Although Miriam O’Brien was born in the nineteenth century, she became known for her mountaineering in the twentieth century.
Mountain Passages: The Journal of the New Hampshire Chapter of the Appalachian Mountain Club
Updated:March 21, 2026
Your source for outdoor adventures and “how to” articles about hiking, skiing, paddling, mountaineering and other outdoor activities, as well as articles about the history and natural environment of the New Hampshire forests and mountains
ARTICLES WANTED. Mountain Passages welcomes and needs contributions from AMCNH members. If you wish to contribute an article and/or photo essay on a topic you think relevant to the AMCNH community please email to newsletternh@amcnh.org. BE A PUBLISHED AUTHOR.
Mountain Passages Featured Blog Articles
PEOPLE of the WHITES: Miriam Eliot O’Brien Underhill (1898-1978) – by Frances Woodard Richardson
read more
Catching the Bluebird In the Gulf of Slides – by Ham Mehlman
Ham Mehlman is Editor-in-Chief of Mountain Passages and an AMC-NH member. He skis, hikes and bikes New Hampshire’s backcountry, trails and byways when time allows. “Bluebird days” with quiet winds are rare in the alpine zones of New Hampshire at this time of year,...
Making Room For Outdoor Adventure – by René Paquette
I’m thankful that the AMC’s mission is to encourage people to make room in their lives for the outdoors. The group I hiked with certainly embodied that ethos.
Mt. Washington, An All-Season Playground for Extreme Races: 2026 Events – by Ham Mehlman
Mt. Washington, being the highest peak in the Northeast, at 6,288 ft., having the biggest elevation profile of any mountain this side of the Mississippi, and already anointed “home of extreme” for its weather, is a natural location for extreme competitions.
Skiing The Cog – It may not be “backcountry” but it sure is fun – by Ham Mehlman
Some think it a “scar”. Others marvel at the 19th century engineering genius that runs its length. But what skiers see driving up to Mt. Washington Hotel in Bretton Woods, NH, is an invitingly wide and open, snow covered boulevard ascending to the top of Mt. Washington along the ridge between the Burt and Ammonoosuc ravines.
Swept by a Glacier, Hiking the Pompelly Trail – by John Williams
John Williams muses on the history and implications of the “glacial erratics” that dot our NH woods and many of the landscapes throughout New England.
The Un-cool Ski Trails of Pinkham Notch – by Lynn Fisher
“Un-cool” can be a badge of honor…
The Snowiest Winter Ever – by Ham Mehlman
If you are over 55, you may remember the winter of 1968-1969, a winter that validated a Currier and Ives like recollection of winters of Yore. It would prove to be the snowiest New Hampshire winter on record. The Mt. Washington Observatory recorded 566.4 inches (47 feet) of snow.
Is Mount Washington the Biggest, Baddest Mountain in the East? – by Ham Mehlman
Around these parts Mt. Washington is number one – the biggest, baddest knob in our provincial universe. We are aghast to hear that Mt. Washington (“Mt. W”) isn’t technically the loftiest peak in the Appalachian range or the East. No, Mt. Mitchell in North Carolina owns this distinction reaching 6,684 ft. in elevation. Is it case closed, or can we admirers muster arguments in support of Mt. W. as the biggest and baddest in the East? We can and we will. Our points start with the definition of a mountain…
Volunteering at AMC Campsites and Huts: “Best Volunteer Gig Ever” – by Lynn Fisher
That’s what I found myself thinking a couple of summers ago, somewhere on the Carter Dome Trail. I was hiking back (eventually) to my car after my first-ever two nights of serving as the Carter Notch Hut Volunteer Naturalist. I had just encountered a couple of lightly-equipped hikers who, noting my somewhat official volunteer labelling, asked questions for five minutes including “Is the top a long way from here?” They took a photo of my paper map and pushed onward. I enjoyed the satisfaction of helping someone’s day in the mountains go a bit more smoothly.
Still 48 4,000 Footers? – by Ham Mehlman
In 2019, Mt Tecumseh failed to make its number – 4,000 ft. The USGS slapped down a marker on the summit reading “elevation 3,997 ft.” Might as well read “foreclosed” or “condemned”. 142 years after first making the grade (so to speak) Tecumseh came up short. Now Tecumseh was at risk of being cut from an important roster – the esteemed White Mountain 4,000 Footer list, the highest honor for a White Mountain peak. For 88 years Tecumseh had been a respected founding member of the list first proposed by in a 1931 article in Appalachia Nathanial Goodrich. Would Shawnee Chief Tecumseh drop his endorsement after all these years? What happened? Too much Ozempic?
A New White Mountain 4,000-Footer Challenge? The White Mountain “4k x 4k” List – by Ham Mehlman
How about adding some integrity to a 4,000 footer list? Call out the sophistry. Anoint the real knarly dudes or dudesses. Formulate a 4,000 footer list that credits actually scaling 4,000 ft. of vertical relief (summit elevation minus lowest trail elevation), not just tagging summits – “peak-bagging” in the parlance.
THE WHITE MOUNTAIN 4k x 4k LIST CHALLENGE:
Scale the 20 distinct “aspects” (think sides) of White Mountain peaks with 4,000 feet of vertical relief and a one-way trail length less than 10 miles. These ascents total approximately 87,600 feet of vertical relief (the summit elevation minus the lowest elevation of a trail).
How-to Advice, Suggestions and Information
No Results Found
The page you requested could not be found. Try refining your search, or use the navigation above to locate the post.
No Results Found
The page you requested could not be found. Try refining your search, or use the navigation above to locate the post.
WHERE IN THE WHITES?
SPRING 2026 CHALLENGE
John Williams, AMCNH Excursions Chair Emeritus, shot this photograph on January 1, 2012.
What summit is John standing on? Name three peaks and the glacial cirque in the view.
Please send answers (and any suggestions for future challenges) to
Hopefully a bit more obvious than the winter challenge…
Winners so far:
- Loretta Boyne
- Mike Sullivan
WINTER 2026 CHALLENGE RESULTS
Whether it was the haze sent to us by Canadian fires or the location, Diana Moore stumped everyone with the view from the top of Mt. Israel in Sandwich, NH. Peaks in the view include Flat Mountain, North, Middle and South Tripyramid and Whiteface. Thanks Diana.
“PEAKS” INTO THE ARCHIVES:
Includes an excerpt from Keith Gentili’s book White Mountains State about his journey to scale all 48 NH 4,000 footers
NOTES:
- Mountain Passages is available as a blog on this page of the AMCNH.ORG website. We update the page with new material regularly as we receive and edit new posts. We include links to new articles in our chapter newsletter emailed to members each quarter. Members should check with AMC Member Services (603) 466-2727) to see if they are signed up for email distribution and/or to update their email address.
- Articles and “Letters to the Editor” welcome! Mountain Passages is an AMC-NH member-volunteer managed and produced publication. We welcome (and need!) articles and “Letters to the Editor” from members interested in writing on topics they think relevant to the missions, activities and interests of AMC-NH members. (All submissions subject to editorial review.) Please send Word or Google Doc file to . Be a published author!