had spent the past few days at the Crawford Notch Campground with my family. The Whites got a TON of damage! Six waterfront sites are  no longer because the Saco River had been carved out more from Hurricane Irene. I had stayed at the Dry River Campground a few weeks ago and it was closed. We saw Arethusa and Ripley Falls on the 10th and I hiked Willey, Field, and Tom on September 11th.

Every year on September 11th, hikers can sign up to raise a flag on all the 4000 footers in NH in honor and remembrance of individuals who lost their lives September 11th, 2001.The first official “flags on the 48” started in 2002. You can read more about the cause here: Flags on the 48.

My hike started out on the Kendron Flume Trail and connected to the A-Z Trail. Parts of the trail snake around the flume so you encounter it a few times. My dad was nice enough to get out of his tent so early in the morning and give me a lift to the trailhead. I had a few layers on when I started, but had to stop a half hour into hiking to get down to just a short sleeve shirt. The trail started off really easy and then had a good amount of incline once I reached the A-Z Trail.

Kendron Flume

When I was looking in my 4000 Footer book, there was a photo of this set of steps. It looked really steep (like a series of ladders), but it wasn’t bad. The steps are steep, but the boards are wide and deep so it’s fine for most dogs to go up.

Once I made it up the steps I was rewarded with a great view!

I reached Mt. Willey after hiking for two hours. This summit had some great views. I met two guys at the peak who just came from hiking the Kinsmans. I saw a good number of people on the trail after that. Many were doing the climb the opposite way, starting from the Highland Center.

Crawford Notch and the Presidentials in the distance

 

Summit Mt. Field

Shortly before the summit you come to a steep scramble, but once you get to the top there is a small path leading to an opening on your right with views to the north and the Presidential Range. Mount Field is the tallest summit of the three peaks and also has a view of the Mount Washington Hotel.

Summit of Mount Tom

The trail to Mount Tom is quite easy as it only has a few rocky sections. The Mt. Tom Spur is marked by a small sign on the other side of the trees you are facing and is pretty easy as well with only one steep rocky section.

A viewpoint on the summit

There was a small group that was bringing up the flagpole for Mount Tom behind me on the trail. I stayed at the peak of Mount Tom for a while and helped them set up.

I didn’t see any other groups with a flagpole for the other peaks, but we were able to spot a flag on Mount Field from the summit of Mount Tom.

Raising the flag

 

Height:
Willey: 4285 ft

Distance: ~9 miles
Elevation gain: ~3400 feet
Time: 7 hours (with lots of time on peaks!)

Map: Route from 302 to the Highland Center (car spot needed)

Last modified: May 23, 2015