Willey, Field, and Ethan Pond Loop (White Mountain National Forest)

Willey, Field, and Ethan Pond Loop (White Mountain National Forest)

Hike Type: Lollipop Loop

Distance: 15.51 miles

Elevation: 4,006 feet

Time: 10 hours, 38 minutes (9 hours, 8 minutes moving)
Hiking Challenges: 52 Hike Challenge 2025; Terrifying 25; New Hampshire Appalachian Trail

The Hike 

FINALLY time to get back into the Whites! It had been a long November of basically zero hikes, so I was itching to get back outside. After a wonderfully calm and quiet Thanksgiving, I woke up at 3:00am the next morning, scooped Sarah up (she was not pleased with the time, but we have LIMITED daylight this time of year), and we made our way up north! Neither of us had a good night's rest, so we were both feeling some kind of way. We got snacks at Hooksett and got breakfast at the Lincoln McDonalds right when they opened at 5:00am. There were some clouds overhead on the drive, but not nearly as much as we anticipated. We eventually made our way into Crawford Notch and down to the Willey House Site, where we parked the car and began to suit up. It was in the upper 20s with surprisingly no wind (the Higher Summits Forecast warned of ground blizzards, but thankfully it was quiety in the notch.

[6:07am - Kendron Flume Trail]

Our hike started on the Kendron Flume Trail in full layers and headlamps, but with some light already in the sky. Sunrise was slated for 6:59am - I always forget how early the first light is. The early stretch of trail was nice and easy to follow, and we quickly passed a sign for the Willey Boulders, which we decided to save for the end. The trailbed soon became very leafy and we passed a neat fallen limb with some fungus on it that looked like needle ice, but it was more or less hairy? We poked it with our poles and giggled. 

[6:24am - Kendron Flume Trail/Westside Trail]

We passed the junction for the Westside Trail at a bend in the trail, which was a little difficult to follow at times due to the leaves. The sky was now a very dark shade of blue, and soon we began to hike parallel and below the railroad tracks. We saw a neat and spooky tunnel that I can only guess is for drainage, and soon turned to cross the tracks!

[6:29am - Kendron Flume Trail/Railroad Crossing]

There was a nice view to Mt. Willard from the railroad tracks with cloudy skies overhead and just a pinch of horizon down where the sun was rising - it was neat! Across the tracks, the trail steeply climbed up to more switchbacking and leafy grade. It was getting brighter now, the trail was getting a bit more rugged, and there were a few patches of snow and ice along the trail - we didn't need spikes yet, though. We caught some early pink colors through the trees, and later we came to the namesake Kendron Flume!

[6:55am - Kendron Flume Trail/Kendron Flume]

The flume was really neat. A narrow band of water cascading down from above followed by a drop off with a view out to the shoulder of Mt. Webster. The rest of the scarred Mt. Webster was visible through the trees, and some higher-up vantage points were now illuminated in a magnificent orange glow. The crossing of the brook was relatively easy and just a little icy. We spent just a little bit of time here admiring everything before continuing on. 

The Kendron Flume Trail felt steeper and more rugged after Kendron Flume, with one slab that was iced over and had to be navigated around. Near the slab, the trail followed another slabby brook that was very scenic to look at. We trudged along, now in just our base layers, up until the grade began to ease near the terminus of the trail.

[7:22am - Ethan Pond Trail]

We could have put spikes on at the Ethan Pond Trail, but grades were easy to moderate and the trail was not slippery, so we waited just a bit longer, even though it was covered in 1-3" of snow now. We hopped across a little stream, and soon came up to the Willey Range Trail junction! I would also like to point out, I was absolutely killing it in the game of Fart Baseball (I was winning a little too solidly, and not having had used the bathroom earlier in the day made me quite worried). 

[7:34am - Willey Range Trail]

We took a very short break at the Willey Range Trail junction to swap out layers, water bottles, and put our spikes on. The snow was now deeper, but the trail was still a little bony. It started off slightly flat before recrossing the Kendron Brook and then the CLIMBING began - and boy did it begin! The first bit of climbing was with decent footing, which quickly deteriorated to a deeply eroded trailbed with a few iced-over logs to hold everything in place.

This was followed by some more stable log stairs that were equally as icy. Our blood was pumping, but we were just happy to be outside on such a surprisingly beautiful day!

About ten minutes later, we came to the first of the famed "terrifying" ladders. The first one was comically decimated - only the top rung remained. Thankfully, it was not steep enough at all to warrant a ladder. 

