“The 1,120-acre Rumford Whitecap Mountain Preserve in Rumford, Maine, is the signature conservation property of the Mahoosuc Land Trust.” So says the AMC Maine Mountain Guide.

The Great Gulf on the northern side of Mount Washington is named well. Looking north from the top of its headwall, located near the Mount Washington Cog Railway railroad tracks, you are confronted with great space and an abundance of impressive mountain features, including the Northern Presi…

There is a lot of activity on the Franconia Ridge this summer. Not only the thousands of hikers who do the 8.9-mile Franconia Ridge Loop every year, but trail builders, summit stewards and trail tenders as well.

Recently, I returned to Mount Hedgehog (2,543 feet), completing the 4.7-mile UNH Trail loop. In the early 2000s, this was a favorite hike with some of my Conway friends. I frequently did it with Sandy Smith, Bob Gordon, Ginnie Smith and others.

Recently I wrote about a new section of trail in the Green Hills Preserve above North Conway. Talking to the Nature Conservancy’s Northern New Hampshire Land Manager Michael Crawford about it, he mentioned other activity going on in the Green Hills that certainly deserved looking into.

There were some complex temperature changes during the last storm, rather than an overdose of unseasonable warmth, and thankfully the snow didn’t disappear in the rain. I’m feeling optimistic at this point about a good snowy winter.

Rain, rain, go away. Sunday will be a beautiful day with temps in the high 40s. A good amount of the snow on Mount Washington will have melted. If you feel like hiking up to Tuckerman Ravine on the 2.40-mile lower Tuckerman Ravine Trail, it should be packed out but slushy.

On a weekday, a friend and I climbed Albany Mountain (1,930 feet) in Albany Township near Bethel, Maine.

With 770,000 acres of White Mountain National Forest, it could take a lifetime to even begin to see it all. Hiking is a wonderful family activity, and best of all, it’s free!