View Full Version : Planning for the White Mountains
astafford
10-22-2015, 12:35
I am planning on a leaving date of August 1st 2016 from Katahdin and hike to the CT/NY border. I feel good about my planning except when going thru the White Mountains. I will be carrying a tent but am curious about how you all plan on where to stay with the regulations, possibilities of the huts not taking on "work to stay hikers", finding a legal place to make camp, time of year and amount of other hikers, etc. What are your experiences? Thanks!
Slo-go'en
10-22-2015, 13:38
Yes, that can be a problem. You will be arriving in the Whites in early September, just as the bulk of the NOBOs are also showing up. There will be a lot of competition for the few "work for stay" slots at the huts and the limited space at other shelters and tent sites. Plus there is all the usual traffic from the "locals" (mostly from the Boston area).
One option is to just pay the big bucks for a bunk in some of the more critical AMC huts. Or skip around NH by going directly to Vermont and save yourself all that trouble :)
ny breakfast
10-22-2015, 13:45
a map of the area is very helpful i picked this one up http://www.bondcliffbooks.com/proddetail.php?prod=0-9785932-4-3 at pinkham notch visitor center. you will have a better idea and be more comfortable once you start hiking. i didn't stay at the huts going through the whites. just the timing and the way it worked out for me when i went thru. the amc is very friendly and accommodating. the rules of the whites are easy to follow
nsherry61
10-22-2015, 14:28
There are no-camp buffer areas around the huts and shelters and tent platform areas. But, outside of those buffer zones, "backcountry camping" is permitted as long as you are over 200 ft off the trail and not visible . . . obviously, many people don't obey the backcountry buffer rules as there are lots of well used "backcountry" sites right on the trail, a few feet off the trail, and well within the no-camping buffer areas.
FarmerChef
10-22-2015, 15:10
There are hostels in two of the three notches and an AMC center in the third so if you can go notch to notch you can avoid huts. The tricky spot is Mt. Washington as it is an epic one day hike notch to notch (I hiked with someone who did it that same day). Lake of the Clouds hut has a basement room called the Dungeon that may be available for a reasonable fee, especially if weather is poor. Alternatively, if you're willing to hike a bit off trail there are the campsites nsherry61 mentioned above or AMC lean-tos that can be had for relatively little money. So with a bit of advanced planning and a map (I highly, highly recommend a map for the Whites) you can avoid paying mega $$ to stay at the huts. Do make sure to stop in though. Their bread and soup is off the hook and hiker budget friendly. Plus if they burn the cookies you get to eat them and we didn't mind when it was our turn....just sayin...
There are no-camp buffer areas around the huts and shelters and tent platform areas. But, outside of those buffer zones, "backcountry camping" is permitted as long as you are over 200 ft off the trail and not visible . . . obviously, many people don't obey the backcountry buffer rules as there are lots of well used "backcountry" sites right on the trail, a few feet off the trail, and well within the no-camping buffer areas.
Just a note of clarification: The 200 ft buffer rule does not apply over the entire length of the AT in the Whites.
It's good to have that mind set (and a good practice) but it is entirely possible to camp "legally" virtually on the AT footpath in certain segments where the trail does not pass through a Wilderness Area, or the Cutler River drainage.
As a southbounder I suggest you stay at White Mountain Lodge and Hostel right on the AT at the Rt 2 road crossing near Gorham, NH. The owner Marni and the folks who work there will be happy to give all kinds of advise regarding your questions about traversing the Whites.
Chet's Place is a nice hostel in Lincoln, a bit more hiker-trashy and basic accommodations so lower cost (donation basis), and Chet's very nice and well-connected to the hiker community and can help you access resources such as shuttles. Lincoln also has a few outfitters and plenty of good restaurants running the gamut from cheapo to higher end and varied offerings. A few miles west, on the other side of I-93, is the Notch Hostel, in North Woodstock. It's new, very nice, so I hear, and pricier, with great service. They seem to have done a good job establishing good connections as well and have lower rates if you bunk than if you take a room to yourself.
