Some Days in the Mountains You Just Don’t Want to End

We’d driven north with the loosest of plans: hike something. We just weren’t sure what. Eventually, we settled on an Eisenhower-Pierce loop and it turned out to be a great decision. The mountains were a winter wonderland. The wind—so often fierce above-treeline in the Presidentials—was non-existent. The weather was warm for the mountains this time of year, especially in the sun, yet still projected the appearance of mid-winter.

So often our trips to the mountains are focused on squeezing in multiple objectives, doing something in a fast time, or just moving quickly in order to get back home to our never-ending lists of other commitments. On this day, however, we chose to linger. To make conversation with other hikers. To bask on a sunny slab on Pierce’s flanks because days like this are few and deserve to be cherished.

Words by Doug Martland
Photos by Tim Peck