Mt. Crawford & Parker Traverse (NH)

I met NH Chapter AMC leader Ray Caron, Audrey, Pat and a friend of theirs at 7am at the Highland Center for breakfast on Sunday. The others decided to climb to Wildcat for "grander" views. Ray and I stuck to the original plan - a bootleg traverse (the scheduled AMC hike was rained out the previous weekend) that would take us over Mt. Crawford, the Resolutions and Mt. Parker to the town of Bartlett.

At the height of the fall foliage in the Whites, visiting 3,000' high peaks instead of doing a 4,000 footer enabled us to better view the stunning foliage because we were effectively closer to the fabulous colors.

The Crawford-Resolution-Parker traverse that took us up and over 4 summits - Mt. Crawford, Mt. Resolution (though we didn't go to the "true" summit), South Resolution, and Mt. Parker -- in that order.

(Ray wrote an excellent trip report on VFTT which includes stunning photos of the fall foliage and magnificent mountain scenery.)

All four mountains, located NW of North Conway, NH off of Route 302, have either treeless summits or treeless ledges, offering fine views. We did a car spot, with one car at the Davis Path trailhead and the second one in Bartlett at the end of the Langdon Path.

The hike to the summit of Mount Crawford is short, but steep. From there, if the weather cooperates, one has a full 360 degree view of the mountains surrounding the Presidential Range. Unfortunately, the weather wasn't cooperating for us while we were there, so we couldn't see Mt. Washington. No worries, because the valleys in all directions were at peak color. Just stunning!

For many, the summit of Mt. Crawford is the final destination and they return the way they came. But we continued along the Davis Path north, to the intersection with the Mt. Parker Trail. Turning southeast, we hiked to the ledges of Mt. Resolution but did not attempt to find the true summit, which is off-trail, hidden among trees. More great views. Then on to South Resolution, a "bump" where we ate lunch and enjoyed more fall colors.

Finding the trail to South Resolution was quite an effort. But find it we did, and Ray used the tiny saw on his Leatherman to clear the path and make it more visible to hikers. We also placed several cairns on the top to enable hikers to find their way back down to the main trail.

After our trail maintenance near South Resolution, we headed for Mt. Parker, which is further south along the Mt. Parker Trail. It's another treeless summit with good views. Miraculously, the sky cleared when we hit Mt. Parker, so that we had magnificent, clear views of Mount Washington. We couldn't get enough of the beautiful fall colors.

I strongly recommend Mt. Parker, which can be ascended from Bartlett via the Mt. Langdon Trail in Bartlett. As with Mt. Crawford, the views are tremendous.

10.4 miles, 2,400' to Mt. Resolution, then some additional ups and downs (~ 9 leisurely hours)
Summits: Mt. Crawford (3,119'), Mt. Resolution (3,415'), South Resolution (~2,900'), and Mt. Parker (3,004')
Route: Davis Path to Mt. Parker Trail to Mt. Langdon Trail (ending in Barlett)