There are plenty of places to camp, not at official AMC sites (small nightly fee) and otherwise as noted above. The hut croos are friendly if not too busy, usually, and the notes above about food are right on. If you run into really bad weather, the huts, whose mission includes safety and rescue, tend to take you in even if full. They want to avoid fatalities and serious injuries (which in case you didn't know are a concern throughout the year) and usually will let you sleep on their kitchen or dining room floor, provided you must be up early and out of the way for paying guests' breakfast.
Your pace is an important consideration here. You want to get clear of the Franconia Notch before Sept 15 at the latest in order to have the huts as a resource, as they start to close, from highest to lowest, at that time, Lakes, then Madison, then three others in October, with Lonesome, Carter and Zealand staying open on caretaker basis all year. Also, the sooner you get through the Whites, the more likely you get summer weather, which in itself can include nights with lows near or even sometimes below freezing. And there's a big rush to the highest huts first half of September, as they start to close for the season and people return to workaday school, work routines at the end of summer.
PS, to be clear: the huts, if full, will take you in as discussed above, only in the event of bad weather. Otherwise, as others have noted above, with the important possibility that if you get to a hut around 4 pm, they will offer you the option of work for stay if you're one of the first four thru's in around that time, where you do some work helping them (cooking, cleaning, etc.) and get a free night sleeping on the kitchen floor and free dinner and breakfast, which you eat after paying guests and crew finish. Of course, you want to befriend the hut croos - if Carter's croo likes you, they often will tell Madison and the others, and if they don't, vice versa.
Old Hillwalker
10-23-2015, 07:36
Good advice Driver except that the OP is heading SOBO
Good advice Driver except that the OP is heading SOBO
Yes, which is why I suggesting making a good impression on the Carter Notch hut croo, the first one to be encountered in that direction.
peakbagger
10-26-2015, 07:26
Please note Drivers8 comments regarding AMC huts is not a contract or a guarantee.
If you run into really bad weather, the huts, whose mission includes safety and rescue, tend to take you in even if full. They want to avoid fatalities and serious injuries (which in case you didn't know are a concern throughout the year) and usually will let you sleep on their kitchen or dining room floor, provided you must be up early and out of the way for paying guests' breakfast.
The huts do not have any legal requirement to provide lodging to any hiker. The majority of the huts are at or near treeline. Worse case is Lake of the Clouds which is about 15 minutes. At worse its about 2 hours to a point where the woods open up enough to find a viable camping place. Therefore there are rarely if ever conditions that would be present long enough that a hiker would not be able to get to a safe location for an overnight. Thus an overnight at a hut is a convenience rather than a emergency situation for the vast majority of overnighters. Therefore its a judgment call on the part of the staff to make space and should not be planned on. Poor planning on a hikers part does not constitute an emergency on the huts part.
Please note Drivers8 comments regarding AMC huts is not a contract or a guarantee.
If you run into really bad weather, the huts, whose mission includes safety and rescue, tend to take you in even if full. They want to avoid fatalities and serious injuries (which in case you didn't know are a concern throughout the year) and usually will let you sleep on their kitchen or dining room floor, provided you must be up early and out of the way for paying guests' breakfast.
The huts do not have any legal requirement to provide lodging to any hiker. The majority of the huts are at or near treeline. Worse case is Lake of the Clouds which is about 15 minutes. At worse its about 2 hours to a point where the woods open up enough to find a viable camping place. Therefore there are rarely if ever conditions that would be present long enough that a hiker would not be able to get to a safe location for an overnight. Thus an overnight at a hut is a convenience rather than a emergency situation for the vast majority of overnighters. Therefore its a judgment call on the part of the staff to make space and should not be planned on. Poor planning on a hikers part does not constitute an emergency on the huts part.
As I understand, it's got to be really, dangerously bad weather, and absolutely should not be planned on. More along the lines of, in desperate straights, stumble into the hut and hope. In Not Without Peri, there's the tail of a poor fellow, fit in middle age, who perished near Madison Spring in a fierce August sleet and rainstorm. I recall they took in a lot of people to afford them protection from the awful storm. The huts can be safe harbor in very bad weather but do everything you can to avoid needing to ask.