Re-supply for section hike through the Whites

[QuietStorm]

I'm planning a northbound-section hike beginning at Hanover, NH through to Rattle River Hostel for this June. I am trying to plan re-supply points every four days or so. I plan to hike from June 16-about June 26. What has been your experience with re-supply? What have you done after Glencliff/North Woodstock/Lincoln? I don't plan on staying at any of the huts but will be stopping in for snacks or a meal if it works out trail-wise.

[Slo-go'en]

We don't make it easy for you. The trail does not pass by any convenient places to resupply. At Franconia Notch you'd have to hitch down to North Woodstock. Since you can't hitch on the interstate, you need to make your way to Route 3, which the trail comes pretty close to.

Crawford Notch there is nothing. You'd have to hitch a long way to find even a convenience store. At Crawford notch, your several miles south of the Highland center (and don't try to walk there on the road, you can access the Highland center via trail, but not from the AT). You can get a meal at the Highland center, and maybe some candy bars but that's it.

Don't count on getting any food at the huts. Meals are for paying guests only. All the food has to be hiked in, often 3-4 miles up a steep trail so supplies are limited. At best you can get a cup of soup and some bread which was left over from the last nights dinner. They will often have cookies or brownies, also left over from the night before.

Good luck!

[peakbagger]

NH is not resupply friendly. There is no store remotely near Glencliff. The hostel has some supplies but I think most send boxes https://hikerswelcome.com/

Its about 3.5 miles down hill from Kinsman Notch to the the Notch Hostel https://notchhostel.com/. They have supplies for sale. The closest supermarket is in Lincoln and is another 3 to 4 miles from the hostel. Its a busy place, I dont know if they make scheduled runs to Lincoln.

The AT crossing at Franconia Notch has nothing except for some discreet AT signs. It goes under the parkway and heads right into the woods again. You cross a bike path or can take blue blaze to the AT parking lot. There is nothing there except an outhouse. If you walk about 1/4 of a mile down RT3 (not the parkway) you will come upon the Flume tourist attraction from here its about 5 miles to the grocery store in Lincoln. You have to walk through North Lincoln which does not have store but does have few restaurants and a gas station. There is local shuttle in that area called the Shuttle Connection https://www.facebook.com/theshuttleconnection. Not cheap but will get you to where you need to go.

The AT crossing at Crawford's Notch is desolate, just a wide spot in the road. Its 4 mile steep walk up hill to the AMC Highland Center which may hold packages (call them to check). The nearest grocery store is 25 miles south in in Glen NH on RT 302 south (at the intersection of RT 16). A lot of the traffic through the notch will be going past the grocery store but they may not know where it is. There is campground store at private campground about 5 miles south that has a very small limited selection of food. (not adequate for a multiday resupply).

The next road crossing is Pinkham Notch. AMC has a facility there but they dont have any resupply. I believe you can send packages there but call to check. The closest grocery store is Walmart in Gorham a 15 mile hitch. Walmart is on the outskirts north of town, there are a couple of convenience stores in town that have some supplied but better off going to Walmart.

The next crossing is in Shelburne NH on RT 2, there is hikers hostel right next the parking lot. I dont know what they have for supplies. The nearest Grocery store is Walmart in Gorham which is about 6 miles (4 miles to town).

The AMC huts frequently have some leftovers in the AM that are for sale and they usually have soup and most of the time baked snacks. On busy weekends they may run out. The have no food supplies for sale and the only way you can get breakfast or dinner is if you have reservations and paid for a slot. AMC has a hikers shuttle that runs a couple of fixed routes. You can pay to use them to get around but realize they are set up for hut guests and may not line up with your needs.

So unlike a lot of the AT south of the whites, the option of easy town resupplies is not there unless you burn up a lot of time off trail. Add in that a typical thruhikers daily mileage drops significantly (minimum 1/4 typical 1/2) resupply can be an issue. This continues on into Maine so might as well get your practice now.

[Gambit McCrae]

I will be following this thread as well. I will be doing NH first of September with 2 friends and resupply has been my big question.

[GoldenBear]

Its about 3.5 miles down hill from Kinsman Notch to the the Notch Hostel https://notchhostel.com/. They have supplies for sale

https://notchhostel.com/adventure-pl...t-thru-hikers/
https://notchhostel.com/amenities/

[Slo-go'en]

You might as well just sign up for the hut to hut tour. It's expensive, but it does make the hike much easier. You won't have to worry so much about resupply, you can carry a lighter pack making the big climbs easier and you don't deal with the restrictive camping regulations. The only sticky part is you'd still need all your gear for the Hanover to Glencliff section.

