In early August I traveled by plane out east to New Hampshire and Maine. My sister Julie from Arizona and my friend Connie from the Lower Peninsula of Michigan met me out there.We rented a car and spent a few days traveling the eastern seaboard. We experienced places like Portsmouth, Kennebunkport and Freeport, all very picturesque.
Our eventual goal was spending six days in the White Mountains in New Hampshire. When I had mentioned this trip last year to my companions they were quite excited as we would be spending our nights in huts rather than tents. The trip still required a backpack though as we still had to bring mostly everything except a tent and cooking equipment. We didn't have to carry as much though as our dinners and breakfasts would be provided by "Da Croo". Our packs probably weighed around 20 lbs which is much less than normal for a six-day trip.
The huts are run by the Appalachian Mountain Club and there are eight of them in the Presidential Range of the White Mountains. They are steeped in tradition as the first hut dates back to1888 (Madison Springs Hut). Of course many of them have been updated since then but they are still rustic in nature.The Madison Springs Hut was recently mostly rebuilt with the stone foundation intact. Huts hold various amounts of people but the smallest one we stayed in had 32 bunks (New Zealand) and the largest one had 90 bunks (Lake of the Clouds, aka Lake of the Crowds). The bunks sometimes are stacked three deep which makes sitting upright rather impossible. As mentioned before the huts are run by " Da Croo". They are coveted positions and many of the hut croo had up to five years experience. Da Croo are highly energetic folks mostly in their 20's with a passion for the outdoors.
Da Croo take turns hauling in fresh supplies twice a week from the nearest trailhead. They still use packboards which date back to the 1930's. Apparently this is the most effective way to carry in heavy supplies with these ladder-like boards and we witnessed several croo doing just that. The huts do have an early spring heli-drop of supplies of the many staples that are needed. Many of the huts had green power so sun, wind or hydro was used to help supply energy for limited lighting and more. Composting (below treeline), and waterless (above treeline) toilets were the norm. Sometimes they were located outside the building and other times inside.
The funny thing about this trip is that even though we carried less weight than our traditional backpacking trips we worked harder physically than any trail or bushwhacking trip I have ever been on. It wasn't an endurance feat but more a balance act. Trails in the White Mountains for the most part don't even resemble a trail. If there weren't the presence of huge rock cairns one wouldn't even know they were on a trail. The cairns were often topped with a white quartz rock which dotted the environment. Other mica-laden granite sparkled in the sun. There are no switchbacks so straight up is the only option.
For the section that we did in six days there was very little dirt and we rarely took more than a step that wasn't on rock, not flat rock, but climbing over every kind of rock you can imagine, huge talus slopes, boulder-strewn draws and fields of sharp rock. Many parts required scrambling. Although this was all rather slow-going and challenging, we enjoyed ourselves and took in the awesome views. Much of our trip was above treeline.
We met many people that had a long-standing tradition of hiking in the White Mountains. They were now taking their kids or grandkids and there were those with multi-generational units. Many were just hiking and staying at one hut or two as they had already planned their visit to other huts for next year.
Also a common denominator for many of the trekkers were to bag several 4,000 footers (there are 48 in the Whites alone). Of course, we were there for an entirely different experience but we did "bag" some of the 4,000 footers in the process. Part of the trail we traveled was also the Appalachian Trail (that starts in Georgia and ends in Maine). We met many thru-hikers most of which were north bound and nearing the end of their journey. Some we talked to on the trail and others at the huts where they facilitated a stay in exchange for work.They told many tales of their experiences which varied greatly.
Although this was a different type of a backpacking trip from my normal status, it was an enjoyable, memorable and interesting experience.
