The Grid, Gridiots And The Gridiocracy - Section Hiker

The Grid is a peakbagging list in the White Mountains of New Hampshire where hikers climb each of the 48 White Mountain 4000 footers each month of the year, requiring 12 x 48 = 576 summits to finish. As you can imagine it’s a very difficult list to complete because there aren’t 28-31 good weather days each month of the year, the mountains on the list are spread out across 7 different mountain ranges, and most people couldn’t hike every day if they wanted to due to job and family obligations.

Experienced hikers will tell you that no two hikes up the same mountain are ever the same. This probably explains why some hikers are willing to climb the same mountains month after month, throughout the year, to experience the variety of weather conditions and seasonal changes that affect each climb.

Still,  105 people have finished The White Mountains Grid and I know many other hikers who are working on it. Click here, to download the spreadsheet checklist and application. Collectively, they’re often referred to as “Gridiots.”

The Rules

• An official peak is a peak that is counted once on a hike from the beginning trailhead to the finish trailhead. Even though it may be passed over more than once in the course of the hike, it should be counted only once.

• On a backpacking trip, a peak can be counted once only. Unless of course, the backpacker goes all the way down to a legal vehicle trailhead, and turns around, and goes back. Or, goes back, via another legal vehicle trailhead and trail.

• On a backpacking trip, the date the summit is touched, on the initial pass over, is the “OFFICIAL” summit date.

Finishing might the Grid might seem like a daunting task only undertaken by fanatics, but you’d be surprised how easy it is to get hooked on attempting it. First, you finish the 48 White Mountain 4000 footers. Next, the Winter 4,000 footers. By then you’re helping other hikers finish their first 4,000 footer list and you notice that you’re piling up more hikes to the same peaks. At that point, it’s natural to expand your horizons and do the seasonal grid – bagging all 48 peaks in summer, autumn, winter, and spring. And so on.

While challenging, there are a few tricks to consider when hiking The Grid. You are allowed to bag multiple peaks in one day, which makes hiking them much more manageable. For example, adjacent peaks such as Liberty and Flume; West Bond, Bond, and Bondcliff; and Galehead, North and South Twin are usually hiked on the same day. If you’re willing to do a little backpacking, it’s also possible to string together as a dozen or more peaks over a long weekend since the vast majority are bunched together on common ridgelines.

As for the White Mountain Grid Finishers, they are some of the nicest, most humble people you’ll ever meet. In addition to hiking, many are volunteer trail maintainers, lead hikes with local outdoor clubs, or are involved in local search and rescue efforts when people get in trouble in the mountains. They’re also a bit whacked, but I suppose you could say that about anyone who hikes regularly in the White Mountains. :-)

About the author

Philip Werner has hiked and backpacked over 10,000 miles in the United States and the UK and written over 3000 articles as the founder of SectionHiker.com, noted for its backpacking gear reviews and hiking FAQs. A devotee of New Hampshire and Vermont hiking and backpacking, Philip has hiked all 650+ trails in the White Mountains twice (Redlined) and has completed 12 rounds of the 48 peaks on the White Mountains 4000 footer list with over 576 summits in all four seasons (The Grid). Philip section hiked Vermont's Long Trail (272 miles) in 2008 (the origin of the website name "SectionHiker") and completed a Long Trail Side-to-Side in 2025. He is the author of Hiking Over 60: A Modern Guide to Hiking Gear and Techniques for Active Adults and Backpacking the White Mountain 4000 Footers. Philip is currently on the board of directors for the Green Mountain Club. Click here to subscribe to the SectionHiker newsletter.