Trip #69 - New Hampshire and Maine

[Gambit McCrae]

Trip #69 – New Hampshire and Southern Maine
With all the covid stuff going on this year I was not sure I would be able to pull off my typical 2-week trip in pursuance to completing the Appalachian Trail. As well due to the Covid I knew that if I DID pull a trip out of the hat that I would be doing so alone because all my hiking friends (2-3 options) all have vacation restrictions this year due to Covid. Lastly, I got married in April! And with the crazy year we had not taken any sort of honeymoon/ trip together.
A second lastly, we got a German Shorthair Pointer 4 weeks ago and so we have just had a whole lot of life changes this year, all for the good except Covid crap.

So, our plan was this: My wife, my ol' bird dog and myself would fly up to Boston, rent a car and go on a 2-week hiking/ adventure/ time together/ let’s get some AT miles knocked out trip. My amazing wife would get up with me in the early mornings, drive me out to the trail, I would hike my miles for the day, and she would adventure around until close to pickup time, head to the endpoint and adventure there until I emerge from the woods. This plan ended up working flawlessly for the entirety of the trip.

We rented an Air BnB for the entirety of our stay. We self-quarantined prior to leaving for 14 days (even longer actually) and were both tested 2 days prior to leaving.

Saturday - Day 1- (Travel) Fast forward to crossing the Maine NH state line for the first time (via car) .... All my section hiking completion and progress flashed before me.... The last state. I have walked far enough north to now be in the last state. What a feeling that was. We settled into our home away from home for the next 2 weeks and went grocery shopping.

Sunday - Day 2- I could not contain myself, staying in Maine for the entire trip, and having not hiked any of Maine just wouldn’t do any longer. I chose to start the trip out with a Maine section....ME17 Sobo to S Arm. Bemis Mountain was a big hit for me. I really enjoyed the summit and the views. I lost my sunglasses on a fall up there but luckily Amazon ships quickly and I had some replacements in the mail quickly. As I was summitting Old Blue I could hear the ever so familiar sound of thunder roaring on the south side of the mountain. Rain was coming. No more then 5 minutes once in the car, the bottom fell out of it and a summer storm rolled through. It would last for 3 days. No more then a half of a mile from the trail and we saw a moose cross the road! We were so excited to see one.
Mon-Tue-Wednesday - Day 3,4,5 – The rain was heavy and continued through Monday with lightning and strong winds. Tuesday brought more of the same, but I began to get antsy. Wednesday was only a sprinkle, so we drove to the trail to knock out another slack. When we arrived, the south arm creek crossing was over my waist. Water raging through there like an angry flood. We both agreed that with there being a second crossing several miles in, and I hiking solo that it wasn’t the safe choice nor necessary, so we drove the trip back to Bethel bummed. We did use these 3 days to see sites that a hiker would never see on the trail and I am very thankful for that. Even in the rain, we saw some outstanding stuff and spent that time together.

Thursday – Day 6 – Back to south Arm and with only 13 miles in for the trip by day 6 I am absolutely going to cross that crossing today. As we arrive, we see it is still up, but not as high as the day before. I quickly get out of the car, take my shoes off and start heading across the creek. Water was up to above my shorts, but I did not care, miles needed walked and I was determined. Once across it was a great feeling and I was able to begin my climb up Moody Mountain, the across sawyer brook and lastly the climb up Wyman Mountain. The section was uneventful, but it was another 10 miles or so off the to do list. I finished my day at East B Hill where I found my lovely wife and bird dog down by the creek in our hammock readying and snoozing. They had had a full day of adventure and were as tired as me.

Friday - Day 7 – This was a day I was excited for. The Baldpates. I started my climb up and at a steady pace made it to tree line with no breaks. The terrain reminded me of the summit trail up Killington back in Vermont. It was an exciting climb. There is really no way to describe the Baldpates that would do them justice. They were just spectacular. I had them to myself, and on a partly cloudy clear day. I ended at Grafton Notch where my trusty partner was waiting for me. Now about 35 miles into the trip and I suddenly have an issue. When I pulled my day pack off it felt like the skin came with it. My back was on fire! My wife grimaced when she looked at it and told me I had a little bleeding issue. I had allowed myself to chafe through several layers of skin all the way across my back without even knowing. After a trip to CVS for some skin recovery cream, the rest of that evening was spent on my belly, letting the ointments do their job.

