Belknap Area: October 19th-26th, 2023

Whiteface, October 19th

I read on an Alltrails review that someone climbed this mountain thinking they were climbing the 4000fter farther north, and I'm still astounded by their lack of geographic-awareness. There's no point to that anecdote, I'm just baffled by how people can sometimes think/act so differently than me. Anyhow, this hike was an unintentional sunsike but was a solid hike nonetheless, with some delightful views

Belknap, October 20th

For Belknap I was able to drive up the free and still open mountain road, which led to a hike with much less elevation gain than last year when I didn't do Gunstock because of high winds. Today I did! And I got some great views of the Ossippe Range!

Free Palestine, October 20th

This peak is officially named "Mount Israel", but since the state of Israel is an Apartheid state that was actively committing genocide in Gaza at the time I hiked this mountain, I refused - and continue to refuse - to call it that. Instead I switch from calling it "Peak 2620" or "Free Palestine", because I'm honestly not sure which one to commit to. It's nice to recognize the name of the indigenous nation of that area, but in doing so, I'm kind of ignoring the fact that this mountain is on Abenaki land, and the only reason this mountain was renamed after that settler-colonial state committing genocide over there was because of the settler colonial state that committed genocide over here. From what I can gather, whatever original name for this mountain/ridge has been lost, and it shouldn't be up to a white person like myself to decide what name should replace the current one. I'm very passionate about indigenous mountain names, and I plan on writing more about this issue in the future, but in the meantime, I'm gonna call this Palestine/2620. I'm aware this may come of as petty and is ultimately non-impactful, but petty and non-impactful is how I do things - why do you think I take a trans pride flag up mountains? It's cause fascists gave me the idea and I'm turning it on them in the smallest way possible. Anyway, I approached form the Wentworth House and had a delightful ascent and descent, with a foggy view up top - the summit has a nice carin to put a sign if anyone wants to put one up there saying "Free Palestine"

Pemigewasset Mountain, October 21st

Pemigewasset I approached from the Southern Trailhead and made my way up the muddy, but functional trail. Lots of folks up top but that's to be expected

Mount Rowe, October 25th

For Mount Rowe, I started from the Gunstock ski area parking and headed up one of the access roads all the way up, which wasn't that interesting but effective. Nothing much to report other than a few old people in toms and canada goose chastising me for only hiking with my sports bra - it took everything in me to keep me from saying something along the lines of "I know more than you". Hell, maybe it wasn't even a commentary on their superior hiking skills, maybe it was some good 'ole slut shaming or queerphobia - or all three! In any case, they managed to annoy me more than anyone else I've encountered in the last year or so of hiking

Eastern Belknaps, October 26th

For the Eastern Belknaps, I started from the trailhead on Alton Mtn Rd and went over to summit Mack, then Klem, then the rest of the range until Major, where I diverged and went back down to the trialhead. Overall good quality trails, but other than Mack and Major (and a bit of Straightback), not any views to speak of. Oh well, at least I've now finished the Belknap 12!

Piermont, October 28th

Piermont I did for the first time in a year, and much like last time, I found it a thoroughly enjoyable hike, with the main difference being there hadn't yet been snow near the summit. Oh well, you park at the gate which is accessible to all hikers, and then walk through the camp and onto the trail, which is well maintained and a delight to go on