10/2/07
South Percy Peak 3234' and
North Percy Peak 3430'

5.4 Miles 2650' Elevation gain

Kevin, Judy and Emma

We have often looked at the Percy Peaks from other, more southerly mountains and said, "We've got to get to those some day." Well, that day finally came, and we're very glad we went. We had a near perfect day with the sky clearing while we were on the summit, though the views towards the horizon stayed hazy. The temp was around 60 with only the lightest of breezes, a beautiful fall day. We were surprised to find another group arriving at the trailhead at the same time we did, but they took off to bag North Percy and were down and on their way out by the time we came down from South Percy. We ran into one other hiker coming down North Percy and that was it for the day. We had the summits to ourselves. South Percy is definitely worth the trip. Though the summit is smaller and more wooded, there are good viewpoints all around. The view towards North Percy offers a commanding view of the ledges that make up this pointed peak. I'd have to say that these two peaks went into the top ten of my favorite views. To the south you can see all the way to Mount Garfield and Franconia Ridge, then across franconia Notch to Cannon, the Kinsmans and Moosilaukee. To the east are the Northern Presidentials, with and interesting view of Mount Jefferson lying in front of Mount Washington. Because of the haze it was difficult to discern Mount Jefferson and because of the angle we were viewing from it gave the illusion that the Cog Railroad was climbing up from Mount Monroe, an interesting perspective that we had not seen before. To the northeast could be seen the entire Mahoosuc Range. To the northwest the Nash Stream Forest was layed out before us. The views were very reminiscent of the views from The Horn, another summit in my top ten viewing places. The deciduous trees below us were near peak in their autumn glory, while the summits were splashed with the crimsons of Alpine Bilberry and the sea-foam green of Reindeer Lichen. There was a conspicuous Mason jar with a pen and paper to sign in on South Percy. I poured over the names dating back to 2003, but only saw a couple that I recognized. We spent at least 45 minutes on South Percy before descending and making the climb up to North Percy, where we spent over an hour. The ledges on this climb offer excellent views, but the summit is magnificent. We wandered around the summit like kids in a mall, taking in the views in all directions. I found blazes and cairns from the old Westside Trail which is no longer maintained. I may try to summit by this trail some time in the future, it looks very interesting and probably a good deal more challenging than the trail we hiked. All in all this was a great hike and goes very high on my list of recommended hikes. I would definitely like to return in winter.