Saturday – Day 8 – MT Washington to Crawford Notch. I believe that for anyone dedicated to completing the entire trail that there is green tunnel, and there are iconic stretches. Mt Washington has always been in the top 5 spots for me along the trail. Unfortunately, due to Covid, the only way for me to complete the section from Crawford Notch to Pinkham during this pandemic was to break it up into 2-day hikes, both starting at the mt Washington auto road. I like many others asked myself if this was fair or cheating until I started hiking down off Washington. At that moment I found that there is no cheating, its hiking! I was playing by the rules I had been dealt, making the best of it and at the end of the day, no one really cares. The drive-up Washington to extreme for 2 first times and a bird dog. We were the 8^th car in line and I was ecstatic when we were sitting at the toll house and could see the summit from all the way down there. I knew I was lucky and could not wait to get up there. Washington and the Presidential cannot be described accurately enough with my lack of writing skill, and pictures will never do them justice. I know that I will be taking many trips for the rest of my life to redo the hikes I did off Mt Washington and later over Franconia Ridge. If I were to ever shed a tear due to a view, it would be in this stretch. At the end of the day my sweet wife was waiting for me with a smile and several food options for us in Gorham. We chose the J’s Corner And had an outstanding burger and philly cheese.

Sunday – Day 9 – ME 17 to ME 4 - The forecast looked cloudy with 50% chance of rain, so I chose to jump back up into Maine for a day of slacking for another 13 miles off the list. It was an uneventful day of chewing out some miles.

Monday – Day 10 – Back to Washington Summit to do Washington down to Pinkham Notch. How lucky am I? Another clear day. I had a fantastic walk from the Summit all the way to the top of Mt Madison. Once on the Summit I saw the fun scramble I was going to endure for the next mile or so. I should add that other then a few hikers I pretty much had the entire Presidential Range to myself. I was feeling out of gas betime I got to Pinkham, but the day was complete, another 13 miles off the list and Mr Pizza was calling our name. Another burger for me and a calzone for my wife.

Tuesday – Day 11 – I now have 3 sections remaining all of which are overnighters. I have more bad weather coming in and have to make choices. Tuesday was pretty out but Wednesday was going to put me in storms with lightning and without knowing the area, I chose to sit Tuesday and Wednesday out due to storms coming in.

Wednesday & Thursday – Day 12 & 13 – I was frustrated to wake up and find sunny skies and a much more pleasant forecast for the day. It did not take me long to have my pack in the car and be driving to Crawford Notch. I did sleep in and mumbled around the house for a while prior to making the choice to hike that day. But in the end, I was on trail at 1pm and hiking. As I arrived at the Zealand falls, I crossed the 1900 miles complete on my journey and simultaneously heard loud booms of thunder not a mile away from me. The hut however closed; I knew would have a porch. I made my way up the hill and just as I arrived, the bottom fell out of it. The lightning and thunder crashed violently, and I saw on the porch and watched the beautiful storm pass through like watching TV on a big screen. The caretaker came out and sat with me and gave me a cookie. We talked for a bit and it wasn’t long before the storm had passed, and I was back on my way. I made it about 8 miles up the trail from Crawford Notch that day and made camp during a break in the rain. 6 am came quickly, one of the best nights of rest I have had on the trail. There is nothing I love more then waking up in a tent, in a non humid sleeping bag after a nice solid night of sleep and just enjoying the rest and relaxation of laying there. Unfortunately, my hiking habits don’t allow for a lot of these times, so it was time to pack my crap and hurry up! I was on trail within 10 minutes of waking up and was suddenly motivated to bag a 20-mile day in New Hampshire, something I have done in every state long enough to do a 20-mile day except Maryland. The day was a grind and at the end of it arriving at Franconia Ridge was a treat however I had been dreading the liberty spring walk since I ended my trip at its base last September. For Some reason I had just looked at that elevation profile and had immediately not looked forward to climbing it. Now I would be descending it and at the end of a 20-mile day. I made my way down the mountain and onto the liberty springs concrete path. It was longer than I remembered but after a leisurely walk I arrived in the parking lot.

