Photographs for Twenty-first Century Hiking

Exposed to the changing weather, strewn with glacial boulders, and flanked by cirques and ravines, the Crawford Path winds past Mount Franklin and Mount Monroe along the way to Lake of the Clouds Hut. Mount Washington reveals itself high in the alpine distance, three miles and one thousand feet higher up the trail.

Exposed to the changing weather, strewn with glacial boulders, and flanked by cirques and ravines, the Crawford Path winds past Mount Franklin and Mount Monroe along the way to Lake of the Clouds Hut. Mount Washington reveals itself high in the alpine distance, three miles and one thousand feet higher up the trail.

Nike+Fuel bands might count your 20,307 steps from Highland Springs to summit, but each step, even on the easier parts of the trail as seen here, come with a knee bending and ankle breaking brutality that no technology can ever account for.

Nike+Fuel bands might count your 20,307 steps from Highland Springs to summit, but each step, even on the easier parts of the trail as seen here, come with a knee bending and ankle breaking brutality that no technology can ever account for.

Just below Mt. Washington’s summit are Mount Monroe and the Lakes of the Clouds. Aptly named, the glacial lakes and the tundra appear out of the blanket of fog for a welcome, if brief, moment between the persistent cold mist above the tree line.

Just below Mt. Washington’s summit are Mount Monroe and the Lakes of the Clouds. Aptly named, the glacial lakes and the tundra appear out of the blanket of fog for a welcome, if brief, moment between the persistent cold mist above the tree line.

It’s hard hiking. Often it entails climbing, and when the rocks are wet, which they usually are, the footing is treacherous.

It’s hard hiking. Often it entails climbing, and when the rocks are wet, which they usually are, the footing is treacherous.

If you can find one through the wind and fog, you would be wise to take these signs seriously. The potential for exposure to dangerous weather above the tree line leaves hikers few options but to gamble with their lives or to forgo pride, practice common sense, and retreat quickly.

If you can find one through the wind and fog, you would be wise to take these signs seriously. The potential for exposure to dangerous weather above the tree line leaves hikers few options but to gamble with their lives or to forgo pride, practice common sense, and retreat quickly.

The fog rolls and rises over the ridges, blanketing the paths, leaving visibility at a few feet. The trail volunteers have built cairns of various heights along the alpine paths, and without them – and sometimes even with them – it is easy to get lost.

The fog rolls and rises over the ridges, blanketing the paths, leaving visibility at a few feet. The trail volunteers have built cairns of various heights along the alpine paths, and without them – and sometimes even with them – it is easy to get lost.