steep, over boulders and ledges, until finally we arrived at the "summit," which isn't quite the very top (apparently there is a short bushwhack to attain the true summit). While there is some view from that spot, we went a few yards down to the west to another open ledge, with better views, and then another few yards more, to the bigger open ledge with the unhindered views. Below is a photo of that view, looking at the east sides of Mt Whiteface and Mt Passaconaway.

From there, we followed the Lawrence Trail down and westward, up and further westward to the intersection with the Cabin Trail. That trail took us southward a few miles back to the cars.

 On Oct. 20, the Turtles hiked North and Middle Sugarloaf.  These clear and dry October days are the best!

Mary, Laura, Alan, Mary, Lorraine

North Moat - October 15, 2026

Holiday tourist crowds and traffic eliminated one good day and wet weather the next two, but then we had a really great mid-October day for a hike into/up North Moat Mountain, just to the west of North Conway. That hike starts with about two miles of fairly easy walking to the falls at Diana's Bath and beyond, following Lucy Brook. There we began the steep two-mile hike up to North Moat's summit, with views in all directions. To the east was North Conway, with the ski slopes of Cranmore Mountain rising above. Kearsarge North was quite prominent, rising by itself just to the north of Cranmore. Mt Washington was easy to spot looking northward. Westward were the mountains on either side of the Kancamagus Highway winding its way westward (but not actually visible). Southwesterly, Chocorua was easy to pick out among the hills in that direction. In the summit photo below are Dick, Michele, and Donna. Mt Washington is behind and to the right of Donna.

For the descent, we followed the Moat Mountain Trail for about a mile, to where the Red Ridge Trail begins. That took us down and northeastward, across many open ledge areas, and then down steeply, finally crossing Moat Brook. From there, the walking was very easy, but seemingly unending as the trail took us northeasterly through the low forest. Finally we crossed Lucy Brook and found ourselves back on the Moat Mountain Trail we had taken in the morning. A mile later, after about ten miles and over seven hours on the trail, we finally were back at the car and off our legs. 

 On Oct. 6, the Turtles hiked Mt. Pemigewasset.

Karen, Tracy, Irena, Mary

 On Oct. 2, the Friday Walkers hiked Pine Mt. in Alton.

Andrea, Kathie, Linda, Mary Lou, Irena, Ann, Jane

 On Oct. 9, the Friday Walkers hiked the Wilderness Trail in Thompson Wildlife Sanctuary.  We love hiking in October, and were very grateful for the well-blazed trail given all the leaves on the ground.

Stephen, Christine, Karen, Anne, Nancy, Ricky, John, Kathie  Photographer:  Ann

Mt Isolation - October 7, 2026

High winds on our normal Tuesday hike day put off our hike in/up to Mt Isolation for a day, but the delay was well worth it. We had a totally clear, dry, and mostly windless day for the hike, although the 7am start was about at the freezing point. We warmed up quickly (hiking uphill will do that!), and the layers started coming off. After an hour and a half on the Rocky Branch Trail, we reached the crest of one ridge, then actually went downhill for a way before resuming the ascent to the vicinity of Engine Hill. Then it was down again to a point somewhat short of what would have been the first of five stream crossings. There we took a short bushwhack toward the NW, to save a half mile of trail and the first two stream crossings. We actually lost the herd path for a way on that bushwhack, and out came the navigation apps, which led us back to where we needed to be. On the return trip in the afternoon, the herd path was much more visible, and we had no navigation problem. Even so, we learned a good lesson: on a bushwhack, have a phone app showing the route to be followed in the palm of your hand, and be sure the present location arrow stays on the marked route!

Over the rest of the morning, we followed the Isolation Trail northward, skipping crossings 3 and 4 by following a very short herd path that kept us on the east side of the river. Eventually we came out to the Davis Path, which runs down from near the top of Boott Spur, a lot closer to Mt Washington, and continues southward well past the short spur to Isolation itself. Actually, Chris went in to the upper end of Davis Path via the Glen Boulder Trail, which took him up to a junction with the Davis Path, somewhat over 1,000 vertical feet above the target peak (Isolation)! He caught up with the rest of us on that one mile stretch of Davis Path, along with a young gal (Thuy) who was hiking alone and headed also to Isolation.

Just after noon, some five hours after the start, all of us arrived at Mt Isolation. This hike marked the end of Michele's quest to hike all of the NH 48 4000 footers. Below is a summit photo of our group, (L-R) Marie, Mary, Michele, Andy, Chris, Dick, and Deb (pic by Thuy). In the background, Mt Monroe is toward the left, and above Marie is Mt Washington, with the communication towers quite visible. Below that is the star of our show, Michele. 

It took us most of the afternoon to retrace our route, and all of us were back at the parking lot before 5pm - a nearly 10-hour hike - thoroughly worn out. We were joined by Pam, Doug, Larry, and Steve, who had hiked up Mt Moriah while the rest of us were doing Isolation. Steve completed his second round of the 48 on their hike. Also joining us for the tailgate party to celebrate Michele's first round of the 48 and Steve's second round were several OTHH who came just to be part of the big day. Below (L-R) are Thuy, Mary, Deb, Steve, Marie, Larry, Michele, Andy, Chris, Dick, Doug, Pam, and John.