Back in February I mentioned that LIDAR mapping of the White Mountains found that Mt. Tecumseh is only 3,995 feet tall, potentially removing it from the list of 4000-footers maintained by the Appalachian Mountain Club.
The idea of the iconic list of peaks being altered got a lot of people worked up, so as part of year-end cleanup I thought I’d see if there’s an update. Nina Paus-Weiler, the communications manager for AMC, emailed the 4,000-Footer Committee is still deliberating on whether the work will change the current NH48 list. “They might come to a conclusion about this at their annual April meeting, but things still seem fairly uncertain,” she noted.
Incidentally, I am not a peak-bagger, mostly because some of the 4,000-footers are boring or pointlessly difficult. If I’m going to take time to go hiking I’d rather climb an entertaining shorter peak like Chocorua than something like Owls Head, which I’m told is an endless flat slog and then a killer climb with no view and no obvious summit.
My family was on 4,459-foot Mt. Liberty on Christmas Eve. Up-and-down on Liberty Springs Trail is about the limit of my day-hiking any more. Man, was I beat.
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I was surprised when I saw the new elevation marker on Mt. Tecumseh on Oct. 28 that reads 3997 feet.
I see your point about some 4000 footers not seeming worth the effort but it doesn’t stop me. I’ve been hooked on hiking them since 1984. In late August I turned 70 years old and decided to “go for” getting my “48 after 70” patch. I got carried away with getting it done, finishing them all in 75 days ending on Nov. 5. After thinking back to my childhood as the fat kid who nobody wanted on their team I feel proud of my accomplishments. That, and staying in good physical condition, are my motives to continue hiking up mountains.
You’re right, of course, in that the big advantage of the 4000-footer list, or hiking the A.T., or any of these arbitrary outdoorsy goals is that they provide an extra incentive to get out on those days when your motivation is wishy-washy.
So, David, as Mt. Tecumseh hosts the Waterville Valley Ski Area, and thus sports a lift to the summit, why not invite every summit-lift rider to voluntarily take a manageable size rock or stone up to the top and leave it there. Pretty, soon, Tecumseh could be restored to it’s 4K-Footer status, which it obviously enjoyed before the wear and tear of skiers brought it down to 3,995 feet. Restoration is the key to good mountain conservation.
our battle cry will be “Reverse Entropy For New Hampshire!”
Did you ever see the movie “The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill and Came Down a Mountain” that takes place in Wales. Same premise and is a pretty good and little known movie starring Hugh Grant.
What happens to official mountain elevations if global warming raises “sea level”. For every foot the sea level increases does the mountain peak elevation decrease? For that matter how is the official “sea level” determined?
Ha! I hadn’t thought about that … In 2100, people in NH will be checking off a list of 48 3,500-footers.