This is my second hike today as I have already hiked the Tripyramids with Ed Hawkins and company this morning. I arrived at the trailhead about 2:30. This is one of the easier 4000 footers in the Whites.
Being a bit of an American Civil War buff, I can't hear the name Tecumseh without thinking of General William Tecumseh Sherman, who is best known for his infamous 'March to the Sea' from Atlanta.
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Immediately after the trailhead there is a small stream crossing. I saw two hikers coming down the trail.
"Am I almost at the top?" I kidded.
"About 10 more minutes," they replied.
The trail follows Tecumseh Brook for a few minutes before it crosses the brook.
Just before where the trail crosses the brook, a bit of a herd path continues. Fortunately someone marked the turn with this tripod made out of sticks.
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There's a nice log seat on the other side of the brook.
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A little further up the trail, I walked down some log steps . . .
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. . .crossed the brook again, and headed up a stone staircase.
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I came to a sign for a view.
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This short trail was just a few yards long. It brought me out onto one of the ski trails. Like this morning, the day was still overcast.
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The trail then got quite steep and very rocky.
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I was glad to see some of these rocks were put to good use. This staircase had to be a lot of work. Thank you to whoever built it.
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I found this 'mystery' cairn. There was no other trails, no turn in the trail, and the trail was easy to follow so I don't know why this was built. Perhaps someone got fed up with this rocky trail and decided to use up a few of the rocks.
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This trail wastes no time getting to the top. Up, up, up I went. I finally reached the junction with the Sosman Trail.
My map shows that there is a scenic view on this deadend trail. It would cost me an additional 1.2 miles. The weather was still overcast and this was my 2nd hike of the day so I passed.
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There is a small loop that goes to the summit of Tecumseh.
Like all my important decisions I used the 'eenie, meenie, minnie, moe' method.
I went to the right although both trails would lead to the top.
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A few minutes later I reached the 4003' summit where I used the self-timer on my camera for this picture.
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This was my 38th White Mountains 4000 footer, but I missed out on my Ed Hawkins' handshake. That's OK. I'll just have to do it again. There would be a little bit of a view from here through the trees on a clear day, but not today. I finished the loop around the summit and returned over the same route.
