North/South Doublehead (Jackson) - Beech Hill (Twin Mountain): 12/27/2014

Joe would be joining Brian and I for this hike, as he really had zero idea what he wanted to do himself.  I had originally thought about doing one of the seven winter four thousand footers I have left for my winter list, but thought about doing something a bit mellow, and then possibly doing a second hike if time and energy warranted it.

North-South Doublehead

Mileage: 4.0

Elevation gain: 1860'

Trails used: Doublehead Ski Trail, Old Path, New Path.
Highlight(s):

Thus I decided on doing the Doublehead Mountains, which all three of us have done before (a few of us several times).

The Doubleheads are located in Jackson, New Hampshire.  These are not to be confused with Doublehead Mountain in the Squam Lakes area.   North Doublehead has a CCC ski trail that runs from its summit down to Dundee Road.  The hiking trail coincides with the Doublehead Ski Trail.  North Doublehead also has a cabin for rent ($20.00 a night) and information can be found here. 

North Doublehead and South Doublehead are on the New Hampshire 200 Hundred Highest List, and New Hampshire 52 With A View (52WAV). North Doublehead is on the New Hampshire 3k List.

Starting the hike on the Doublehead Ski Trail, which is close to the parking area off of Dundee Road in Jackson, New Hampshire.

The hike up was a mixture of bare ground, running water and rotten snow.  We started off on the Doublehead Ski Trail but not too soon after headed up the Old Path towards South Doublehead and its better views.

The steepest stretch of the trail up and the snow was getting a bit deeper but not by much.

Approaching the junction with the Old Path/New Path.  Turning to the right, you head off towards South Doublehead and turning left brings you to North Doublehead.

The Old Path/New Path Trail junction.  At this point, the snow was hard packed and icy.

Nearby North Doublehead, which we would head to once we were doing on South Doublehead.

The views from the lower ledges off of South Doublehead, looking towards the Presidential Range, the Wildcat Range, Carter Dome and the long Black Mountain ridge and ski area.

Views north looking at the Wildcat Range with Carter Notch, Carter Dome and the Carter Range with Black Mountains higher summit in the foreground.

A zoomed in view of the Black Mountain ski area.

The views of the Jackson area and the mountains to the south and west.

The summit of North Doublehead from the ledges just below the summit of South Doublehead.

A cool cloud formation over Mount Madison.

Chandler Mountain and Sable Mountain (left) and Eastman Mountain.

The nice woods in between North and South Doublehead.

The views from outside of the cabin on North Doublehead of the Presidential Range.

The Doublehead Cabin on the summit of North Doublehead (elevation 3053'). It is kept locked but you can make reservations to stay the night through the Saco Ranger District office.

Views looking into Maine.

Views through the trees as we are heading back to the car.

Beech Hill

Mileage: 5.3

Elevation gain: 1130'

Trails used: None. Logging roads, bushwhack.

Joe went off to do Kearsarge North while Brian and I headed out to do something else.  Intially I mentioned we should do the Sugarloaf's in the Twin Mountain area to stick with the 52WAV theme but earlier I had mentioned to Brian that Beech Hill had recent traffic so we decided to check it out.

Beech Hill is located in Twin Mountain and Bethlehem, New Hampshire.  There are no official trails that run to its wooded summit, so it requires a combination of bushwhacks and  hiking on logging roads to reach its summit. 

We would take this old logging road off of Beech Hill Road in Bethlehem.  Most of the property around here is No Trespassing, but the land owner allows hiking/hunting through here.

What started off as a nice old logging road, quickly turned into a wet soggy hike through almost bog like areas since a lot of the snow had melted.

Eventually we would make it to some logging roads that have some recent use.

Along with some very active logging landings.  These kind of areas are always fun with its wet out; we were sinking up to our ankles in spots so into the woods we would need to go.

Views from the logging road looking towards Mount Agassiz (right) and Mount Cleveland (left).  You can barely see Cannon Mountain's ski area to the far left.

The wooded summit of Beech Hill (elevation 2267' ).  There were several "bumps" in the area but this seemed to be the highest point.

We followed our footprints for a bit but decided to use various old logging roads to get us back down to the active logging roads.

Following another old logging road down.  At this time of year, these roads are very wet with lots of flowing water.

A nice first hike for our first winter hike of the 2014-2015 season, and we managed to get Joe out on a hike with us which is a bonus.  The second hike was so-so; we managed to hit a few wet areas on the way up and down but other than that, it wasn't too bad snow-wise.  

The Doubleheads have good views from the South summit, and the loop hike is nice.  Beech Hill is a peakbaggers delight so if you want to bushwhack something with a combination of active logging cuts and bushwhack, this one is for you.