200 miles in New England?

[Driver8]

"from what you gather" perhaps come back when you've actually done sections that are being discussed?

Your inability to show respect for others or humility is regrettable. Very few people here feel the need to belittle others or aggrandize themselves over distance hiked, Jake. Clearly this is vital to your self-esteem. I feel bad for you that that is the case.

[DavidNH]

where to go for a 250 mile hike is a different question on where to go for a two week vacation. It's not easy doing 20+ mile days in New England, and in some sections (ie the Mahoosics, the whites) it might be a major stretch.

If you are in super duper shape and have hiking experience.. you might consider doing the Long Trail. Start at Williamstown Mass at the Pine Cobble Trail, end at route 15, a "short" hitch away from Johnson, VT. I think it's a major stretch to try for the entire 270 mile Long Trail in two weeks. The best hikers take 18 days to 3 weeks. a normal time is a month.


another option.. head to MAINE. To a section that includes the 100 mile wilderness and of course Mt Katahdin. That's worth pretty close to two weeks.

still another option.. go from Hanover, NH (easily accessible to public transit + the trail goes through middle of town) to Gorham, NH. That covers essentially the entire NH stretch including the Kinsmans, the Franconias, the Presidentials, and the Carter Range. at Gorham, you can get a Concord Trailways bus (once per day) back south to Boston.

[DavidNH]

I just re read your original post. it seems your experience with the 20 mile days is on the PCT and around Lake Tahoe.. in other words.. WESTERN trails.

Allow me to introduce you to New England. We don't bother with switch backs. Often times it is up and at 'em. Our trails aren't graded for horses. In places, they aren't even graded for hikers. There's roots, and rocks and mud. 5 miles for a day might seem glacial to you.. but it's a solid day when you go through Mahoosic Notch. There are spots in the Whites where the terrain is borderline technical.

yet we do have some of the finest scenery in the east. I encourage you to do a scenic section that is well within your mileage capabilities. If you could do 200 miles in a week.. go for 150 instead and take the time to enjoy it.

If you have a choice of time of year you go.. I'd recommend fall. Our fall foliage is nationally famous! Avoid late May and all of June. Bug season, high water levels in streams (waist deep or more on some) and lots and lots of mud. There is a very good chance that you'll get rained on for part of your trip. If you go in June the chance of rain is high. In August or September it is much drier.

DavidNH

[Mags]

go from Hanover, NH (easily accessible to public transit + the trail goes through middle of town) to Gorham, NH. That covers essentially the entire NH stretch including the Kinsmans, the Franconias, the Presidentials, and the Carter Range. at Gorham, you can get a Concord Trailways bus (once per day) back south to Boston.

Logistically, an easy option with some good scenery. How many miles is that approx?

Also, another request to keep the bickering private. Ain't helping the OP.

[jeffmeh]

Just a little perspective on the relative pacing along the AT, from Map Man's data.... These are from NOBOs that finish, and note what happens from Glencliff to Stratton. I will accept that some of the pace reduction is the "staying at huts" effect, but the terrain definitely increases in level of difficulty.

AT Mean Pace.jpg

[jakedatc]

KEep it to the other thread you started. -PM

[tdoczi]

heres a suggestion i don think anyone else had made- (though i cant claim i read every post here)-

take the bus to gorham and start from pinkham notch, or if it makes a few of the people here feel better, US-2 outside of gorham. from there, its 190 miles SOUTH to an easy bus home from killington and only half of it will be on especially hard terrain. if you have time, keep going, you can go all the way north adams (almost 300 miles) with various easy stopping points every 20 miles or so from killington to there. if you really can do 20 in the whites and are willing to step it up once you get out them, doing the whole thing may not be totally impossible, especially if you start from pinkham instead of US-2 (subtract roughly 20 miles).

i think itd be cool to hit washington, killington and greylock in 1 hike and its much more doable than 250 miles all in NH and ME in 2 weeks.

[RED-DOG]

I got another one for you, start at VT. 9 which is the Bennington road crossing go north until US,302 Crawford Notch thats about 240 miles and it's an Awesome hike.

[Mags]

Jake, please give it a rest. The points were made..unless it is discussing a route, keep the the comments to the other thread. Thanks!

I just re read your original post. it seems your experience with the 20 mile days is on the PCT and around Lake Tahoe.. in other words.. WESTERN trails.


DavidNH

As a person who cut his teeth on NH trails, don't know I agree with this logic.

Thought the Whites are steeper, most people go slower through here as much due to using traditional gear and stopping earlier for the day more than anything.

Who ever said about minus 5 MPD reduction in speed is probably about right. 20-25 MPD is probably 15-20 MPD in the Whites.

Slower yes. In half or less? Not so much IMO for an experienced hiker with lighter gear.

[HermesUL]

where to go for a 250 mile hike is a different question on where to go for a two week vacation. It's not easy doing 20+ mile days in New England, and in some sections (ie the Mahoosics, the whites) it might be a major stretch.

