Where does a hiker go when forecasts are calling for wind? To the mountains - or perhaps, to the lower mountains; I could see Mount Washington during the ascent this morning and my thoughts were drifting to the higher places atop its 6,288’ bare summit. I wasn’t surprised to see cars already lined up in Crawford Notch when I drove by at 7am, cued up to tag exposed summits and then rush to warmer places; Mount Washington logged a 121-mph gust while I was hiking exactly 10-miles away.

The promise of blue skies were enticing but the -20 (or worse) wind chills sounded a little too unpleasant. Mount Parker sits at a calm 3,004’ above sea level, less than half as tall as Mount Washington to the north. A peak along the southern Montalban Ridge, Mount Parker also occupies the #30 spot on the New Hampshire 52 With A View list; peaks below 4000-feet which have been chosen because of their jaw-dropping summit panoramas.

It was a promising start to an early morning snowshoe trek when I arrived at the hikers parking lot at the end of River Street in Bartlett, NH, to a plowed lot.

*Old logging road diverges from Mt Langdon Trail*

Early maps listed the Mount Parker Trail as beginning near the current trailhead and ascending over Oak Hill, thus meeting up with the Mount Langdon Trail which would diverge toward Mount Langdon and other minor peaks east. The old cart path became abandoned in the early 1960’s following periods of logging and disuse, but then came back around 1966 with the southern section of trail having been renamed to the Mount Langdon Trail, which is how we see it today.

Departing the road in winter, the hiking trail begins slightly west of an active snowmobile path, hikers turn onto the snowmobile path a short distance before splitting off left, into a lovely young hemlock grove; I was very thankful today to be following a narrow snowshoe path as a winter storm producing 12-18” in most backwoods regions just rolled through two days ago.

*Entering the Presidential Range-Dry River Wilderness*

The Mount Langdon Trail gently rolls along low hills, making use of old logging roads (some newer than others), many of which cross or diverge away from the main trail. Most appeared moderately grown in and I counted three small WMNF (brown with yellow lettering) signs indicating direction of the Mount Langdon Trail.

In 0.3-miles into the hike a path splits off to the left to guide hikers to Cave Mountain, 0.4-miles down an old road; I could see old snowshoe tracks under the snow but none since the winter storm, I’d save the visit for the trek out if time allowed (thankfully, time did allow!).

For the next 0.7-miles the snowshoe track continues to gently roll along a wide logging road, crossing several small waterways and passing more old, grown in logging roads.

At the 1.0-mile mark we enter the Presidential Range-Dry River Wilderness where a wooden WMNF sign greets us. All around becomes darker momentarily as we trek into another small, more mature hemlock-filled forest, crossing several more wet/muddy patches and streams, hopping the widest on well-placed rocks.

*Beech grove in the Oak Ridge/Mt Parker col*

The trail dries out, at least as far as a snowshoe track would, and winds its way up the southern shoulder of Oak Ridge, departing the evergreen canopy and into a beautiful open hardwood forest. Beech and oak of varying ages were plentiful but let the gusting wind rip right through. Spruce become peppered into the surrounding landscape at ~2,000’ and soon became the predominant species as we crest Oak Ridge and begin descending its northern slope.

Drifted snow became the name of the game along the northern side of the Oak Ridge/Mount Parker col; what was a mere 12”-deep solidly frozen trench along the southern side of the trail had now become waist-deep fluffy powder, which made the short descent much like surfing or skiing on snowshoes - a favorite past time of mine.

Dropping once again below 2,000’, the forest switched back to open hardwood which had the strongest wind perhaps of the entire hike, having become funneled between the land masses.

Reaching the three-way intersection where the Mount Langdon Trail split off toward the east, I saw no indication of a trail - no markers or sign of a trail - a side trip to Mount Langdon was definitely out for me today - perhaps a return in warm-weather to trail run the Mount Stanton Trail over The Crippies as well as Mts Langdon, Pickering and Stanton.

This is where I picked up and joined the Mount Parker Trail (which runs over to the Davis Path, past Mt Resolution), which has a history of blow-down patches and lesser traffic. Along both the ascent and descent, my gaze was primarily cast toward the snowshoe path as I found myself constantly removing fallen tree limbs from the trail, most small but some had been an inch around; this next section through more beech may have seen more of my trail magic than any other section of my 8.3-mile hike.

