East & West Royce; Peaked & Middle Mountains.

The journey only requires you to put one foot in front of the other..again and again and again. And if you allow yourself opportunity to be present throughout the entirety of the trek, you will witness beauty in every step of the way, not just at the summit.

This was a last minute kind of plan. I was looking for something other than a 4000 footer, but I wanted a similar workout with great pay offs. I had been recovering from allergies which gave me an awful cough that kept me up all night for 4 nights straight.

A later start in my eyes, we hit the trail by 9:00am. I met Whitney at the East Royce Trail Head Parking lot, jumped into her car and we headed back towards the Laughing Lion Trail. When I got dressed I put on shorts that morning, but mentally I knew I was crazy and it was going to be cold, raw, wet, and muddy. So I packed a pair of light weight hiking pants just in case. When I got into her car the temperature outside read 44 degrees. We hit the trail ready to get moving and warm up.

The trail descends from the road just about until you hit the water crossing, then it literally was all up hill from there. Laughing Lion Trail is a steep incline. I had never been on this trail before, and neither had Whitney. She is red-lining and I am just out for something different than the usual. I was breaking a sweat before I knew it, and thanking my lucky stars I had shorts on for a moment. We continued upward for 1.1 miles. Only maybe a couple times getting off trail. Whoops. In the mile up we came across a beautiful waterfall coming off a cliff, so we followed, or bushwhacked to it to get a closer look and photo. Along the Laughing Lion Tr. is also many small look outs which were a great excuse to stop and catch your breath. At one look out we came across a plaque of some sort on a tree. "Dianna's Rock RIP 1959-2012" it read.


Once at the junction of the Royce Connector Trail and the Royce trail we started our easy trek through the forest to the summit of West Royce. It was .7 until the next junction and then another .7 to the summit of West Royce. The first .7 consisted of a flat walk through lots of mud, some snow patches, and some minor blow downs. It wasn't until the last .7 to the summit that we realized how bad the blow downs were going to be.




We came upon the Burnt Mill Brook Junction and started our journey up to the summit of West Royce. We stop here to put on our hat, gloves, and my pants! It was snowing. Yes, you heard and read me correctly. Thank god I brought my pants, because the adventure was about to begin. Within moments, Whitney yells out "Something smells good!" We both look up, and it was a tree that had been snapped in half by what I assume were high winds, and recently. Immediately, as we look around and observe the trees around us as the wind was howling, we notice all the tree were bent over in one direction. This side of West Royce must see some pretty windy days, or at least has this past winter.


We started up the trail only to find, blow down, after blow down. The majority of them were major blow downs. All of them were across the trail. We did our best to whack around the ones we could not physically move, and move the ones we could, off trail. Trail markers were few and far between on this trail, and I think because of the blow downs. It was kind of a fun game for a little bit, but then it started to get incredibly frustrating. We made it to what we thought was the summit and immediately turned around and headed back to the junction of the Royce Connector.

Once back at the Royce Connector, we both needed a snack and stopped on a rock face look out and ate something quick and both noticed blue sky moving our way! We were hoping that the clouds would blow off by the time we made it to East Royce. I have hiked East Royce before and I knew that there is spectacular views from the summit, so we kept our fingers crossed.


We made it to the summit of East Royce, and the sun was shining with exceptional views, and fast clouds passing above our heads. We took a couple quick photos, took in the views and then headed back to the car. Winds were still pretty high and gusty, and temps were still quite cold up top.




We flew down the East Royce Trail and back to the car in no time! The waterfall at the bottom of the E. Royce Trail was looking great, and the trail was mostly dry on the way down. As always, it turned out to be another wonderful day on trail and with great company!

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My second adventure for my days off was an evening stroll up 2 local mountains here in town. The most talked about mountain here in North Conway is always Kearsarge Mountain North. However, no one ever talks about 2 gems that are a little easier but still with stunning views from the top, Peaked & Middle Mountain.

My friend Bonnie and I met at 5:00pm at the trail head after she got out of work. This was the first time this season I had to use the bug spray. The bug were out and in full attack mode and hungry! I sprayed myself with some bug spray and we hit the trail!

We did a loop and headed up Middle Mountain first. It is a very gradual incline pretty much until you get to the top. Once at the top there are rock cliffs you can look out into Maine, Conway, North Conway, and to the North. There were a few others up there hanging out and enjoying a beautiful evening. We took our photos, chatted to the others and made our way back and over to Peaked.

Peaked is apparently known for it's back country skiing in the winter. This is how I heard about it. However, It was an amazing hike, especially if you want a good work out, and only have minimal time. Once we reached the summit of Peaked we sat and gazed out unto our small town we live in and chatted for a while.

Trails were pretty much dry with lots of leaves still covering the ground, but was a great 6 mile loop for just a couple hours! Can't wait to go back.

Hike Safe & Keep on Trekking