Begin: Day 70 (Saturday, June 29) Hanover, NH
End: Day 76 (Friday, July 5) Lincoln, NH
Biggest Trail Miles in a day this period: 16.7
Total Trail Miles Hiked: 797.7
Our hiking photos by state:
Photos corresponding to this week’s post can be found in the NH folder.
DAY 70 - Saturday, June 29
Hanover, NH - 1755.0
Miles: 0.0
Sleep: Building
It had been two weeks since we last took a day off from hiking. As with most of our “zero” days (a day where no trail miles are completed), we did our usual chores like laundry, grocery shopping, and planning out the hike for the next several days. While resting we got to flip through a great book by a flip flop hiker that lives near Hanover. It is a written and drawn journal of her AT experience, which of sounded similar to ours.
Hanover is an interesting town with Dartmouth College at its center. The families associated with the school stand out, looking sharp, and can easily afford to pay for cost of nearby hotels. We had heard though the hiker community grapevine that some people in Hanover will take hikers in for a night or two at no cost. Our host was a very nice retired doctor who has hiked in New Hampshire and Maine with her family for years. In return for spending two nights in her basement we raked pine straw from her back patio.
I believe the local trail angel hosting network started when the area hiker hostels closed down a few years ago and the Hanover businesses noticed a reduction in customers. In fact a couple of businesses give hikers free treats. We had free muffins from Lou’s and free pizza slices at Ramunto’s along with the rest of the food and drinks that we purchased. It seems that the mix of preppy college kids and hiker trash are coexisting nicely here in Hanover, NH.
DAY 71 - Sunday, June 30
Start: Hanover, NH - 1755.0
End: Trapper John Shelter - 1771.7
Miles: 16.7
Ascent: 4549 | Descent: 3732
Sleep: Tent
I think the extra rest and food while in Hanover was helpful in making today’s hike not too difficult. We first ate breakfast at Lou’s, then entered the woods after traversing through town. Lunch was on top of Moose Mountain South at elevation 2,292’. The terrain was much like Vermont: steep, muddy, rooty, rocky and mossy; very pretty yet challenging. The day wrapped up with tenting at the Trapper John Shelter site. Sully was there along with the trail family we’ve crossed paths with a lot since meeting them at The Lookout (Happy Hour, Walkie Talkie, Dingo & Grasshopper)
DAY 72 - Monday, July 1
Start: Trapper John Shelter - 1771.7
End: Hexacuba Shelter, NH - 1783.7
Miles: 12.0
Ascent: 3867 | Descent: 2981
Sleep: Tent
Most of the trail before lunch was either shoe (& soul) sucking mud, or extremely steep. It felt like one of our toughest climbs thus far. By 11:00 we had covered 7 miles ascended 2,850’, and stopped for lunch at an old fire warden cabin on Smarts Mountain (elevation 3,226’).
After lunch we climbed the stairs to the top of the nearby fire tower. Once above the treeline the breeze was quite brisk making me a little uncomfortable until we got inside of the observation room. The tower felt solid and did not sway in the wind, which helped with my anxiety.
The afternoon hike was more pleasant with an easier slope and less mud. We called it a day at the next shelter, on a very sloped tentsite.
DAY 73 - Tuesday, July 2
Start: Hexacuba Shelter, NH - 1783.7
End: Hikers Welcome, NH25 - 1798.3
Miles: 14.6
Ascent: 3215 | Descent: 4426
Sleep: Building
Mt. Cube, elevation 2,906’, was our first climb of the day. Its descent was long enough to feel fatigued before reaching the bottom.
Recently, the hike has been mentally difficult for us. Not sure if it all of the mud, insects, the long steep inclines, or lack of views, but we both are feeling zapped of joy at times. I catch myself looking forward to starting the southbound portion of the hike, and dreading what lays to the north. (An article about the hardest parts of thr AT: https://thetrek.co/appalachian-trail/hardest-sections-on-the-appalachian-trail/)
After lunch we hiked separately with Trail Horse going on ahead at his fast speed rate. This was rewarded by seeing a mother bear and her two cubs crossing the trail. He preceded to make noise to ensure that they knew he was there (one does not want to surprise a bear), and they responded by turning around and running back across the trail.
