Black Mountain Middle Peak

Today was supposed to be iffy in the weather department, so I headed out early and to a peak that was known to not have many views.. that way if it was overcast and/or raining, I wouldn't be missing out. Black Mountain's Middle Peak is in Jackson, but is different than the downhill skiing area of Black Mountain, which is located on the South Peak. The Middle Peak is on the NH Fire Tower list, and until recently was also on the 52 With a View list. It was removed from that list just about a month ago due to trees now obstructing the once panoramic views. I parked at the end of Melloon Road where there is room for several cars. The trail up is actually a XC ski trail, doubling as a hiking trail in the Summer. The trail itself is a great trail, super easy footing, dirt most of the way with no real obstacles or hurdles. On this day it was super, super humid and also very buggy. I had my trusty bug net and doused myself in bug spray, and for the first time this year avoided any new bug bites! The trail is a consistent climb, absolutely no flat portions to "take a rest". Nothing crazy steep, just relentless. There are several brook crossings, but today all but one were bone dry, and the one was just a mere trickle. At 1.4 miles from the trail head is the Black Mountain Cabin. You can rent the cabin for $40/night. It's a rustic cabin with several bunk bends and an indoor fireplace. An outdoor privy (I was told by another hiker I encountered it even had toilet paper!) is several feet away in the woods. I rested briefly here and chatted with a father/son. There is a peekaboo view across to Mt Washington from the front of the cabin. The trail literally goes up the front steps to the cabin and heads either right or left for a loop to the summit. I opted to stay on the Black Mountain Ski trail (to the left while standing looking at the cabin. It steepened up considerably, but only for 0.3 miles at which point you intersect the East Pasture Ski trail and head just under 0.1 miles to the summit. The summit itself is very small with a little cairn and mini views through the trees. After snapping a couple of pictures, I headed back down and this time stayed straight at the East Pasture Ski trail intersection, where the trail descended a little steeply to reach the Black Mountain ski trail cutoff. This 0.5 mile section back to the cabin was lovely and "flat" and was just a nice meander through the woods. Once back at the cabin, I encountered another couple who were resting. We chatted briefly and I headed back down. The weather ended up holding, I passed another couple of groups on my way down. Even without any spectacular views, this was a pretty decent hike. I'm now exactly halfway through the NH Fire Tower list. 50 down, 50 to go. It's going to take me a while to finish though from here, as the remaining 50 are mostly 4Ks or random bushwhacks in out of the way places.. but I'll keep plugging away.

Strava Activity

Blowdown on the trail

Black Mountain Cabin

View from the cabin

view from the summit

the summit