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| Sabbaday Falls, White Mountain National Forest |
When we passed through New Hampshire a month ago on our way to Maine, we knew we wanted to spend more time in the White Mountain National Forest. With the Presidential Mountain Range, the Appalachian Trail and other trails, two wilderness areas and a scenic highway – the White Mountains called us back and we went.
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| Covered Bridge over the Swift River near the Kancamagus Highway |
Our first hike was on the Appalachian Trail along the
Rattle River near Gorham. On the first
half of our hike we had the trail completely to ourselves, or so we
thought. Maya knew better. She was excited and sniffing the air and soon
alerted us to the fact that we had a young black bear ambling along the side of
the trail nearest the river. We caught
several glimpses of the bear through the trees as we carefully proceeded. Once he even crossed the trail not 25 yards
ahead of us. We were a little concerned
that the bear was so obviously unconcerned about us, but then he decided that
he didn’t want to be that close to us anymore and loped away. While we loved seeing a bear so close, it was
best for all concerned that he stayed afraid of humans.
Glacial 'erratics' or large boulder left by glaciers
On the last part of our hike we started seeing a few
individuals and small groups of 2 - 3 hikers.
We spoke to a few of them and learned that they were indeed ‘thru-hikers.’
(Many thru-hikers don’t like to stop
long or stop at all. They have a goal of
15 or more miles they are trying to hike in a day and unless it is near a break
time, they don’t have time to talk.) At this point on the trail the AT hikers
had all just finished the Presidential Range, one of the highest and most
difficult sections of the AT. We well
remembered being on top of Mt. Washington a month ago and how rocky and steep
it was. The hikers were all feeling
pretty good to have that section behind them and to be so close to Maine and
nearing their goal of finishing the AT.
Mt. Hedgehog Trail with view of Mt. Potash
Rocky Gorge with view of the Presidential Mountain Range
I guess we were feeling a little jealous of all the ‘fun’
the AT hikers were having, so on our last day we decided to hike a very
difficult section of the AT through Franconia Notch. Really, I don’t know what we were thinking or
if we even were. When we got back down,
we both were wondering why we thought hiking nearly 9 miles and climbing over 3,000
feet (the majority of that elevation being gained in about 3 miles, basically
up the side of a very steep and rocky slope) would be so much fun. And oh, did I mention the pouring rain that
started just as we were heading down that rocky mountain? The first half of the hike we were soaked
with sweat from the effort and the last half we were soaked with rain.
White blaze on the tree trunk marks the AT
Mist after the rain...
It truly was a beautiful hike but coming down that steep,
steep trail with those rain-slick rocks and poor footing made our knees and
ankles so sore. Fortunately, we had only
minor slips and slides on the trail and no hard falls. The day after was not pretty. Again, we gained new appreciation of the
difficulty and effort that AT thru-hikers experience. We could rest and moan the next day rather
than hike another 15 - 20 miles. Was it
worth it, you may ask. Ask again in a
few more weeks… With the exception of
that last hike, our time in the White Mountains of New Hampshire was
idyllic. And still we left much undone,
many reasons to return.
Ask Maya how she liked the rainy hike
Days
Hiked 6
Rain
Days 1- but we hiked anyway
Total
Miles Hiked 37.22
Ave.
Miles per Day 6.04
Total Elevation Gain 10,007
Ave. Elevation Gain per day 1,641
Total Elevation Gain 10,007
Ave. Elevation Gain per day 1,641
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