The next three ladders were steeper and a bit scarier to me. They had just a few missing rungs, but required icy transfers between each of them which had me spooked, but it was completely fine!

The ladder climbing continued for a bit with occasional peek-a-views through the trees to nearby mountains - notably of the Montalban Ridge and Carrigain. 

The Willey Range Trail leveled out briefly and traversed a blowdown patch with restricted views over to Carrigain with the Sandwich Range looming behind. The sun had been trying to show itself throughout the morning, but clouds had moved in and it began to flurry like a snowglobe!

Following the blowdown patch, the trail continued to climb with a few scrambles that would have been easy in summer conditions, but required a little bit of care with the snow and ice. We got another peek-a-view towards the Montalban Ridge and further peaks before a final push (that I may have pushed too hard for, again), to a fantastic view just before the summit!

[8:59am - Willey Range Trail/Viewpoint & Break]

This view was just what Sarah and I needed after a long, tough climb. We could see down into Crawford Notch, including US-302 and the railroad. Stairs, Resolution, and Crawford were all standing proudly at the bottom of the notch while the steep wall of Mt. Webster commanded the lefthand view. We could see over to Wildcat Ski Area and Mt. Chocorua, all with stunning sun rays. On the far left were the Presidentials, which were mostly in the clouds (besides Jackson, Pierce, and most of Eisenhower). We stopped here for about 20 minutes to have a snack, hydrate, and go "WOW!" The flurries continued while we were here, too.

[9:20am - Willey Range Trail/Mt. Willey Summit]

The walk from the viewpoint ot the summit was just a few yards - we were happy to hit the top finally! We noticed seemingly endless snowhsoe hare tracks all around the summit area, too. I've never seen one in it's winter colors - only in its three-season coat! We briefly enjoyed the standing view from the other side of the summit, but we had also found the wind, and it was COLD. We threw some layers back on and got back into the trees onto the wonderful stretch of trail between Mt. Willey and Mt. Field. 

The trail was now packed down and truly a delight to walk on. We crossed a blowdown patch that offered views over to Mt. Field and hit a few PUDs on our trip, and it was genuinely lovely. We also saw our first person du jour at this point - a solo hiker hiking from Field to Willey.

Somewhere after the Willey-Field col, we made two friends - two gray jays! They clearly wanted some snacks, but Sarah and I are both against feeding them. They did not agree with us, though, and truly followed us all the way up to the summit. We named them Helena and Greg, and it was honestly so fun to have them with us (even if they only wanted our food). We acted like they were our guides and ensuring we made it to the top safely! Naturally, I took well over a hundred photos of our new friends - they were WILDLY comfortable with us!

We caught a view over to the backside of Bond and Bondcliff, continued to chit-chat with Greg and Helena, and hit a few steeper sections of trail before making it up to the summit of Mt. Field!

[10:15am - Willey Range Trail/Mt. Field Summit]

There was a duo on Mt. Field also giggling at the gray jays, but they soon departed. Sarah and I did just a quick break at the top for a small snack, water, and some photos. We also enjoyed the few views the peak offers - notable down to the Omni Mt. Washington Resort, Mt. Tom, and the Twins. 

The initial descent on the Willey Range Trail had nice views to the Twins and soon entered a stunning, birch-filled winter wonderland - I remember LOVING this stretch of woods when I hiked these peaks for the first time. 

[10:22am - Willey Range Trail/Avalon Trail]

We soon hit the junction with the Avalon Trail, which we joked about "just running down for the view," but that joke quickly fled when I remembered how steep it was! We continued our descent through these lovely woods with a delightful footbed... for the first 10 minutes. The back half of this walk was rough with exposed rocks, frozen drainages, and icy postholes. 

[10:48am - A-Z Trail]

Thankfully, we soon hit the A-Z Trail. I emotionally wanted to hit Mt. Tom, but did not want to do the almost one-mile round trip when we still had MUCH hiking left to do. Sarah simply had no interest in going up Mt. Tom, so we had a quick snack again (I had a cookie!), saw our next duo of hikers, which turned out to be the last hikers we'd see for the rest of the hike!

The A-Z Trail was clearly less-traveled in this direction, but still easy enough to follow with the few inches of snow. It descended relatively easily before crossing a snowmobile trail, which led to the first water crossing, which turned out to be a long, semi-dreadful stretch of comically wet and only partially-frozen trail. We thought we'd be cruising through this stretch of trail, but boy, were we wrong! On the plus side, I was winning fart baseball by a landslide... If that's even a plus? The trail varied from frozen ground to lovely snow to thin ice to deep water to boardwalks to stream crossings... it was rough! Thankfully, it was at least a little pretty.