It's worth becoming an AMC member, the member discount is significant and I believe there is an additional discount if you do all the huts. At your age, I'd just bite the bullet and spend the money.

[Gambit McCrae]

You might as well just sign up for the hut to hut tour. It's expensive, but it does make the hike much easier. You won't have to worry so much about resupply, you can carry a lighter pack making the big climbs easier and you don't deal with the restrictive camping regulations. The only sticky part is you'd still need all your gear for the Hanover to Glencliff section.

It's worth becoming an AMC member, the member discount is significant and I believe there is an additional discount if you do all the huts. At your age, I'd just bite the bullet and spend the money.

What about at my age?! lol

I want to complete the whites without the huts, and with my pack, in a tent. Just another senseless goal I have created

[peakbagger]

Unless you have a tight schedule, if you send a box to Glencliff you can head to Franconia Notch and text for a pickup at the Flume visitor center which brings you back to the The notch Hostel. https://notchhostel.com/adventure-pl...t-thru-hikers/ I think you can catch a late store run and then take the shuttle in the AM or take a zero. Send a box to Highland Center and possibly catch the AMC shuttle at the crossing and consider a zero in the Shapleigh lodge (a slightly less expensive option than the Highland Center). Then consider a zero at Pinkham. If you are really up for it, the hostels in Gorham will give you shuttle in the AM to slack the Wildcats and Carters (A real long day! ). It will cost less than staying at the huts and more importantly it gives you flexibility in case you get off schedule. If you book a hut and you get delayed you pretty much own the spot that night as they limit the ability to swap reservations.

Note you are not alone for sure in the summer and fall in the whites. Plenty of day hikers, overnighters, section hikers and thru hikers out on the trails. If you are flexible and ask for help you can usually get it. I find that good old fashioned paper maps allow you to figure out where you are in the region as you need to understand what highway goes to what town. Cell coverage in Crawford Notch is non existent.

[fastfoxengineering]

After Moosilauke resupply in lincoln and stay at the notch. Then slackpack the kinsmans and stay at the notch. Resupply at price chopper.

Then your gonna need to carry food for Franconia Ridge and the Presidentials unless you want to take the LONG journey into North Conway.

After the presidentials stay at rattle river in Gorham. Resupply at Walmart. Then do the wildcats and finish at Rattle River.

Its webster cliffs thats a crappy spot to resupply. Theres not much you can do without a long hitch or planned ride.



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[Slo-go'en]

The problem with the AMC shuttle it's the same price no matter how far you go. If your just bumping up the road from the AT to the Highland center, the driver might let you do that for free (it's only 3 miles). Otherwise it's $22.

You could go directly from Zealand Falls to the Highland center via the A-Z trial (and score another 4,000 footer in the process if you take the short side trail to the summit of Mt Tom) but doing that skips a few miles of the AT. Doing the road walk is not recommended as it's a narrow, twisty road which people drive way, way too fast on. Then if you go to the Highland center, you can take the easy trail back up to Mizpah.

Lots of hikers hitch to Gorham from Pinkham. Pinkham is a busy place with day hikers so it's not too hard to get a ride. Then you could go to the Rattle river hostel and slack pack the Carter-Moriah range the next day.

[Gambit McCrae]

How many days to get from i93 to us2? if a resupply/ zero is not taken? 6 days?

[tdoczi]

How many days to get from i93 to us2? if a resupply/ zero is not taken? 6 days?

give or take a day. 5 is not impossible, neither is 7. Slo' will probably say 9 and warn you about something that has a 3% chance of delaying you for 2 more days.

[Gambit McCrae]

Feel like im hijacking the thread, I posted my tentative plan in my NH thread

[Slo-go'en]

give or take a day. 5 is not impossible, neither is 7. Slo' will probably say 9 and warn you about something that has a 3% chance of delaying you for 2 more days.

Well, I made it from the parking lot at Franconia to Crawford in two days. I was able to get a thru hiker to Gorham before dark too. But man, did that beat me up. I also made it from the Perch to Crawford going the other way in two days. The Perch to Neuman tent site took about 12 hours. But I did spend a good hour, hour and a half on Mt Washington. Had to stop and spend time at the restaurant you know. It was a nice day so stopped and took a lot of pictures too.

