Trail Report: Mt. Willey 4285' and the nine ladders!

Since I was young, I have heard stories of the Willey family and the landslide that had killed all nine of them. I have stopped at the Willey House historic Site, hiked the trails around the pond, but never hiked the Willey Mountain. Guess I was afraid of what I might find. I have been told that there was a den up on the mountain that people believed was the devil's den. The den was found by Mr. Crawford back in the day, with bones of which he believed to be of humans. Hearing all these stories have keep me from hiking, but not this year! This year I decided to hike up and O, what I hike it turned out to be!

Parked in the lower parking lot on route 302, walked up the small road to the trail. The trail we hiked was Ethan Pond Trail, which we followed for 1.6 miles to a section where we connected to Willey Range Trail. This trail had some surprises! A small section  of the trail was washed away, stairs were after, followed by NINE ladders! The ladders were fine going up, but I was nervous when coming back down them. This trail was was 1.1 miles to the top of Mt. Willey! Here are a few pics of what you will find as you head up to a beautiful view!

The sign near the tracks when you start the trail Ethan Pond

The stairs after a mini wash away trail

The ladders and there were nine!

This is when you are on top of the ladders looking down!

The view when you reach the top ladder!

The ladders are safe, but if you afraid  of heights, this could be a tough climb for you. Going down is tricky, the ladders are side by side, so you have to reach over to get to the next ladder. When you are on top, looking down, it's steep! Made me nervous since I was hiking with a 12 year old, who thought he was part ninja and part Batman. I had to keep on reminding him of safety as we stepped down the ladders.

The view from the top at a Look Out point

Webster Cliffs and beyond! Would see more but clouds were low that day.

Me and my wonderful hiking buddy!

Over all the hike was 6 miles (when you park at the end of route 302) and took us about 6 hours.
Great views! Beautiful Day!

One Last Pic...

If you go to the back side of Mt. Willey, there is another view of Ethan Pond! It was just as gorgeous!

 

Happy Hiking EVERYONE!

BTW, never found any Den, though it still could be up there someplace! Be careful!

Willey House Historic Site

Willey House Historic Site

in Crawford Notch

My stepson and I went to explore this wonderful Historical Site two weeks ago. This place was where the Willey's House once stood and the story of the Willey family is pretty sad. It was a tragedy where all nine people living in the house lost their lives to rock slide. When the rock slide happened, all nine people left the house, Sam Willey, his wife, kids and two workers. The house never was touched by the slide, for a boulder stopped the slide from hitting it. The Willey family sadly didn't make it and were all found dead in the rock slide. This is the site of where the house which was also the Willey's family in stood year ago. Here at the site, there is a lovely pond to feed the ducks at. Children under 12 can fish here, limit being two. Here are some pics...

Here is the Lake (Top pic) and the Gift/Ice Cream Shop (lower pic)

There are also some wonderful trails for those that want to explore the area around. We took the Sam Willey Trail because it was named after the husband who lost his life in the rock slide. This is at the start of the trail. 

 On this Sam Willey's Trail you have to watch for bears. There is also a

sign to be careful for it's bear country. There were also muddy swamp places

where moose love to hang out. I have been on a trail with moose, always 

move slowly, and stay your distance. They can be very dangerous. 

At the Willey House you can hike two wonderful mountains, all you have to decide

is which way you want to go. 

We went up to the Kedron Falls which is the way you would go to Mt. Willey. It is around 1.3 miles up, the Kedron Brook Trail. It was so beautiful up there. 

Here is the sign to the start of the trail. There were lots of edges which

made me nervous with my dog and stepson, so I wouldn't recommend for

small children under 10.

Here was the view and Flume:

After we had a snack and enjoyed the area, we traveled back down where 

we went to get some yummy ice cream at the gift shop.

Great place to visit when you are up in Crawford Notch!:)

Crawford Notch

I was lucky enough to have to travel to work through Crawford Notch five days a week for a few months. It is a beautiful place to hike. Here is a view of Crawford Notch during the summer.

The road you see below is the road I traveled and the line up the right side is the train tracks. There is a train you can depart from in North Conway that will take you through Crawford Notch. There are many hiking trails here as well and also have the AMC Highland Center to visit. I have hiked up Mt Jackson. There are also Mt Webster, Mt Willard, Mt Willey and Mt Avalon. I am hoping to hike Mt Webster this summer. There are so many beautiful views and great hikes here in Crawford Notch. If you are ever in the Mt. Washington area, you should check out this side of the Mountain. Plus the Mt.Washington Hotel is very close by!