Eventually, we crossed a second snowmobile trail and began to descend again with a few more stream crossings, but overall a much higher quality of life. The snow flurries continued throughout the whole A-Z Trail, sometimes getting a little heavier than a snowglobe, but always beautiful. The trail began to get wet again with more boardwalks, and after who knows how long, we came up to the edge of a beaver pond, which was our signal that we were almost to salvation!

[12:37pm - Zealand Trail]

[12:42pm - Zealand Trail/Zealand Hut FPA]

We were THRILLED to finally make it to the Zealand Trail! The A-Z Trail wasn't hard grade-wise, but footing-wise, it was rough and slow. Sarah gave the Zealand Trail sign a big hug, but we decided we would get a little further down before taking a break.

From here, the Zealand Trail crossed a bridge with snowy views towards some landmass, entered the Forest Protection Area surrounding the Zealand Hut, and paralleled another pond, where we could hear Zealand Falls ROARING on the other side. 

[12:46pm - Ethan Pond Trail]

[12:55pm - Ethan Pond Trail/Departs FPA]

On the far side of the pond, the Zealand Trail turned right to climb up to Zealand Hut and the Ethan Pond Trail continued on the railroad grade ahead. We were DELIGHTED to be on railroad grade after the A-Z Trail! We took a quick break here for another snack and for a potty break. 

Along the delightful Ethan Pond Trail, the snow was beginning to pick up - enough to the point where I had to put my sunglasses (we LOVE PitVipers) on to keep the snow out of my eyes - I just wish I didn't have my dark shades with me - I have a pair of lighter ones that would have been perfect for overcast snow. We soon departed the FPA and were back to fully enjoying life and our hike!

[1:22pm - Ethan Pond Trail/Talus Field]

After almost a half hour of delight, we entered the talus field near Zealand Notch and Whitewall Mountain. I had seen this area on Facebook and YouTube, but never in person before. It was stunning - especially with the snow falling! Footing was still wonderful as we were on the railroad grade, and the views were really neat and unique. We could see up to either Zealand or Hale (I think Hale?) on the far right across the notch and there were dramatic cliffs overhead up on Whitewall Mountain. I'm curious how many people climb up this talus field to summit Whitewall?

[1:27pm - Ethan Pond Trail/Zeacliff Trail]

It was fun seeing the Pemigewasset Wilderness sign at the junction with the Zeacliff Trail - a trail that I simply must venture some day now. The views continued ahead toward some unnamed mountains (to my knowledge) before eventually reentering the woods, which to no surprise, were still lovely. Life was good again!

[1:41pm - Ethan Pond Trail/Thoreau Falls FPA]

[1:46pm - Ethan Pond Trail/Thoreau Falls Trail]

We thought about visiting Thoreau Falls when we entered the Thoreau Falls Forest Protection Area, but we were starting to feel tired and still had a good number of miles left (and fleeting daylight!), so we continued on past the FPA and junction.

[1:52pm - Ethan Pond Trail/Bridge]

[1:53pm - Ethan Pond Trail/Departs FPA]

We did come to a wonderful bridge over the North Fork East Branch of the Pemigewasset River (ridiculous name), which was a deep red from the tannins in the water (I assume). We took a few photos, exchanged a few "wow"s, and continued on the still-delightful railroad grade, existing the Forest Protection Area, and later landing at the Shoal Pond Trail junction.

[2:00pm - Ethan Pond Trail/Shoal Pond Trail]

I had a wonderful moment of forgetfulness at the Shoal Pond Trail junction. I had been saving a Celsius as a little reward/boost for later in the hike, and when we got on the Ethan Pond Trail I told myself (and Sarah) that I would open it at the Shoal Pond junction. I was a bit tired at this point, so I fully forgot, and I GASPED with excitement when Sarah reminded me. I took my pack off, and immediately forgot what I was looking for - Sarah reminded me, and again, I GASPED with excitement! We giggled, I went to grab it, and yet again forgot what I was doing, got reminded, and GASPED with excitemenet. Sometimes, it really is a joy to be a little dumb!

The Ethan Pond Trail got a little less wonderful after the Shoal Pond Trail junction, but it was still easy peasy. The trail came up to a beautiful stretch of the river that had wide, cascading slabs into what looked like a deep pool (Sarah mentally pinned it for a possible swimming spot when the weather is nice again). 

