Hammock in Northern New Hampshire

[jima59]

I've starting to read the Hammock forums, getting familiar with all the lingo and varieties of equipment before I make a decision about how I will sleep on the trail. One question I have is with being able to hang one in the White Mountains when going through the Presidentials with the so much above treeline. Sorry if this is an ingnorant question but how do you handle that area. I'm about 50/50 as to changing to a hammock from a tarptent and will make my own if I do. I am also enjoying all the threads being so informative.

[1azarus]

i suggest you make the hammock/no hammock decision independent of white mountain concerns. the number of days you'll be above tree line is incredibly small compared to the time you'll be among the trees!

you can always stay at the huts when passing through the whites, and there is a lot to be said for having that experience, i suppose... or you can plan your entire trip to hammock below tree line. that's what I did -- never stayed in a white mountain hut. did require some long days, though...

[Deadeye]

Tent or hammock have the same issues above timberline in the Whites, which is to say you can't use either one. You have to drop significantly below to camp, so +1 on the previous post.

[Hikerhead]

Tent or hammock have the same issues above timberline in the Whites, which is to say you can't use either one. You have to drop significantly below to camp, so +1 on the previous post.

Not true. There are campsites thru the whites. 3 that I remember right off, 1 is beside a hut that I can't remember the name of. And there are places off of the ridge line that you could hammock out of site. I'm not saying that you should. I've found that you can set up your hammock on the tent platforms by using trees close by.

[Toolshed]

If you carry a pad, you can use your hammock tarp, rocks and hiking poles to creat a nice shelter on those very infrequent occasions where you cannot hang

[RamblinRob]

Assuming you're NOBO, the Nauman tentsite is right by the Mizpah hut. If you get good weather and head out the next day passing Lake of the Clouds and Madison Huts, you're looking at about 15 miles and a bit over 5000' of gain on the Presidentials. You should sleep well that night.

If you can cope with the crowds and the AMC, the huts can make for a comfortable stay in an area that is gorgeous enough in good weather to be worth taking slow.

Walking up from Lake of the Clouds to catch a sunset off nearby Mt. Monroe was well worth any cost or inconvenience - not saying I don't wish there were other options - just that there are some exceptional qualities to the area that make the huts a worthwhile option.

[Snowleopard]

The alpine zone in the White Mts. are heavily used, delicate and abused, and are heavily regulated. This makes legal camping difficult going through the above tree line part of the presidential range. Outside the Presidentials it's not a big problem and hammocks may be easier because it's hard to find a flat spot for a tent sometimes. Above treeline the regulations make sense and you should really follow them.

The easiest way to do it is to stay at AMC huts but it's expensive (e.g. Lake of the Crowds hut $92 in July). Thru-hikers can sometimes get work for stay.

You can drop down to below treeline, but this involves a lot of extra climbing.

Near Mt. Adams, Madison, Jefferson, you can drop down to the Randolph Mountain Club cabins ($7-$12)

You can put in a really hard long day and do it in one day.
http://www.randolphmountainclub.org/sheltersinfo/aboutourshelters.html


Camping in the Alpine Zone
(where trees are 8 feet tall or less)
• No camping except on 2 or more feet of
snow
• No camping on frozen bodies of water
• No wood or charcoal fires
Please note that the above treeline areas of
the Cutler River Drainage (Tuckerman and
Huntington Ravines and the areas around
them including the Alpine Garden and East
Snowfields) are closed to camping regardless of
snow cover.
http://www.fs.fed.us/r9/forests/white_mountain/recreation/camping/2010_backcountry_rules_web.pdf

[Monkeywrench]

I used a hammock on my '09 thru-hike. I slept in the hammock every night on the trail except for the 3 or 4 nights going through GSMNP where sleeping in the shelters is required, and while traversing the Whites, where I got work-for-stay at the huts. For these two sections I had my wife send me my Thermarest pad.