We ended today’s hike at the Hikers Welcome Hostel. During my shower I found a tick on my back, the first tick found for either of us. I was able to easily remove it, but I wish I took a photo of it first.
DAY 74 - Wednesday, July 3
Start: Kinsman Notch - 1807.8
End: Hikers Welcome, NH25 - 1798.3
Miles: 9.5
Ascent: 3118 | Descent: 3982
Sleep: Building
Not sure if it was the great weather, the slack packing, having less mud or the beautiful views, but today’s hike did wonders for restoring our mood. We, and four other hostel guests, opted to slack pack over Moosilauke Mountain. During a slack pack, a hiker will carry only the items needed for a day hike, like food, water and a jacket. This makes the difficult maneuvers and steep slopes a little easier. We were dropped off at a trailhead ten miles north of the hostel for us to hike back to.
The southbound direction let up climb up very steep rock faces instead of attempting to go down them, which would be more dangerous than going up. The climb followed a waterfall, then entered pine forests that smelled like Christmas.
As we walked out of the forest on to the alpine slopes above the tree line, Trail Horse called out to me. When I turned around to face him my breath was taken away by the outstanding view. I do not have the prose to describe the awesomeness of shear beauty viewed from that mountain top.
At the top we congregated with many hikers taking advantage of the views. After resting a bit we continued hiking south back to our hostel. It took us 7 hours, with breaks, to hike 10 miles.
DAY 75 - Thursday, July 4
Start: Hikers Welcome Hostel
End: The Notch Hostel
Miles: 0.0
Sleep: Building
Early in the morning we got a shuttle from the Hikers Welcome Hostel over to The Notch Hostel. Here Trail Horse, Sully and I reviewed options for finding food through the White Mountains to figure out how much we needed to buy. Once that was settled, the three of is rode loaner bikes, wearing our loaner clothes into town for lunch and grocery shopping. Lincoln, NH is a cute touristy town. Apparently there is an Independence Day parade scheduled for this afternoon as people were lining up along the main roadway all dressed in red, white and blue.
Data arrived in the afternoon, catching up with us. It was really nice hanging out and grilling dinner with Data, Sully and the other hostel guests.
DAY 76 - Friday, July 5
Start: Kinsman Notch - 1807.8
End: Flume Gorge, NH - 1824.2
Miles: 16.4
Ascent: 4738 | Descent: 5286
Sleep: Building
The Notch Hostel offers a 16-mile slack pack over Wolf and Kinsman Mountains. There are a lot of warnings about the difficulty of this hike, even as a slack pack. I had my reservations, but Trail Horse, Sully and Data encouraged me to do it.
We got dropped off at Kinsman Notch at 7:15 a.m. and I had 12 hours to cover 17.3 miles to the Flume Gorge Visitor Center. I knew that I had to push as hard as I can for the entire day to pull this off. The first 7.5 miles we averaged 1.8 miles per hour. The next 5 miles were the toughest, with some serious vertical climbs and descents, and it took us nearly four hours to complete. The last 5 miles required some very fast hiking on terrain varied from difficult to smooth surfaces. I pushed my pace every chance I got and managed to arrive at the visitor center with an hour to spare. (My Garmin Connect of the last 10 miles: ttps://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/16263760261)
It felt like a great accomplishment. It set a new record for us in the most ascent in a day: 4,738’. Data said that should be our hardest day on the trail since we had a timed deadline. We have a lot of very difficult parts north of us, but we will be able to do them in smaller chunks. Anyway, I am feeling much better about tackling the rest of the Whites now.
Beautiful vistas! I'm glad the weather was good for the most part. Y'all are doing great! Thanks for sharing. Richard
What an amazing adventure!