Elevation gain: 740 feet
Trails used: road walk, Foss Mountain Trail.
Highlight(s): almost 360 degree views from the lower summit of Foss Mountain, blueberry bushes (in season).
Some days you feel like hiking; other days, not so much. This would be one of those days. It was a bitterly cold, windy day to be out hiking but I went anyways with quite a few plans in place but in the end, nothing really panned out. I spent too much time on roads that are not maintained in winter so I had to backtrack several times and find new routes. So, after a little searching online and in the Gazetteer, I found a hike that shouldn't be too hard albeit with unknown snow conditions.
Foss Mountain is located in Eaton, New Hampshire. Foss Mountain has two summits, the northern summit which is where the views are and northern (higher summit) which is wooded and further along the summit ridge. There are blueberries (in season) so please check the trailhead kiosk to see where it is okay to pick them.
I had to park at the hiker parking area (can't drive to the summer trailhead parking area) and walked up Foss Mountain Road, which had about 5-6 inches of fresh light snow.
The summer trailhead and parking area for the Foss Mountain Trail, which starts behind the metal gate. It's roughly a half mile hike or less with very little elevation gain.
The views from the northern summit of Foss Mountain looking towards Mount Shaw and the Ossipee Range, with the Belknap Range in the distance to the left.
The views from the northern summit of Foss Mountain looking Lyman Mountain, Mount Chocorua, Mount Passaconaway (in the clouds), Mount Carrigain, and the Moat Range.
The views from the northern summit of Foss Mountain looking towards the Moat Range, the Presidential Range (in the clouds), the Wildcat Range and Carter Dome (also in the clouds).
The views from the northern summit of Foss Mountain looking east into Maine.
Note, I did not go to the higher summit of Foss Mountain today only because I didn't feel like making the less than half mile trek over to it through the soft snow without snowshoes. I ended my hiking day early as I really wasn't feeling like hiking anything else at this point so I drove into North Conway for some shopping therapy. I will have to come back here in better weather and when the blueberries are ripe for picking.
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