Hiking Mount Hayes, NH
Hiking & Camping in White Mountain National Forest | Hiking Mount Hayes | Gorham, NH | July 2024
Our night on Cherry Mountain Road was peaceful and quiet, but when we woke up we found ourselves in a conundrum. First: What would we do today? I had already done the closest hike and there weren’t any others nearby. And secondly: Our house battery was low, and as we would learn over the next week, New England forests in the summer do NOT let light through. If we were going to keep our home running, we needed to drive a bit or find a spot with just a bit more sunlight.
We opted to just change locations altogether and followed the forest road North to US-2 which we followed East. We passed by a lot more trailheads with lots of cars, but ultimately decided to just head straight to where we thought we would stay – New England is almost always busy after all. Just East of Gorham we crossed over the Androscoggin River and passed by an Appalachian Trail Trailhead before turning onto an old access road. The road was narrow as it hugged the coast of the lake and we thought that maybe we were wrong about there being a spot out here. But iOverlander came through once again and we found a turnout near an informal boat launch and pulled in. It had the added benefit that the road more or less ended right here so there was very little traffic.
After setting up the van and eating an early lunch I decided to follow the Appalachian Trail to a nearby peak that was on the ’52 With a View’ peak list: Mount Hayes. It didn’t meet my prominence goal, but I figured, if it has a view might as well. I made sure Jess and Charlie were set up and then walked the road back to the trailhead for the Centennial Trail/Appalachian Trail. Unlike yesterday’s hike up Cherry Mountain, which had a nice grade and was overall a pleasant hike, this trail was more typical of the Northeastern trails. Rock steps and roots lead me essentially straight up the mountain.
It was slow going and warm, but I managed to find a patch of blueberries about halfway up. I also ran into a fair sized group of hikers who were coming out after a 5 day stretch on the AT. Eventually, I made it to a clearing where I sat down to catch my breath. This is nice, I thought, but where’s the view? It’s called ’52 With a View’ after all. I looked at my AllTrails recording and rolled my eyes, I wasn’t even at the peak yet and still had a mile to go. That mile was less steep but more muddy but I was soon up on the crest of the mountain and the trees definitely cleared out some on the rocky top. But the trees at the edge of the clearing blocked any real views. That’s ok I thought, I’m not at the peak yet, it’s called “52 With a View”. A short ways later and I was definitely at the true summit of the mountain…and there was still no view. Sure it was a nice clearing, but the trees at the edge were still blocking everything. Maybe it’s a cliff overhang further down the trail, I thought, and I continued on the trail. The trail went back into the trees and started going down and down and eventually I just threw in the towel. There was no view, I’d been lied to by myself.
And I wish I could say that on my way back I found the turnoff to the spectacular view of Mount Jefferson or some of the other peaks, but that just didn’t happen. I trudged back up my lost elevation, looked around some for a use trail and then just gave in and started back down. I think the best ‘view’ was at the lower peak where I initially stopped, but I genuinely don’t know if I just missed the turn off or what.
The hike down was uneventful. My shoes were definitely showing the wear of some White Mountain hiking, but I figured I could get a few more hikes…maybe a dozen? Back at the van I found Jess and Charlie enjoying the sun. Another car had come with a kayaker. We felt a bit bad because the way we parked ended up taking up more room than we necessarily needed and later on we felt even worse when other people showed up. But no one complained and it all worked out. I ended up jumping in the lake to cool off and then we relaxed for the rest of the day.
