Climb Mount Washington (6288ft)
A classic. Summit the highest peak in the Northeast: Mount Washington (6288ft).
Trip Ref #10179
Climb Mount Washington (6288ft)
A classic. Summit the highest peak in the Northeast: Mount Washington (6288ft).
DURATION
2 nights
LOCATION
USA
ANNUAL LEAVE
1 day off work
SEASON
Jul-Sep
GROUP SIZE
Up to 10 people
MEETING POINT
Central Manhattan
ACCOMMODATION
Classic
Lodge
OVERALL RATING
0.0
DIFFICULTY
Challenging
This is a challenging climb but no technical skills are needed. We do recommend having some previous hiking experience and good fitness.
Hike to the summit of Mt. Washington - the highest peak in the Northeast at 6288 feet - and take in the epic views of the White Mountains
Challenge yourself over boulder terrain and tackle steep ascents, with over 4,000 feet of elevation gain on the big summit day
Take your pick of the seasons! Soak up the mountain in fine Summer weather, or tackle our Winter version to gaze out at a blanket of New Hampshire snow from the top
Day 1
Head to the White Mountains
Hiking
1 hour · 1 mile · 321ft up · 321ft down
You'll depart at 7:00 am, stopping for lunch on the road. After arriving at Pinkham Notch, located in the heart of the White Mountains, you'll drop off your bags at the Joe Dodge Lodge and then go for a short warm-up hike up Square Ledge. After a moderate scramble to the top, gorgeous views of Mt. Washington will open up right in front of you, and you can trace the route you'll be taking to the summit the next day. That evening you'll have a delicious dinner at the Lodge, pack your backpack for the next day, and get a good night's sleep before the summit attempt the following morning.
Day 2
The Big One: Summit Mount Washington
Hiking
9 hours · 8 miles · 4169ft up · 4169ft down
After a hearty breakfast at the Lodge, you'll start the summit attempt of Mount Washington. The bouldery terrain will get the blood pumping right away. Be prepared for steep ascents, especially as the day goes on and you enter the Alpine Zone and make your way up the summit cone. Once above tree line, beautiful views of the White Mountains will open up, and you'll hike amongst the hardy but fragile Alpine plants. Once at the summit, you'll stop for lunch at the Mount Washington State Park building. The hike down with its steep descents can be just as challenging as the way up. Back at the Lodge: unwind, relax, and have a delicious dinner to celebrate the day's adventures.
Day 3
Time to head home
After a well-deserved lie-in, grab breakfast and relax for the leisurely drive back to New York City, stopping for lunch along the way.
Included
Guides
Expert, certified guides with wilderness first responder training
Accommodation
Two nights in a Lodge in the heart of the White Mountains
Meals
All meals except lunch on the drive to/from the New York
Transfers
All transfers to/from Central Manhattan
Permits
All entry fees and permits
Not Included
Travel to and from the start point
Travel insurance
Personal expenses
Some meals as described
Tips for your guides
Visas where required
Day 1
Lodge · Mixed dorm
Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
Day 2
Lodge · Mixed dorm
Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
Day 3
Departure day
Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
What is the food like?
The Joe Dodge Lodge will provide a delicious breakfast and dinner buffet. The breakfast buffet includes pancakes, eggs, oatmeal, fruit, and many other choices. The dinner buffet includes meat and non-meat based options and grain or pasta dishes, as well as soups and tasty desserts. Vegetarian, vegan and most dietary requirements can be accommodated on this trip.
What is the accommodation like?
Joe Dodge Lodge
You'll be staying in a 4-person bunk-room at Joe Dodge Lodge in the heart of Pinkham Notch surrounded by White Mountain National Forest.
The Area
Logistics
Starts
Central Manhattan
06:45 on Day 1
Ends
Central Manhattan
Around 18:00 on Day 3 (depending on traffic)
Transfers
On Day 1 you'll meet your host at the corner of Broadway and W 73rd street, northwest corner in front of The North Face store. The drive to the mountains takes around 5-6 hours, with a relaxing stop for lunch. Alternatively - you are welcome to make your own way directly to the first night of accommodation if you wish.
On Day 3 you'll typically arrive back roughly between 1600-1800, however, it is entirely dependent on traffic coming into New York City, which is very unpredictable. We strongly recommend you don't make any plans for the evening or book flights departing until after 2200 - in case of delays.
Travel options
If you are flying in - there are direct flights to New York via JFK, LaGuardia and Newark airports from across the US and Europe. From there you can easily make your way into central Manhatten.
Enjoy 12.5% Off Outdoor Gear
In need of a few more items? All bookings receive a 12.5% discount to use at Cotswold Outdoor, Snow + Rock and Runner's Need.
What do I need to bring?
Bags
- Rain cover or plastic bags to waterproof backpack
- 30+L backpack
Clothes
- Hiking boots
- Moisture-wicking, non-cotton base layers (top and bottom).