So, day 1. Franconia to Garfield. (I took the shuttle from Crawford, which didn't arrive at Franconia until nearly noon, so it was a late start and got to Garfield just before dark).

Garfield to Ethan pond would be day 2.

Day 3 would be to Neuman. You'd think that's a short day mileage wise, but a long day in effort. The climb out of Crawford is major. Plus you can't go any farther since you reach tree line after a big climb out of Mizpah.

Day 4, Mizpah/Neuman to the Perch. Another long killer day, but do-able.

Day 5 is back up to the ridge, go around Adams and up and over Madison, then the knee crunching, near vertical decent down to the Osgood tent site.

Day 6 is a short one to Pinkham. Or a really long killer day to the Imp shelter, seeing you not going to stay at Carter or illegally camp along the ridge. There are some serious rock scrambles on this section. But then, there have been some serious rock scrambles already.

Day 7 you arrive at RT2.

That's assuming good weather. The 3% chance of bad weather can really throw a money wrench into that plan.

[egilbe]

7-9 days is reasonable for a section hiker from Franconia Notch to Rt 2. Probably more realistic at my age. It's a beautiful area. No sense rushing through it if you don't have to.

[Dogwood]

It's a 144 mile stretch. Notch is right in the middle for a 10 day 14 m/day avg trip during late june. Supplement along the way if ya need and to keep the consumable haul lighter is one way to organize the resupply without the consumables heroics. Take a Nero or Zero somewhere as ya might want.

[Dogwood]

AT NH Guidebook rates the difficulty from 1-9. Use it to organize which days will be harder and which will be easier i.e.; which days you may want to do less and which days more miles. You're timeframe is within the summer solstice so you should take advantage of the long daylight hrs. Dont have to hike stressed or fast but ya can hike the hrs(endurance) on the higher difficult rated segments(miles). HYOH YMMV

[Mouser999]

Check out the Notch Hostel. Great place to stay and I believe they do shuttles.

[peakbagger]

https://notchhostel.com/adventure-pl...t-thru-hikers/

Free shuttles do not run during weekends in peak season.

Other taxi services in area
The Shuttle Connection” — 603-745-3140 (for immediate pick up) or 603-348-7422 (for advance reservation)

Uber, Lyft

We live in a major tourist town, complete with our own local taxi service, The Shuttle Connection. Operates 6:30am – 2am daily, best for local trips. 603-745-3140. Approx. $5-6 for ride to/from town, $10 to/from trailheads. Warning: They charge PER PERSON – can be expensive for large groups. Call ahead if possible as they can run late during busy season, and make sure to call and cancel if you find another ride.

Based on the above copied from the Notch Website, its best to avoid the Notch hostel on weekends if you want special services.

I havent heard of anyone successfully getting Uber or Lyft services in the region but perhaps I just do not listen in the right places.

[peakbagger]

The problem with the AMC shuttle it's the same price no matter how far you go. If your just bumping up the road from the AT to the Highland center, the driver might let you do that for free (it's only 3 miles). Otherwise it's $22.

You could go directly from Zealand Falls to the Highland center via the A-Z trial (and score another 4,000 footer in the process if you take the short side trail to the summit of Mt Tom) but doing that skips a few miles of the AT. Doing the road walk is not recommended as it's a narrow, twisty road which people drive way, way too fast on. Then if you go to the Highland center, you can take the easy trail back up to Mizpah.

Lots of hikers hitch to Gorham from Pinkham. Pinkham is a busy place with day hikers so it's not too hard to get a ride. Then you could go to the Rattle river hostel and slack pack the Carter-Moriah range the next day.

I and others pick up folks all the time and give them a ride up to Highland center in Crawford Notch if I am driving by. I do the same at Pinkham Notch to Gorham. At those locations its pretty much a guarantee that someone is a day, section or thru hiker. Same with Rattle River to Gorham. I am bit more careful on RT 2 in Gorham going west as RT 2 is a popular hitch for sketchy characters heading to VT. Heck over the years I have picked up thru and section hikers going east on RT 2 and gone out of my way to get them where they need to be. The key thing is that I am doing it when I can on my schedule. I dont have the least interest in doing shuttling and the insurance required makes it a money loser.