Friday – Saturday - Sunday– Day 14-15-16 -After my 20 miles the day before, I called the trip complete. I had walked 100.5 miles with a lot of bad weather, and I was satisfied. I had had fun. And I ended it while I wanted more. As well, I logistically could have done the 21 miles from Pinkham to Gorham, but my gut told me to stop and so that’s what I did. I have no regrets. I ended the trip with 52 miles incomplete that I had planned but that is the way it goes sometimes. My wife and I spent the day packing up 2 weeks of trip enjoyment and fun, and relaxing. Saturday was a day of driving back Boston and Sunday was a day of flying home.

Wrap up: It was a great trip and a hybrid trip style that I have wanting to try for a long time. I found that it was much easier to claim a reason not to hike and put the effort in when I woke up in a comfy bed vs in a tent. However, for the logistics of NH and the Whites, it worked out well but takes diligence to keep the forward momentum. The black flies were present but just like the infamous rocks of PA, the flies were not as bad as they have always been described. 2 instances in 100 miles did the bugs get so bad it was hard to focus on walking. But a little off helped and it did not last for long. The terrain of this section IMO did not match that coming down Moosilauke and going up Kinsman. The trail did have its moments of difficulty: Garfield sobo, Madison to Pinkham nobo, Webster cliffs, coming down liberty spring off the ridge to liberty spring campsite. But overall it was quick assents and descents. I am having some issues uploading pictures to my PC but this weekend I will get that straightened out and post pictures that only do justice to the beholder.

So what’s next?
I will be going back in early September to complete Pinkham to Grafton, and then bounce up to do ME4 to ME27. This will put me over the 2000-mile mark of the Appalachian Trail, something I have worked towards intently for 7 years now. 1 Trip after that next year should wrap this story up.

[Gambit McCrae]

Save this spot for pictures

[jimmyjam]

Nice write-up! It brought back some good memories.

[peakbagger]

Good you managed to work around the weather. BTW, you were late for black fly season, I would not make a special trip to experience them . The mosquitoes tend to be worst in the evening so you were on the road by then. So was the AT adequately blazed and signed through the whites? The auto road option does open up some nice slackpacks. You would have been hard pressed to do those hikes in the opposite directions.

Looks like Covid worked to your advantage to cut down on the crowds.

Having the option to slack is nice, it would be major disappointment to due the presidential range in the clouds. BTW quite a few folks do the entire Madison to Crawford Notch in a day. Most end up taking day off the next day but it is fun challenge

It gets more difficult to slack as you head to BSP but if your partner is a good navigator there definitely are some options for mix of slacks and overnights.

Glad you had fun in our neck of the woods. Looks like you still have several days filling in few gaps.

[QuietStorm]

Glad this worked out better for you than last year. I'll be finishing my last section between Stratton and Katahdin 8/30-9/14. Maybe I'll see you up there.

[Gambit McCrae]

So was the AT adequately blazed and signed through the whites?

I would say for the AT hiker, the whites are not quite adequately blazed. A few times I had to back track and double check guthooks for the correct route. BUT from a trails signage standpoint, yes it was well marked. Just not with a lot of white blazes

[peakbagger]

Good to get an outside opinion. I have heard of many thruhikers and met a few on the trails that really didnt like the lack of blazing through the Great Gulf Wilderness coming down the Osgood cut off.

[Gambit McCrae]

Good to get an outside opinion. I have heard of many thruhikers and met a few on the trails that really didnt like the lack of blazing through the Great Gulf Wilderness coming down the Osgood cut off.

AT hikers have been programmed to follow the white blazes. And from that perspective, its a culture change in the whites. Have to pay attention, not only to the terrain, but which way you choose to go. I enjoyed that part.
Its a change from the robotic marching thru green gunnel

[Astro]

AT hikers have been programmed to follow the white blazes. And from that perspective, its a culture change in the whites. Have to pay attention, not only to the terrain, but which way you choose to go. I enjoyed that part.
Its a change from the robotic marching thru green gunnel

That is until you get lost.

[Gambit McCrae]

So was the AT adequately blazed and signed through the whites?

I would say for the AT hiker, the whites are not quite adequately blazed. A few times I had to back track and double check guthooks for the correct route. BUT from a trails signage standpoint, yes it was well marked. Just not with a lot of white blazes