Winter Peak Bagging: NH Highest 200

PHOTO: Yours truly and Bryan Cuddihee on Mount Whitcomb’s South Peak. There’s nothing like using up the last hours of calendar Winter to complete the New Hampshire Highest 200 Winter list. The 200 list peak’s elevations range between 2900 feet to just under 3500 feet. Many have no trails and the approach distances are often many miles. Winter peak bagging requires carrying a heavy backpack filled with all the things needed to spend a long time outside in the cold. Snowshoes, skis and micro-spikes coupled with winter boots and lots of extra clothing are necessary.

by Amy Patenaude
Outdoor/Ski Writer

There are a lot of hiking lists in New Hampshire. The most famous list is the 48 peaks that make up the New Hampshire 4,000 Footers list recognized by the Appalachian Mountain Club.
The AMC offers the challenge of doing all the 4,000 footers in Winter. We can double the fun of any list by completing it in Winter.
To check off a peak on the Winter list each mountain must be hiked completely between the Winter Solstice and the Vernal Equinox. This time period is known as calendar winter. This year’s calendar winter ended the moment spring began on March 20, 2023 at 5:24pm.
I finished the 4,000 footer and the New Hampshire Highest 100 list in February of 2018 for a double list finish on Mount Moriah. The only excuse I had for waiting so long to complete these winter lists is that I’d rather go skiing than snowshoeing.

I have been pecking away at the Winter NH Highest 200 list since. To finish this winter I had to get up and down 15 mountains with elevations just above 3,000 feet. It isn’t the height of these mountains that makes them a challenge–it is getting to them. And all that snow!
Getting someone to go with you to a mountain that has no trail and is covered with trees–sometimes thickly and loaded with snow is also a challenge.
Adam was a good hiking friend and he went along with me on three outings. We had fun but we had some tough moments. We won’t forget that the ice broke when he was crossing a brook on our way back from Bald Cap. Or how we got soaked on Deer Mountain in Pittsburgh while pushing through thick Spruce that constantly dropped slush bombs on our heads. I talked him into crossing Third Connecticut Lake in Pittsburgh because it was the shortest route to Perry Ponds Peak and there were ice fishermen out there so it must be safe. We ran across that lake! Don’t tell my mother but I did some mountains solo. Sometimes I wasn’t able to find anyone to go with me. But a few times I did it because I could cross country ski the approach to the mountain and then switch to my snowshoes for the bushwhack. I can cover 4 to 5 miles an hour kicking and gliding up a snowmobile trail or closed forest road versus 2 miles an hour on snowshoes. I saved a lot of hours on my feet and enjoyed the glee of skiing.

A friend introduced me to some hikers working on their Winter 200 list. We didn’t have many peaks left in common but I was grateful when I returned from my ski road trip that I was able to join them for some Pittsburgh border peaks. Popping off five on my list with Kenny, Pierre and Van was a big boost with just one more week of Winter left. Then there were only three mountains left for me to go.
Saturday the 18th I drove just north of Second Connecticut Lake in Pittsburgh. I xc skied almost eight miles up East Inlet Road and then snowshoed just under a mile up Mount Kent. I wore a lot of orange to be visible to the many snowmobilers passed by me. The encouragement they gave me added to my skiing enjoyment. My snowshoes floated well, only sinking a few inches and I found a good route through mostly opening woods. I was home well before suppertime.
I called my friends Bryan and Zachary and asked them if they could go with me on Sunday to accompany me on the Whitcombs for my finish. Both Bryan and Zachary have accomplished the amazing feat of completing in Winter the New Hampshire Highest 500 list.

Zachary wasn’t able to go and neither could Bryan. But Bryan said he could go on Monday. I’d just have to finish before 5:24pm.
I met Bryan at 7 m in Gorham and hopped into his truck. He drove us up Dummer Pond Road on frozen mud. This road is plowed for logging and the electric transfer station/wind turbines. We snowshoed up the snowmobile tracks on Trio Ponds Road and an old logging road spur. Then we followed some frozen moose tracks through some thick spruce before finding the open woods on Whitcomb Mountain.
The morning was cold and our snowshoes didn’t sink deep. It was a splendid sunny day for a snowshoe in the forest. We hit Whitcomb’s South Peak first and then we went almost due north to hit its Middle Peak. Then we retraced our steps back to the truck, finishing at 1:20pm.

The two peak route was ten miles and I had more than four hours left before the Vernal Equinox. I used nearly every bit of Winter.
The ride out the now deep muddy Dummer Pond Road was a good test for Bryan’s truck. There is no way my car would have survived the trip. It felt good to finish the list but I think I was happiest to have enjoyed another wonderful day in the forest and the mountains. I am sure I’ll find another list.
I’ve had the best winter of peak bagging and skiing. Now I am excited to enjoy Spring Skiing.
Don’t forget to buy your season’s ski pass for next winter, this is the time for the best deals!
Have Fun!