The Grandviews | 3/4/2026

It's unusual that I write about a bushwhack, but this one was one to remember! On the first "hot" day this year, Liz and I returned to the Elbow Pond trailhead for one final walk alongside the snowmobiles.

Although we'd bushwhacked from this trailhead before to hike Mount Cilley last season, we hadn't discovered the firetower list quite yet. That said, we had no idea neighboring East Grandview had a fire tower (1940s) with present remains!

Elbow Pond trail is a unique site. The lot of 118 has a shooting range in the parking lot, access to the Warren-to-Woodstock snowmobile, and a hand-written road sign on the way in. It just does not get more New Hampshire than that. But for some, it is a kick-off point for one of the many bushwhacks in the area.

Testing out snow depth

The "road walk" is fairly straightforward: a left at the first junction (0.96), then straight past the next (2.92), where you enter the woods for Grandview shortly thereafter (3.16). While this fire road is broken out by snowmobiles, snowshoes are a necessity on these warm days- even with the clumping.

This is VERY heavy!

Liz and I saw a lot of snowmobilers today, most were loud enough to get us to hop off early, but some of the new ones are stealthy! Folks were super respectful of us hiking, so we enjoyed the company out there. Soon enough, though, we were thoroughly on our own hiking up the Grandviews.

From the time we entered the woods at 3.16 miles, we only had 0.68 miles each way to East Grandview, but it took about an hour and forty minutes on the way up. In addition to some sneaky tree pockets and run-offs to get stuck in, the snow was incredibly wet and heavy. It was tough to balance the sweat, sun, deep postholes, trees stuck in my hair, and exposed skin falling into the snow all at once.

As we got closer to Grandview, the post-holing eased when the terrain plateaued. The frustration train soon returned as we sharply dropped into the col of East Grandview and noticed a rocky face that does NOT appear on Gaia slope maps. Given how tight the col is, I wouldn't be surprised if the Lidar simply couldn't get a proper reflection. While the terrain surprised us, we managed with a pull to the left and an aggressive sidehill to the last band of elevation, where we could walk up to the old firetower.

Ice on the East Grandview cliffs

Although the "grand views" of East Grandview have long grown in, there were some great obstructed views towards the high peaks of Waterville Valley. I meant to look more coming down, but the heat miser and Jack Frost battle occurring within me had me fairly focused on getting back to the road as soon as I could.

Once back down, more than an hour faster than we got up, I immediately re-did my layering and sported a tank top, shorts, and gaiters. I cannot deny- I have always wanted to pull off this look, and today was the ideal day for it. While I'm not sure I'll get another chance to wear shorts and snowshoes this year, I hope everyone gets the chance to try this eventually.

Appropriate hiking attire

At the day's end, we did 7.68 miles with 1,414 feet of elevation gain. While that's a light day by summer standards, it was a big way to wrap up my bushwhack-snowshoe season!