The Tuesday Trip Report: Eagle Cliff Trail (Terrifying 25)

Please join us at one of our next booksigning events:


April 25, 7pm: Water Street Bookstore, Exeter, NH

April 28, 7pm: Father Roger Bilodeau Community Center, Lincoln, NH (hosted by Steve Smith of The Mountain Wanderer Map and Book Store)


Latest publicity news:

USA TODAY will include Up: A Mother and Daughter's Peakbagging Adventure in its annual list of Mother's Day book recommendations!

BookPage.com has chosen Up as one of its five best Mother's Day book recommendations!

ClimbWithKids currently features a review of Up.

For full list of reviews and publicity for Up, click here.

Tuesday Trip Report: Eagle Cliff Trail (Terrifying 25)

Sage has been fighting a nasty cold for weeks.  Though we wanted to get out and hike something, I insisted on keeping the mileage short.  We'll save the high peaks for when no one is coughing.

Eagle Cliff Trail is only 0.6 miles long from trailhead to lookout point and it's on our Terrifying 25 list.  Seemed like a perfect hike for this particular day.

The trail begins in Sandwich, NH, across the street from Squam Lake.

The path rises moderately through the woods...

There are views of the Lake here and there...

Then the "terrifying" moments begin...

Yeah, okay...not really. 

As I explain on my page for the T25, I included trails based on their descriptions in the White Mountain Guide.  Eagle Cliff Trail was listed as containing a difficult rock scramble, one that might be hazardous in wet or icy conditions.  There's even a bypass path around this scrambly bit, in case anyone chickens out and wants to go up another way.  However, the girls and I found this trail tame, tame, tame.  Here's the most exciting part --

After this, it's just normal, albeit steep, trail.

I would not have included Eagle Cliff Trail in the T25 had I hiked it before looking through the White Mountain Guide.  So, if you're pursuing this list and want an incredibly easy get, choose this trail...and consider wearing roller skates to up the fear factor.



All that being said, the hike, though not terrifying, is rewarding.  The views of Squam Lake from the lookout point are stunning.

 

We hung about on the ledges for a while.  Sage played in the dirt...

While Alex took a bunch of pictures...

We made our way back to the car after a few hours of sun and views.

To sum it up -- great views, mundane trail.  Terror rating: 1 out of 5.