Another great weekend to go hiking. Although it was humid, the temperature was only in the seventies and the skies were overcast which kept it from being too hot. Now on a mission to check off peaks on the 52 With a View list, my friend and I selected Mount Crawford off Route 302 in Crawford Notch. Surprisingly, the parking lot was not very crowded, which made for a quiet day on the trail.
The trail begins by crossing a suspension bridge over the Saco River and after passing a couple private residences enters the woods. The hike up to Mount Crawford utilizes the Davis Path. Completed in 1845, the Davis Path was originally built by Nathaniel Davis as a bridle path to summit Mount Washington. Although, not even used for ten years before falling into disrepair, it was not abandoned, but was converted to a foot path in 1910 and exists today as one of the oldest continuously used trails in the White Mountains.
It is August, so spotting mushrooms while hiking is a common occurrence. Although I am not a mushroom expert, I love searching for them in the woods and admire their many shapes, colors and sizes. Here is a beautiful specimen of a coral mushroom which I believe to be Ramaria aurea or Golden Coral fungus.
The trail starts off relatively flat, but once the climbing begins, it is relentless. At around 2.0 miles, the trail opens out of the woods to ledges revealing the first of many fine views.
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| Views from ledges along Davis Path |
At 2.2 miles, a .3 mile spur path leads to the summit of Mount Crawford. Just before reaching the peak,there was a Spruce Grouse standing in the middle of the path. He was not frightened by our appearance, standing there for awhile before eventually walking into the shrubs. On our descent, he was there again in the same spot.
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| Spruce grouse with distinctive red eyebrow |
At the summit, we sat and had our lunch, sharing the summit with only two other people. Although the full views were somewhat blocked by low hanging clouds, the were still impressive.
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| A brief opening of blue sky atop Mount Crawford |
After rejoining the Crawford Path, instead of returning to the parking lot, we continued North toward Mount Resolution, another peak on the 52 With a View list. It was a pleasant walk on the Davis Path for the 1.5 miles to the Mt. Parker trail which leads to Mount Resolution and Mount Parker. Just .7 miles past the Mt. Parker trail is the side trail that leads to the summit of Stairs Mountain. Both Parker and Stairs are also on the List, but time would only allow us to do Resolution. The Mt. Parker Trail up Resolution has some nice views looking back towards Mount Crawford.
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| Looking toward Mt. Crawford from top of Mount Resolution |
Although berry season has been over for a couple weeks at home, there were plenty of ripe blueberries on the bushes along the ledges of Resolution.
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| Wild blueberries |
All in all, It was a great hike and I am looking forward to returning to the area to tackle Mount Parker and Stairs Mountain.
