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October 8, 2012 / Comments (2)

Belknap Range Hike 1: Piper, Whiteface, Belknap

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Allison is the founder of trailtosummit.com which she began as a way to track and share her first round of the NH 4000 Footers. Now on round 5 (the first round for her dog Ruckus) she has been honored to have taken part of many people’s firsts. She is an experienced trail maintainer, speaker, and passionate member of the outdoor community. In New England, Allison enjoys trekking along the highest peaks, bushwhacking to less traveled areas, and has a fondness for sunrise and sunset trips. Outside of New England Allison has also thru hiked the John Muir Trail and explored mountains in the German and Austrian Alps, Israel, and the Azores. Her goal is to share her passion for hiking and backpacking with others, especially with women, to inspire them to experience the freedom of the trail!

I had planned a nice 10.5 mile hike of the Belknap region with my Meetup group on Saturday, but the forecast changed from 30% precipitation to 70%. It was supposed to rain all day Sunday as well. I decided to reschedule the hike and would not be hiking Columbus Day weekend. Of course it was a perfect weekend so I had to do some hiking. I thought Monday would be a nice day to wake up at 4:00 am and drive to the Belknaps to see the sunrise.

Above is a timelapse I took with my Gopro on a 5 second timer. Make it full screen and after you hit play, click on the settings icon on the bottom right and watch it in HD!

I started this hike at 6:00 am. I started in the dark with a headlamp, but I thought the trails were easy to navigate.

I hiked up to Piper Mountain first as thought that peak would be my best bet for a sunrise view. I started on Carriage Road at the end of Belknap Mountain Road.

Once I got up to the rock slabs it got lighter and I was able to hike without a headlamp. The picture above looks darker than it actually did!



I set up my GoPro to take a photo every five seconds. I don’t have this piece to screw into the case that allows you to put it on a tripod yet so I found a nice place on a rock. After I found the right spot, I let the camera do its thing! I watched the sunrise from Piper before heading over to Whiteface. Follow the blue blazes to the intersection of the Piper-Whiteface Trail.

Looking West, saying goodbye to the moon.

The sunrise was perfect. Because there were a few clouds, the colors were a little more vibrant and changed frequently. The fog over Lake Winnipesaukee and Round Pond was an added bonus!

Couldn’t ask for a better morning!

After summiting Whiteface, I took a little detour to Swett.

While my GoPro was busy snapping photos, I headed up towards Belknap Mountain. From Piper you follow the orange blazes. There are some nice viewpoints on the way over to the summit and fire tower.

On these three peaks I didn’t see another person. This includes on the way down or driving out of Carriage Road. I did pass the parking area for Mt. Major and it was completely full. Cars were parking on the side of the road as well. These mountains don’t have as close of a view of Lake Winnipesaukee, but the views of the surrounding area are wonderful AND you get away from the crowds!

In 1972 a one engine plane crashed near the summit of Belknap Mountain. Here is a link to the waymark for those interested. The first couple of pieces (possibly not related to the crash) I found on the orange trail approaching the summit. The picture with the larger pieces of wreckage was found East of the summit.

There aren’t views directly on the summit of Belknap, but there are some approaching it and a fire tower.

Last modified: November 28, 2014

2 Responses to :
Belknap Range Hike 1: Piper, Whiteface, Belknap

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