Hike Pemigewasset Loop White Mountain National Forest, NH

Jul 07, 2022 — The Pemigewasset Loop forms a sweeping ridgeline hike within the Pemigewasset Wilderness, named after the Pemigewasset River. It's a route known to many hikers in the northeast due to its difficulty, but also because it passes over 8 of New Hampshire's 4000 foot peaks, with the option to include more. The hike visits some of the best scenery in the White Mountains and has been on both Adam and my to-do list forever. Finally, all the elements lined up and we could go for Pemi as a dayhike. The main summits along the ridgeline are Mount Flume, Mount Liberty, Mount Lincoln, Mount Lafayette, Mount Garfield, South Twin Mountain, Mount Bond, and Bondcliff, along with many other bumps along the way. Completing the loop with these is known as the "Basic Pemi". To do the "Extended Pemi", you can leave the main ridgeline for short spur trails to add Galehead and West Bond, and for the "Super Extended Pemi", you can include North Twin and Zealand. These additional four NH 4000-footers add varying amounts of work to the hike, but neither of us particularly care about that list and since these additional peaks were unranked (under 300' prominence), we were okay with just sticking to the primary ridgeline. Also, and possibly more so, we weren't sure how long the day would be and preferred to be back in town in time for dinner. The route creates possibly the sexiest GPX circle I've ever seen on a map, a visual somehow almost as fulfilling as the large quantity of food at the end of the hike.

The entire Pemi Loop is on a well-marked trail, where every junction gives a lot of good information. However, having a map is always a good idea since the last thing you'd want to do is take a wrong turn during a big day like this. Although there is ample typical rockiness and occasional Class 2/2+ along the way, the trail quality shouldn't be the reason the hike would deter anyone; it's the distance and vertical and the fact that it's a fairly committing loop. If you want to bail at any point, that'll put you far away from the original trailhead and still would require 4+ miles to get from the ridgeline to any nearby road. We were able to filter some water at the Garfield Ridge Shelter (marked "Water" on my attached map) and a potable water spicket at the Galehead Hut.

Adam and I met up at the Lincoln Woods Trailhead and started along the old and boring railroad bed converted into a "trail", taking it north to the junction with the Osseo Trail. This headed west and started gaining elevation, progressively steepening until the last bit to Mount Flume, where ladders and some light Class 2 were introduced along the Franconia Ridge Trail. Until this point the trail was surprisingly free of most rock and it had us incorrectly thinking the remainder of the hike would be as tame. We followed the somewhat popular ridgeline from Mount Flume to Mount Liberty, a traverse that's commonly done from the west via Flume Slide Trail. Forest and with the occasional view north got us to Mount Lincoln, the terrain becoming a bit more what we expected for the Whites. Along the way we passed a popular junction on Little Haystack Mountain. This is the start of the famed Franconia Ridge that leads from the Falling Waters Trail to Mount Lincoln, and then over to Mount Lafayette. It's the most crowded and also easily the most gorgeous portion of the hike we were doing today.

In hindsight I wish we had spent a little more time just enjoying the views along the Franconia Ridge since the majority of the hike would continue through forest and more forest. But while we were here it was a lot of beauty to take in, especially since on my last visit many years ago I was socked in by fog. We were only about 1/3 done, so it was laughable to see the rest of the Pemi Loop still to come. Once we reached the summit of Mount Lafayette, we dropped north along the Garfield Ridge Trail and away from the crowds, descending to the saddle with Mount Garfield.

Along the way to Mount Garfield, the terrain became more rugged, a few places of Class 2 scrambling and a generally rocky trail. There were also some incredibly green mossy portions and a bump called Garfield Ridge (or Peak 3885) that added some additional vertical. Just after starting the ascent to Mount Garfield we passed Garfield Pond, a nice feature to break up the seemingly endless forest. The going was pretty steep to Mount Garfield, and a short spur trail led from the main trail and up to the high point, where we were happy to enjoy some excellent views. Here we could also see the final big climb of the day, South Twin Mountain.

Descending from Mount Garfield included a short stop to filter some water at the well-marked Garfield Ridge Shelter. The descent included a bunch of rocky and steep terrain, especially in one section where water runoff cascaded down some Class 2/2+ boulders for a hundred feet or so. A few lumps and more rocky trail hiking led us to the Galehead Shelter, where a spicket was available to refill water, and inside were sweets for sale. My excitement for potentially fresh-baked cookies was squashed when I found they had peanut butter bars and I was already peanut butter'd out. Some wildflowers and a nice view had us enjoying the hut grounds for a few minutes before we started the final big climb up to South Twin Mountain along the Twinway Trail, which was pretty relentless. Both Adam and I were feeling quite good still, and the climb was actually a pleasant undertaking, though it could definitely be a pretty daunting endeavor if you're already tired at this point.

Once at the summit of South Twin Mountain where we took in some more views, we noted the remainder of the ridgeline would be pretty tame and with limited vertical gain. We set off through the forest again, and then emerged onto open ridgeline, a feature we hadn't experienced since Mount Lafayete. Enjoying the views and admiring that a place like this exists in the northeast had us high on life as we hiked along the Bondcliff Trail all the way to Mount Bond. Excellent views from Mount Bond had us lingering for a bit, and someone also on the summit informed us that we missed out on "the best views in the Whites" on West Bond. A short spurt of FOMO had me check myself and remember that people are always so quick to tell you what you "missed out on" when it comes to hiking.

A gorgeous drop got us down from Mount Bond, along an open and glorious ridge, and then ascended to Bondcliff. This minor peak's excellent cliffy west face forms a foreground for the surrounding mountains that's unforgettable. A Class 2+ move led down from Bondcliff and down back below treeline. Although the beauty was basically over since not even the forest in this portion of the Pemi Loop was particularly lush, we were still enjoying the hike and made quick work down the Bondcliff Trail. Overall this portion of the hike had far less rocky terrain and despite the many required miles of hiking remaining, our spirits were high. However, once the Bondcliff Trail reached the end of the descent and we were back on the converted railroad bed we had started the day along, we were dismayed to learn we had many miles of flat hiking. A bit of a bummer at the end of an excellent day, but it certainly didn't color the overall experience negatively. Both of us were thrilled to have gotten the Pemi tick on our belts.