If you are in super duper shape and have hiking experience.. you might consider doing the Long Trail. Start at Williamstown Mass at the Pine Cobble Trail, end at route 15, a "short" hitch away from Johnson, VT. I think it's a major stretch to try for the entire 270 mile Long Trail in two weeks. The best hikers take 18 days to 3 weeks. a normal time is a month.


another option.. head to MAINE. To a section that includes the 100 mile wilderness and of course Mt Katahdin. That's worth pretty close to two weeks.

still another option.. go from Hanover, NH (easily accessible to public transit + the trail goes through middle of town) to Gorham, NH. That covers essentially the entire NH stretch including the Kinsmans, the Franconias, the Presidentials, and the Carter Range. at Gorham, you can get a Concord Trailways bus (once per day) back south to Boston.

You are absolutely right to mention the Long Trail, and although it's just over the 250 mile mark, it's much easier than other sections that people have mentioned.

Up to hiking the Long Trail, the longest I had ever hiked in a single day backpacking was 15.4 miles. What I found once I got on the trail was that for most of the trail, the miles were easy to put away--where 15 had been a big question before, the southern half of the LT invited me up to 27 in a day. I broke my personal 15 mile
record on ten out of seventeen hiking days, consistently breaking 20 for the entire southern half (I went southbound).
It's doable in two weeks, if you don't take your time.

And the Long Trail is fabulous. It doesn't have the dramatic grandeur of the White Mtns, but more gentle beauty of the Green Mtns is something you won't want to miss. Reminds me a little bit of Maine. That's why I made the recommendation I did--you'll catch the best of both, and it'll leave you wanting to come back to see more. As you seem to have already figured out, it's not possible to hike for two weeks and even get a glimpse of all that's worth seeing in New England...if it was, I'd have moved out by now.

[peakbagger]

I have to say I dont agree on swapping the northern Long trail for the AT through NH. The northern ong trail may be just as gnarly in spots as the whites, but it just doesnt have the above treeline stretches.

[jakedatc]

I have to say I dont agree on swapping the northern Long trail for the AT through NH. The northern ong trail may be just as gnarly in spots as the whites, but it just doesnt have the above treeline stretches.

I think they were talking about doing the southern part of LT and mixing it with some of NH.. which I agree doesn't have the views of NH.

[HermesUL]

I'm actually talking about starting 80-ish miles north of the junction between the AT and the LT, hitting the best of the Greens, and then turning north on the AT through NH. Best of both worlds, but ambitious and I don't know how far North you'd get.

[virgil]

Start hiking North at the MA border, thru VT, and see how far into NH you get. At the rate/distance you said, you might get into the southern White Mtns. Vermont is great. The AT runs together with the Long Trail for the first 100 miles. Plan one pitstop at the Inn at Long Trail near Mt. Killington. There is very good availability of water on this entire section.

[Slo-go'en]

One fact everyone seems to have neglected is your pretty much locked into camping at shelters and designated tenting areas through out New England. The oppertunities for stealth camping are very limited. People "from away" just don't understand that. Therefore, how far you go in a day is determinded not by how far you can walk, but how far apart the camping spots are. Saying you can hike 20 MPD and can hike for 14 days does not mean you will cover 280 miles up here.

For many people, simply going shelter-to-shelter is a pretty good day. There are a few sections where going every-other-shelter is reasonable, but there are many sections where that would result in a very long and difficult day. So, it is very difficult to say how far one will go in a given amount of time. If the time frame is open ended one can plan on going from point A to point B, as it doesn't matter that much how long it takes. But if you have only X number of days, all you know for sure is where you start.

To the OP, who is likely long gone and making up his own mind, I'd suggest simply doing NH as others have suggested. Hanover to Gorham is logicstically easy, as you can get to both towns by bus from Boston. If you don't mess around and the weather is decent, it should be possible to do NH in 2 weeks, but you'll be a bit beat up at the end.

[jakedatc]

Going from shelter to shelter becomes easier the more miles you are capable of. He can do 250mi at 18mpd avg I already showed that Sunshine did Hanover to Gorham in 6.5 days that could be done without work for stay at the huts fairly easy.. you just need to plan it differently.

having him shorten the whole trip by 100 mi is a bit harsh.

I still like Moosilauke to Mahoosuc notch. you can probably find a way from Bethel to Gorham and have the same ease of getting home. it's only 20mi down rt 2. I also liked the version that went from Gorham to Katahdin

[SNAX]

To the OP, who is likely long gone and making up his own mind...

Ha, I certainly would be after Jake took a giant dump on this whole thread.

But, hopefully he stuck around long enough to heed some good advice. Hanover to Gorham or Glencliff to Grafton Notch would both be great hikes. With the latter probably being a little on the harder side.

Nothing wrong with the trail south of Moosilauke. There's some nice sections and a good views through there (Holt's Ledge, Smarts/Cube, Wachipauka Pond) albeit not as numerous as north of Moose.

[Chaco Taco]

When you get to Maine, the Grafton Loop Trail is a nice addition. If you want solitude, you will get it there!