Pine Mountain via Gorham | 12/21/25
- Izzy Risitano
- 3 minutes ago
- 2 min read
Winter is a slow time for nearly all White Mountains Tracers. With just a handful of snow-friendly routes left, this past Sunday was the third time I'd tried to winter hike Pine Mountain, but the first time the winds were low enough to do so. At a windchill of 10 and 35mph gusts at play, Willow and I were in for much better conditions than when we'd hoped to hike it last winter!
Today's hike up Pine Mountain started from the Gorham side, where there's some tricky trailhead navigation. The start of the trail is not clearly defined, sans pink flagging through the active pit on Promenade Street. I'd recommend having Gaia out until the powerlines, where a real trail sign defines where blazing begins.
Except for ice patches beneath the power lines, Willow and I didn't utilize any traction for the ascent. The lower portion of the trail had a light dusting of snow that transitioned into a more hearty layer around 1,400 feet. This transition also came with increased exposure, bringing those wind gusts back to the forefront of my mind. The trail grades themselves were consistently moderate, only intensifying just before the summit, where more ice was present. Overall, I would've enjoyed it as a snowshoe hike, thanks to the relatively easy/moderate difficulty level.
After rising to our last push, we briefly dropped into a flat section where the snow drifts were nearly snowshoe height, but not quite. By the time this is published, that'll have changed!
The terrain soon transitioned to a bog bridge, with camper accommodations at hiker's right and stairs to the top of Chapel Rock at hiker's left. There were a few sets of stairs to the top of Chapel Rock, easing the grade over the 0.2-mile spur. In the whipping winds, the cross stood still as everything around it moved. I must say, it was truly a beautiful sight despite the lack of traditional hiking views.
Coming down from the rock, we made a couple of short out-and-backs to connect my old lines and take a look at the yurts. Unsurprisingly, the weather seemed to clear up just as we were putting on our microspikes to descend, at which point I didn't see the need to go back up to Chapel Rock.
On the way down, the microspikes were a must until about 1800 feet. Since we had our rock spikes, we chose to keep them on until we got back to the mountain biking trails near the base for additional traction. Now good and wind-chilled from the lack of bodyheat on the downhill, we swiftly made our way to the White Mountain Cafe for some soup and sandwiches. A great winter day in my book!