While driving home from the northern White Mountains one morning several years ago I took an alternate route for a change of scenery - Route 25C which would usher me past the beautiful Lakes Tarleton and Katherine.

I’ll never forget the shock which ran through my mind when I caught the first glimpse of Peaked Mountain; a sharp, forested sharks tooth-shaped peak sticking out of an otherwise mellow landscape. With its sheer east/southeast-facing cliffs, it would be at least another year before I heard of anyone actually scaling what was once known as the Piermont Pinnacle.

*An old forest road provides a path through the woods*

Turns out the climb is not the difficult part, as there is now a blue-blazed herd path in which to ascend the southern slope; approaching and finding ones way to the base of the climb can prove vexatious. In years past, I have read from old trail reports, climbers approaching by way of snowmobile and logging roads from the east, off Indian Pond Road, which are now reported to be Posted and closed to any traffic.

More recent reports have used Bedford Road as an access point, passing the Piermont Town Forest and Peaked Mountain Products which specializes in pick-your-own blueberries, recent reports even suggest the friendly owners are supportive of hikers who respect the trails and use the land responsibly - hats off to them!

With a high cloud ceiling gradually making way for clear skies on the forecast, my early morning trail and mountain running buddy, Chris and I set off around 4:30am with headlamps for the long approach; hoping to catch a sliver of color off to the east from the bare ledges atop the 1,588’ mountain.

Trekking over old, abandoned forest and logging roads; crossing several brooks by way of fallen trees; shimmying up a few steep embankments; we finally popped out onto the earthen portion of Bedford Road which would guide us a short distance to the base of our objective.

*Start of the herd path along the south shoulder*

After passing a beautifully rustic, log residence and meandering through a short, soggy sag we approached the height-of-land on the forest road and came upon the herd path cairn - which, today, even featured a reflective triangle-shaped hazard sign, certainly catching our attention amidst the dim morning light.

The herd path begins steep and continues its grade nearly to the summit; initially passing through a brief corridor of white pine boughs, the trail opens up to a pleasant single-track path albeit through a handful of downed red pine trees.

Gaining 450’ in the final 0.4-mile, the herd path opens up to bare ledges with a stunning panorama from which we could pick out: Black Mountain (2,820’), Sugarloaf (2,609’), Hogsback Ridge (2,810’), Jeffers Mtn (2994’), Mt Clough (3,561’), Mt Moosilauke (4,802’), Moosilauke’s South Peak (4,523’), Tenney Mtn (2,340’), Mt Crosby (2,232’), Indian Pond (1,975’), Mt Cube (2,909’), Smarts Mtn (3,238’), Smith Mtn (2,213’) and Stonehouse Mtn (1,986’); while the long arc of Piermont Mountain dominated our immediate view toward the east.

With reports of the town having installed a summit canister/register, we unfortunately did not find it in the normal location, perhaps it was removed as to not be destroyed while winter rolled through. However, we were pleasantly surprised to find the true summit of the mountain now recognized with a recycled/upcycled glass jar which contained a small summit register notebook with only one prior entry from March 2023 - the illustrious Cold River Camp Cook.

After Chris and I signed in, logging our ascent into the register notebook, we awaited the morning sun to see if we would be rewarded with any color gracing the underside of the lumpy clouds - a bit of peach-hue off to the southeastern horizon was all we received.

Following our steps back downslope, it was nice to now see our reverse route in daylight. Red pine, white pine, hemlock, striped maple and various birch all comprised the nearby forest canopy; hardwoods began budding an array of beautiful pastels while several white pine grew new cones.

All around, the forest was awakening; a lone barred owl hooted while other birds sung springtime songs from their perches high atop the tree canopy. While I do enjoy the silence and stillness of a cold winter morning, to witness color and life bursting through the forest is one of the most fantastic and humbling aspects of life in the Northeast.

Overall stats for the day:
~10-miles
2hr 48 minutes
1,959’ elevation gain

Peaked Mountain - 1,588’

Peaked Mountain (Piermont)

Hedgehog Mountain

Mt Rosebrook + Mt Oscar