It has seemed to me for a long time that there's a somewhat disparaging attitude about Tecumseh.
It's kind of the Rodney ("I don't get no respect")Dangerfield of the White Mountains ...
Perhaps because it's not as difficult a hike as many (if not all) of the 48; or maybe it's the proximity to the ski area.
Or maybe the mostly wooded views.
Recently there was a bit of a stir over some unofficial (and presumably uncondoned ) "viewscaping".
Someone took a saw and opened up a fairly obscured summit.
Approve or not, there's no denying the summit offers a pretty decent view now!
So ... with the trailhead at the corner of the ski parking area, I recommend getting there early ( or late) to avoid the traffic in the parking lot...
The trailhead is well signed and easy to find. Once found, the trail is a nice walk in the woods along a brook and never gets particularly steep until the last pitch up to the ridge.
Most of the trail is within easy hearing of the ski slopes. You can hear the lifts, and occasionally people whooping their way down the slopes. And a lot of the time I could hear skiers/boarders shaving ice off the run nearest the trail.
Along the ridge, the Sosman trail and Mt Tecumseh trails meet and then go along together for a short way and separate again to circle around the cone in different directions. They meet again at the summit. The trail was well packed, and almost no ice; I barebooted from the trailhead to just past the "summit" sign where the trails diverge.
I took the rightward path - the Mt Tecumseh trail - believing it is the more difficult route. This turned out to be correct, although there were no major obstacles. A couple spots where spikes were needed, but not hard to ascend. No scrambles or open ledges to traverse. This segment has an outlook over the ski slopes , but is otherwise wooded.
The summit was a delight, with a nice clearing under the trees and a pleasant outlook opening. Very restricted view to the North, looking out the Mt Tecumseh trail as it heads off to Tripoli Rd. A few minutes to switch over to a dry shirt, have a snack and some tea, then it was off down the Sosman trail back to the junction with the Mt Tecumseh trail.
Descending this section of trail, I began to freeze a couple fingertips. Muleheadedness; it wasnt that cold, I just didnt want to stop and get out my mittens. Eventually I realized the descent was NOT going to warm my fingers up ... mittens on, they warmed quickly. I've got to start carrying my mittens in a front pocket !!
The descent along this section of trail was much easier than it would have been going the opposite direction. There were some thru-the-trees views to the north along this segment too.
Descending along the ridge, I decided to walk out a way on the Sosman trail toward the ski slope summit lodge. This was a happy decision; though the trail was not packed like the Mt Tecumseh trail, the snow was not deep. Within about a quarter mile I reached a knob; climbing that I was treated to more views. So, for an extra half mile of easy walking, I doubled my views. Woo-hoo!
Decided I didn't particularly want to go over to the ski lodge, so I just headed back to the Mt Tecumseh trail, and headed on down. Once back at the parking lot I took a short walk around the base lodge to marvel at the commotion; fun remembering that I used to enjoy this; but no desire to get back to it ;)
One of the highlights - walking back to my car I noticed the little kids' daycare ( I guess that's what it is) . Here they were at this ski resort; their parents probably paying hundreds of bucks to be there with all sorts of activities for themselves and the kids; and what were they doing? .... at the edge there was a short bank with an ice floe from some runoff; there was a big crowd of kids around this, running up the bank and sliding down the ice and squealing with delight. Sometimes the simple amusements are the best :)