Having been back in New England for a week or so, I’ve been itching to get back on the trail. The last hike was three weeks ago in Saguaro National Park, where I hoofed it up to Wasson Peak. So yesterday I decided to head south and pick up Kearsarge Mountain. It’s listed as one of the easier peaks on the 52 With A View list, and I was hoping it would be a good reintroduction to the trails here after spending three months hiking the hills of the southwest desert.

The Winslow and Barlow Trails form a 3 mile loop to the summit, and the trailhead is in Winslow State Park. This park is in Wilmot, NH close to Sutton and Interstate 89. It took me a bit over two hours to make the drive to the park, and I was gratified to see the access gate open. I was even happier to see the Iron Ranger taped shut- no charge for this NH State Park visit!

I parked quite close to the trailhead, near the toilet facilities (also open!), saddled up and headed in. There were a few other cars in the lot, but not many. The weather was sunny and bright, with temps predicted to be close to 60°. There was some wind, but that wouldn’t be a factor until the summit.

I’d decided to travel the loop in a counterclockwise direction, starting with the shorter Winslow Trail up to the summit, and returning on Barlow. Initially the trail was fairly dry, with very little snow and ice to be seen.

It wasn’t long before Ye Olde Rocks & Roots appeared. Surprisingly, I’d really missed them while out west, where most of the trails are pretty smooth. Climbing and hopping from root to rock up the hill was like coming home.

It didn’t take long for the remnants of the winter snow and ice to appear. But there were still plenty of rocks and bare patches to not have to put on the spikes. I continued barebooting until beyond the halfway point. I knew it was halfway because ↓

Not too far after halfway, I stepped on what I thought was a mud patch. There was some mud, but it was on a block of ice. Old guy falls down &  goes boom! Uninjured except in pride, I immediately learned the lesson and put on the damn spikes. This made the remaining walk up both faster and slower, for spikes allow you to really zip over the ice, but I don’t care to walk over bare rock of any real incline with them on. So, I engaged in the late spring dance of “spikes on / spikes off”.

On the Winslow Trail you come out of the trees not too far from the summit. It was very bright topside yesterday, and that’s when the wind became noticeable. It was fairly strong, and turned things chilly. The views were very good- here are a few photos from the summit.

Initially I’d planned to break for lunch at the top, but the wind was uncomfortable enough to change that decision. Sandwich time would be back at the car this day. I headed back down the ledge to where the two trails meet, and turned right to take Barlow back to the trailhead.

The spikes went back on for most of the trip down after passing the bare ledge. It was more of the same for better than half the trip down- snow & ice, then ice, then mud. The trip back to the trailhead was fairly quick, and without incident.

I returned to the parking lot about 2 hours and 20 minutes after starting the hike. While on the trails I encountered 8 or 9 nice folks, and one friendly dog. In the dry season this loop would probably take about 90 minutes, non-stop, as it’s only 3 miles.

A note on trail conditions: Both trails were good. There were plenty of blazes, Winslow marked in red and Barlow in yellow. Some of the blazing looked very fresh. The only blowdowns I encountered were on Barlow, not too far from the trailhead.

I enjoyed this one, and wouldn’t mind repeating it in the warmer weather to enjoy more time on the summit. It was a good start to the 2024 season in the Whites!