*Northerly views toward Presidential Range*

There were a few larger trees and branches to duck under or climb between, but overall the trail up to Mount Parker is incredibly tidy. Upon climbing back to ~2,500’, the spruce grew back in, this time alongside fir and birch. Of course, I was trekking atop at least a foot of packed snow, but once the trail swung from north to more of a westerly direction I was constantly swimming through and pushing fir and spruce branches aside.

Several years in a row I broke trail along the Bondcliff Trail, for a while, the only time experiencing the trail was in winter; I simply thought the low branches needed a trimming until running my first Pemi-Loop and saw just how high up those same branches were in summer - it had not dawned on me that I had been winter hiking atop a 7’ snow base! Perhaps the final stretch of the Mount Parker Trail is a similar situation.

*Wildcats, Carters and other points northeasterly*

When the blue skies grew open and winds howled louder, I knew the open summit would be through the final wall of conifer; adding a fleece/wool layer with Gore Tex shell to block the wind, I made the final ascent and had the summit cairn in sight.

With my mind on the engulfing blasts of westerly winds, I had completely forgotten to check the cairn - the 1907 AMC Guide to the Paths and Camps in the White Mountains made mention of a summit register cylinder placed within the cairn.

*Mount Willey; northwest toward Crawford Notch*

Mount Washington with the southern Presidential Range stood out with its ridgecrest of brilliant white; while the Wildcats and Carters were not cloaked in such white, they stood just as proud as their higher neighbors. The sun helped take my mind off the gusting wind to allow for a few more minutes of picking out familiar peaks of the glorious panoramic view - certainly a place I’ll revisit in warm weather for a snack and tea.

A short attempt to break a trail to the west-facing ledge was cut short with waist-deep spruce traps and wading through deep snow, I’ll leave that adventure for another (warm-weather) day as well.

Continuing to toss fallen limbs from the main snowshoe track as I descended, the retreat to lower ground went very efficiently over such a well packed trench. Back through the col to hike through the spruce stand which soon gave way to beautiful beech and oaks, from which Oak Ridge gets its name.

The morning was young and to my pleasant surprise, someone had put snowshoe tracks out the spur of Cave Mountain Path. By following the one-direction prints in the wet, sticky snow, I knew I’d run into their creator at some point along the spur.

*Attitash Ski Trails from the summit of Cave Mountain*

Following the old road path, before long I ran into a mysterious stand of red pine, first bunch of the entire hike. Then came the boulders along the side of the path and gazing up toward the mound which rose just ahead, I began to see light brown tints of the cave - a very unique place to find oneself while out in the mountains.

The mid-morning sun warmed the snow pack, making the thick layer heavy and slick, with each step I could tell it wanted to slide downslope, even on these gentle grades. I greeted and passed the only hiker of the day, along with her dog, they were working on Red Lining trails and had just descended the old path which swung to the right (east) of the cave to a lookout ~150’ higher upslope.

Figuring I’d save a trip to the cave opening to the descent, I followed her steps to the right, hooking and side-hilling further up Cave Mountain. Reaching the end of their tracks I stopped once again in full sun to gaze at a little nub of Chocorua poking up, the Attitash Mountains streaked in ski slopes; another very unique view that I did not want to depart from.

The tracks had ended but I wanted to continue the final 500’ with an additional 150’ of climbing to gain the true summit of Cave Mountain. Thus began the real work of the day - trail breaking in heavy, wet, loose snow up to knee-deep at every step, but every step was worth it!

I found the summit, or at least roamed in circles until concluded I had traipsed across the high point; not a sign, a cairn nor a blaze marked the recognized true summit, I would guess only a few venture beyond the glory of a panoramic view to find this spot.

Having had my fill and convinced I stood among the true summit of Cave Mountain, the return trek was made easier by following my tracks back downhill. The ice axe came out for the hook back around toward the cave as the hillside snow appeared like it wanted to slab off in one wet mass, careening down the steep slope; I certainly did not want to be any part of that.

Within 10’ of the cave entrance I looked over to where I had just descended to watch a very wet avalanche slip off one of the neighboring ledges, that told me that I had come close enough and did not need to be standing beneath the bigger ledges!

Mount Parker was a fantastic journey into some of the lesser high hills of southern Crawford Notch; many thanks to the folks who venture out post-snow storms to snowshoe and break our mountain trails out; a satisfying task (once complete), for sure!

Overall stats for the day:
8.34-miles
4hr 16 minutes
4,869’ elevation gain

Mount Parker - 3,004’
Cave Mountain - 1,439’

Mt Parker + Cave Mountain

Stinson Mountain - Northeast Peak

Mt Chocorua via Champney Falls