View Full Version : AT/New Hampshire experts, I need your knowledge for this 3 days hike:
My brother and 3 of his colleagues(Live in Boston) are going to hike AT in Whites for 3 days. The 3 colleagues are planing to stay in two different AMC huts along the way but my brother wants to experience tenting instead.
Here is a draft plan for a 3-day hike up in New Hampshire for early august.
Staying in AMC logdes: these lodges cost about 100-150 per person per night including a bunker with blanket, a hot dinner and breakfast.
Day 1: drive from Boston to Franconia Notch (3-4 hours). hike from Flume trail to Greenleaf Hut (http://www.outdoors.org/lodging/whitemountains/huts/huts-greenleaf.cfm)(~ 10 miles); dine and sleep at the hut.
Day 2: hike from Greenleaf hut to Zealand Falls Hut (~15 miles); dine and sleep in the hut
Day 3: hike from ZFH to Highland center (~ 5 miles); take the shuttle at 1:30pm back to franconia Notch, relax and then drive back to Boston.
So my question is if my brother wants to use his tent( Nemo meta 2p) and camp along the way and then join the group every morning to continue the hike , then where( campsite or near a shelter or tent site) he can choose to be as close as possible to these two huts (Greenleaf Hut and Zealand Falls Hut). do you have any option in your mind for him that he stays in his tent during the nights and join the party the next day?
Thanks in Advance
For Day 1, he might be able to find a good stealth site downhill from the Greenleaf Hut on the Old Bridle Path, which is on a less steep grade for a bit before the Agonies kick in. Based on terrain, I'd think that more likely than Greenleaf below the hut, though I haven't hiked it. Above the hut is very exposed.
Day 2 of your planned hike is pretty long. Make sure you're got the speed and stamina to cover that ground. Garfield Ridge Trail has about 1000' ups and downs, in addition to the general downhill trend, between Lafayette and Garfield and more roller coaster from Garfield to Galehead Hut. I've hiked about 0.25 of the A.T. on Garfield and so don't know anything about stealth sites in that stretch. He could possibly stay at Guyot tenting area, which is a few miles from Zealand Hut, get up early and hike down to join you at the hut Day 3.
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rocketsocks
07-11-2013, 16:22
Oops, wrong forum
peakbagger
07-11-2013, 16:47
My brother and 3 of his colleagues(Live in Boston) are going to hike AT in Whites for 3 days. The 3 colleagues are planing to stay in two different AMC huts along the way but my brother wants to experience tenting instead.
Here is a draft plan for a 3-day hike up in New Hampshire for early august.
Staying in AMC logdes: these lodges cost about 100-150 per person per night including a bunker with blanket, a hot dinner and breakfast.
Day 1: drive from Boston to Franconia Notch (3-4 hours). hike from Flume trail to Greenleaf Hut (~ 10 miles); dine and sleep at the hut. His only option is to hike down the Greenleaf trail past the border of the 1/4 mile restricted use area around Greenleaf Hut. There are several flat non legal spots that are posted no camping near the junction with Old Bridal Path so he has to head down and find a sort of level spot.
Day 2: hike from Greenleaf hut to Zealand Falls Hut (~15 miles); dine and sleep in the hut . Plenty of good camping options in the hardwoods past Zealand Hut, best option is to head up A to Z trail until he hits the RUA boundary.
Day 3: hike from ZFH to Highland center (~ 5 miles); take the shuttle at 1:30pm back to franconia Notch, relax and then drive back to Boston. Just to make sure you are planning to take A to Z trail rather than the AT over to Ethan Pond (which is somewhat longer.
BTW, the huts are real popular and fill up quick, make reservations now!.
So my question is if my brother wants to use his tent( Nemo meta 2p) and camp along the way and then join the group every morning to continue the hike , then where( campsite or near a shelter or tent site) he can choose to be as close as possible to these two huts (Greenleaf Hut and Zealand Falls Hut). do you have any option in your mind for him that he stays in his tent during the nights and join the party the next day?
Thanks in Advance
For what it's worth, Zealand Falls Hut is OK but most definitely not the hut to stay at if you are staying at only one.
The trail north of Zealand is probably the flattest there is in the Whites all the way to Ethan Pond Shelter-- a nice detour BTW. Plenty of legal camping but do your homework-- for a good stretch one side of the trail is in a wilderness area and the other is not. Which is my way of saying that some of the sites you think are illegal are not.
There is also a decent waterfall (very decent) in that stretch-- worth the blueblaze but you can't camp there. The waterfall at Zealand is not nearly so special.
You may want to consider the Shapliegh Bunkhouse (hostel) at the Highland Center. It is not well advertised. Cheaper and potentially more interesting. You can still enjoy all the amenities of the Highland Center. Be sure to check out the Brad Washburn photo exhibit. Really. If you have a car staged there you can do what my wife and I have done and use the money you save by staying in the bunk house to pay for an overpriced burger or breakfast buffet on the porch of Mount Washington Hotel up the street. Its got some interesting history. Be sure track in mud-- before the place died and was reincarnated I think they kicked out Paul Newmans wife for daring to enter the lobby in hiking boots. Not like that now-- except in the main dining room I think.
There is also a decent waterfall (very decent) in that stretch-- worth the blueblaze but you can't camp there. The waterfall at Zealand is not nearly so special.
You're talking about Thoreau Falls, right, Rick? I've heard they're among the prettier ones in the Whites. Hope to do a Zealand weekend this fall, when it goes to caretaker status and the rates go down. Do the peaks nearby the but - Hale, Zealand, Willey Range, and check out those falls and the Zealand ones. If things go really well, maybe go up to Twins and or Bonds. ...
Thanks every body. I am sending your comments to my brother as it comes.