New Hampshire Appalachian Mountain Club - It's "The Climb"

'Live Free or Die' is the New Hampshire state slogan, but it could also be 'Life is Good' . On any given day of the year , intrepid enthusiasts brave Mother Nature's harshest elements as well as wildlife to travail indistinguishable paths, vertical peaks, and ice bridges ~ mainly because they can, but also because the views are spectacular.

Mount Washington is home to the worst weather on Earth (Just ask the Discovery Channel) with its peaks really only traversable in July and August. Even without reaching the peak, it would still require snowshoes and crampons to trudge through feet of snow. To quote Hannah Montana, 'it's not about what's on the other side~it's the climb.'

AMC is an acronym for Appalachian Mountain Club. The main office is on Joy Street in Boston. Their main objective is to educate people not only about the dangers of the trails, but the importance of equipment and gear. Having the gear and knowing how to use it are two different things. If you don't know how to use your gear, you put yourself and others unnecessarily at risk.

Safety in the mountains is strongly encouraged; there are paid trail guide as well as volunteer leaders who are trained in various camps and lodges throughout the year in the Spring and Winter. Each chapter emphasizes different points of safety depending on the terrain and weather conditions of the state.

One of the most underestimated trails in New Hampshire are those that traverse the Presidentials. There are forty-eight 4,000 footers in New Hampshire and the Presidentials are the eight highest peaks. They are : Madison, Adams, Washington, Eisenhower, Jackson, Pierce, Jefferson, and Monroe.