Mt. Pierce

So I've knocked off my first 4000-footer this past weekend -- Mt. Pierce, in the Southern Presidentials of the White Mountains. It was a MITOC Winter School trip, with Mike Oltmans, Jon Hanselman, and Maddie Hickman. It was a gorgeous hike! We went from Mt. Clinton Rd., and hiked the Crawford Path, stopping at the Mizpah Hut on the way back (we wanted to hit Jackson as well, but the Webster Cliff trail wasn't broken and we didn't want to get lost after dark). We used crampons for most of the way, which are nice when you're wearing mouse boots, and I learned to self-arrest as well (stop yourself from falling all the way down the mountain). It was an easy hike as well, even prepared as we were with our 20+lbs of extra clothing/supplies (I'm not used to carrying a heavy backpack!) so I'm pretty confident I'll be able to hike some of the harder mountains without too much trouble, so long as the conditions aren't crazy.

Fingers crossed someone leads another 4000-footer that I can go on next weekend! :)