Slowly, the trail began to... deteriorate. Footing became similar to that of the A-Z Trail - rocky, wet, kind of frozen, but also kind of not frozen. Sometimes there was thick, stable ice that was perfect for spikes, and other times you'd look at the ice and fall into a mud pit. It was rough. It was slow. When we weren't rock hopping, we were navigating a series of partially burried, partially rotting bog boardwalks, never knowing which step would plummet us into a stream. It was BRUTAL. We were also into double-digit miles at this point, which had us TIRED. The two miles, although flat, took us a solid hour, and we EARNED those miles. My Celsius reward ended up being a challenge - trying to navigate the contstant rock hopping with a can in-hand wasn't as easy as I thought it'd be! We lamented, complained, and went silent on a rotating basis, and only felt a bit of exictement and joy when we finally made it to the Ethan Pond Campsite Forest Protection Area - thank GOODNESS.

[3:02pm - Ethan Pond Trail/Ethan Pond Campsite FPA]

[3:10pm - Ethan Pond Trail/Ethan Pond Campsite Spur]

We caught a few glimpses of the cliffs off of Mt. Willey through the trees - it was still snowing, but a bit less now (which was appreciated). Sarah and I were both on the same page that we wanted to 1) see Ethan Pond and 2) get the heck out of these woods - the only break we planned to take was a quick pee and to shove a little bit of food down our throats. 

We followed the Ethan Pond Campsite Spur down to the Ethan Pond viewpoint, which in fairness was beautiful, but we quickly turned it around to take care of our chores (plus it was COLD at the pond) and blast off to the car! We were slowly becoming aware of the setting sun...

[3:27pm - Ethan Pond Trail/Departs FPA]

We were delighted to be on a nicer trail again (the bad stretch was Shoal Pond Trail to Ethan Pond Campsite Spur - I wonder if it's always like that or if we just got "lucky") and even more delighted be to leaving the FPA. We were both on "go" mode at this point as I continued to rack up fart baseball points (that being said, Sarah had joined the game by this point!). 

[3:49pm - Ethan Pond Trail/Willey Range Trail]

[3:58pm - Kendron Flume Trail]

Adding to our delight, time felt to be moving faster again as we crossed the Willey Range Trail junction and were soon back on the Kendron Flume Trail! We were zooming down, only slowing down at that one icy slab we climbed up earlier. From there, I started to blast off ahead of Sarah because I have a hard time fighting gravity on tired legs. 

[4:12pm - Kendron Flume Trail/Kendron Flume]

We rendez-vous'd at the Kendron Flume, which was now beautifully dusted in snow, as flurries were still falling, slightly clouding the view toward Mt. Webster. The trail was a little hard to follow in the next stretch with the fresh coating of snow, but I only missed one (1) switchback and got fully off-trail one (1) other time. Sarah was grateful that I was the one to make the mistakes so she didn't have to!

[4:30pm - Kendron Flume Trail/Railroad Crossing]

I got ahead again, trying to move quickly to avoid needing my headlamp, but I accepted defeat at the railroad crossing. I also desperately had to pee. I waited again for Sarah, and she exasperatedly told me "you know you can keep going!" - I told her "I know! I need to pee and I need you to get my headlamp out of my pack!" She was also disappointed we'd need headlamps, but it was DEFINITELY time! She got ahead this time as I took a scenic bathroom break off of the railroad bridge, and then I basically chased her back to the car.

[4:38pm - Kendron Flume Trail/Westside Trail]

I knew I was close at the Westside Trail junction, and I soon caught up with Sarah as we passed the sign for the Willey Boulders, which we agreed we'd visit another day (ideally in daylight). We carefully shimmied down the final descent back to the parking lot and RAN to the car - it was COLD in the notch!

[4:45pm - End of Hike]

We did a QUICK change at the car. It was snowing and dark out! I felt the need to rush out of there because I had friends coming over that night and I was simply far away from home and had no service to tell them - thankfully all was fine! We carefully drove up back through Crawford Notch, around US-3, and down through Franconia Notch, all with plenty of snow falling. Roads improved once we got through the notch, and we ordered pickup from the Common Man Roadside in Plymouth for dinner, which was excellent! The rest of the drive was easy-peasy, albeit a little sleepy. It was SO nice to be back up in the Whites!

Step-by-Step

- Park at Willey House Site.

- Start hike on Kendron Flume Trail.

- At terminus, turn right onto Ethan Pond Trail.

- At jct., turn right onto Willey Range Trail.

- At terminus, turn left onto A-Z Trail.

- At terminus, turn left onto Zealand Trail.

- At jct., turn left onto Ethan Pond Trail.

- After many miles, turn left onto Kendron Flume Trail.

- Return to car.

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