Description
Author: Mike Dickerman.
New Hampshire’s iconic 4,000-foot peaks, with their rugged character and natural beauty, have been attracting hikers, explorers, and outdoor enthusiasts to the White Mountains for more than 200 years. Though they are best known today for their long-standing popularity among peak-bagging hikers, these mountains played a major role in the development of the region from a daunting wilderness to a thriving recreational mecca. This transformation included the construction of the world-famous Mount Washington Cog Railway in 1869 and its various summit hotels atop the Northeast’s highest peak, the cutting of hundreds of miles of recreational footpaths in the mountain valleys and on their steep slopes, and the creation of some of New England’s first downhill ski trails on Mounts Moosilauke, Cannon, and Wildcat in the 1920s and 1930s. Over the years, the 4,000-footers have attracted visitors from all walks of life, including US presidents, renowned poets, world-class skiers, and Supreme Court justices.
Mike Dickerman is a longtime White Mountains hiker who has climbed all 48 of New Hampshire’s 4,000-foot summits in both summer and winter. He has written or edited more than a dozen books about the region and is a former member of the AMC Four Thousand Footer Committee. For this book, he has collected images from the Appalachian Mountain Club, the New England Ski Museum, the White Mountain National Forest, regional historical societies, and several private collections.