- Fleece
- Insulating top layer
- Insulating bottom layer
- Fully waterproof top and bottom layers that can be worn over all other layers
- Long underwear for sleeping
- Fleece hat
- Neck buff
- Sun hat
- Light and comfortable camp/lodge/car shoes
Other
- Personal toiletries
- Sunscreen
- Sunglasses
- Bug spray
- Head torch
- Trekking poles
- Water bottles or bladder (must have 3L capacity in total)
No optional extras are available for this trip.
We’re still waiting to collect any reviews from other travellers on this trip. However, all our hosts go through an extensive vetting process to ensure that your adventure is awesome.
We've crunched the numbers to work out the total carbon footprint of this trip, and plant enough trees to suck 2x as much back out the atmosphere.
What's the number?
It works out on average at 137kg of CO2 emissions per person, including all local transport, accommodation, food, activities, guides, staff and office operations.
The only thing it doesn’t include right now is flights and travel to the destination. We do make an overall estimate across all our customers separately, but as we don’t book flights, have customers from all corners of the world, and no way of reliably knowing their travel plans, we simply can’t include an individual number in the figure on display here. We’ve got a goal for 2023 to fix that, so that when you book, there is a way to measure and mitigate the carbon emitted by your flight too.
But what does the number mean?
Yep, hard to picture eh? To give you an idea:
- Driving 1000miles/1609km would be approx. 281kg of CO2 in an average car (or 140.5kg per person if there was 2 of you in it).
- A return economy class flight London - New York would be approx. 1,619kg (1.66 tonnes) per person.
- 10 trees in a temperate forest are estimated to remove approx. 250kg of CO2 from the air in a period of 5-10 years.
What are we doing about it?
Our trips are relatively low-carbon by design, and we're working with all our hosts to develop long term carbon reduction plans. For every person booked with us since 2016 we’re planting enough trees to suck at least 2x more carbon out the atmosphere than is emitted by their trips. All native trees, as part of amazing projects that are re-foresting degraded land, tackling the biodiversity crisis and supporting local communities at the same time. We go further than that too, also funding re-wilding projects worldwide to help protect important keystone species from extinction. See the reforestation and re-wilding schemes we support. See our carbon action plan.
Want to know more?
Amazingly, no international travel company has ever publicly published their carbon measurements before, as far as we know. We believe that must change, quickly. So we’re openly sharing the method we used in the hope that other companies will be able to more easily follow suit and build on what we've done so far. You'll find it all here.
This is a challenging trip, where you will be navigating very steep terrain. If you are not an experienced hiker, you should build-up to this with easier climbs first. You should aim to do cardio and endurance exercise 3-5 days a week and do hikes that involve steep ascents at least twice a month in the three months leading up to your trip.
Sure can! Over 50% of our travellers travel solo, it’s a great way to meet like-minded people.
Tips are not included in the trip cost. The amount to tip is entirely at your discretion but there is an expectation to tip in the USA; your guides will rely on tips for a considerable portion of their income.
We suggest to budget for 10%-20% of the trip cost as a guideline.
Of course, you are free to tip more or less, and the amount should be reflective of your perception of service and quality - a tip is not compulsory and should only be given when you receive excellent service.
Drinking water is available at the lodge and you'll carry all the water you need for the hike.
Mount Washington specifically is known as home to some of the worst weather in the world, and is characterized by unpredictable, often severe weather (that's a big part of what makes it a challenging mountain, even though it's a shorter mountain). So the weather will vary a lot. The weather can vary drastically from the bottom of the mountain to the summit. It's not unusual for it to be in the 70's at the base and snowing at the summit, so it's important to bring a range of gear.
Room is limited in the van, so participants should only bring their backpack and one small extra item, such as a duffel bag, for any extras.
Our recommended travel insurance provider is Campbell Irvine.
Travel insurance is compulsory for all of our adventures and you are required to provide your policy information before departing.
Your insurance should include adequate protection for overseas medical treatment, evacuation/repatriation, your baggage and equipment and the specific activities involved on your adventure. We also strongly recommend it includes cancellation and curtailment insurance, should you be unable to join your trip for specific reasons such as illness.
We fully endorse Campbell Irvine as their insurance offers all of the above, so get in touch with them or call on 020 7938 1734 to get your insurance sorted. We suggest that you book travel insurance as soon as you book your adventure, just to cover you for any last-minute life changes. We know you’re an active lot and injuries do happen!
We automatically convert prices from the local currency that a host receives to your chosen currency. We update our exchange rates on a daily basis so this does mean that prices displayed on the site are subject to currency fluctuations, which is why you may see them change over time.
If you wish to change the currency you pay in, head to the bottom of the page.
All of our group adventures are specially designed for adults to enjoy (18+) as we want these adventures to bring together outdoorsy people who are truly like-minded. Children can be accommodated on some private departures.
You're in good company. Our adventures are typically made up of a mix of solo travellers and small groups of two or three friends who simply love adventure, pushing themselves and meeting awesome like-minded people. See here for more info about our lovely bunch of Much Better Adventurers.
Want to book a private trip? Just tap ‘Private Group’ in the dates and prices tab.
Your trip is led by carefully curated local hosts and expert guides. See here for more info about the guides we work with.
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