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Katahdin to Kakadjo Road ME October 3-9, 2018 din

July 5-19/2016 AT#23 NH Hanover to Crawford Notch

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July 5-19/2016


AT#23 NH Hanover to Crawford Notch


With 2 Mile




July 5
Travel by Jet Blue leave at 6:30 am RIC arrive Boston 8:00 take bus to Hanover/Dartmouth arrive lunch time (round trip plane fare $188) Dartmouth Coach leaves at 8:55 and 10:55; fare $38


Day 1 7/6 Hanover 1742 to Moose Mountain Shelter 1755
Hiked 12 miles from Dartmouth Community Center down NH 120 and made left into the woods. Climbed 500' to Velvet Rocks Shelter passing by streams and footbridge at Mink Brook. Climbed 900' to Moose Mtn Shelter.

Day 2 7/7 to Fire Wardens Shelter (1767) Hiked 12 miles
Descended 1200' to Goose Pond Road. On the way passed by the cliffs (Holts Ledge) that are fenced and protected for nesting perigren falcons. Had lunch early and ran into some local lady hikers one of whom gave me some double espresso GU shots that really boosted me the rest of the day! Descended down to Trapper John Shelter and watered up. Crossed Grafton Turnpike and then climber 2200' up Smarts Mtn to the fire tower camp sites. On the way got trail magic on Lyme-Dorchester Road from local guy driving a pickup who gave both of us a 32 ounce Gatorade. Just around the corner the famous Bill Ackerly trail magic house offered free ice cream and sodas.

Day 3 7/8 Stealth Camped at Brackett Brook 1774
Hiked 9 miles up 2 mountains! Hiked up ravine bolders up Cube mtn (2909)past thesummit. On Cube Mtn Climb saw Black Bear around from the top. We retreated and made a bunch of noise and it vacated the path! Passed by a stone post that said we had 412 miles to the end! Hiked up the south peak of Cube and down to Brackett Brook tent sites. A bad thunderstorm hit us that night and almost washed us out! We decided to see if we could get to Hikers Welcome.

Day 4 7/9 Welcome Hiker Hostel (1787)Glencliffe.Hiked 14 miles to the Hostel to Route 25. The descent passed by a beaver pond and lots of rocks. We ended up staying at Hikers Welcome and stayed 2 days because it gave us the opportunity to slack pack Mooselauke from the north straight up the Falls which is far safer than descending it with packs from the south if you are having rain and icy weather. This is a great Hostel and you can definitely eat and drink your brains out there! Day 5 7/10 Slacked Moosilauke (1797)stayed at Happy Hiker (398 miles to K) Hiked 12 miles. It was raining the next day so we slacked the Moose and got back at 4:30. It was a tough climb, foggy with sleet and sideways rain at the Summit. Saw some day Hikers who were clearly unprepared for the weather! On the way back hiked past Jeffers Brook shelter that looked like a great shelter to stay at. We dried our gear out and met a lot of fellow hikers. Day 5 7/11 to Eliza Brook Shelter (1804) Hiked 13 miles and descended 1600 feet to shelter past Kinsman Notch and climbed 1200' to Mt Wolf east peak and had level hiking to the shelter which was full and got the last camp pads. The tent pads are gravel encased by wood; great for free standing tents but not for ours but even more perilous if it rains which it did! We were literally washed out! Day 6 7/12 Kinsman Shelter 1808 Hardest Climb N&S Hiked 5 miles. The climb up the Falls was fantastic because it was super full from the evening rain. It seemed that hearing and seeing it would never end! We climber 1600' up North and South Kinsman mtns passing Harrington Pond. It was so wet we had to submerge our boots on the logs to keep going. You could see Granite cliffs on the east side. Day 7 7/13 Available resupply at Franconia Notch (1813) Chet's Hostel Hiked 11 miles plus 4 miles in Lincoln (1811). Descended 1600 to Franconia Notch. Had to thumb at Flume Entrance. Good but pricey Mexican food close to Riverwalk resort at Blue Mtn. Chet's Hostel was great place to both stay,eat,reprovision and wash clothes. I left my Road ID in the shower but Chet mailed it back to me when I got home. This is where it dawned on us that NH wasn't easy and will kick your but! Only expect to do 2/3 or 1/2 of what you normally hike and get ready to replace your boots or shoes! Day 8 7/14 to Garfield Pond Stealth Site 1821 Hiked 10 miles through the flume area to the AT and up 1300 to Little Haystack and Lincoln summits. These summits are above the tree line with spectacular views. Allow a lot of time to climb and descend. When you are at Haystack's summit you think Lafayette is close but it is still 2 hours way! We hiked close to Garfield Shelter to a stealth site with close by water. Day 9 7/15 to Guyot Ridge Stealth Site (1830) A terrible thunderstorm was approaching. AWOL did not mention the ridge scree field summit. We hiked up to Mt Garfield past Garfield Pond descending and ascending to South And North Twin Mountains. This was rocky trail you can't do fast. AWOL does not note that Mt Guyot is actually a huge rock and bolder scree that goes on forever. It's tough going balance wise. At the spur trail to Guyot shelter we saw the thunder storm approaching and thought it wise to set up a camp site quickly if we could find a stealth site. We found a lousy one right before all hell broke loose! We tethered our tents to create gable roofs so the water would run off and caught the rain water for dinner. It was a horrendous storm with thunder, lightning, and driving rain but we stayed dry! Day 10 7/16 Ethan Pond Shelter 1838 Swam in Pond Hiked 10 miles to Shelter passing the beautiful Zeeland Falls AMC hut where we got free pancakes and coffee. The pancakes were free because they were leftovers. This is a stunning location frequented by day and slack pack Hikers! Now we hiked on level fast trail although buggy to Ethan Pond Shelter. Don't miss this Shelter and lake especially at sunset and sunrise. Day 11 7/17 to Crawford Notch (1841)and hitched to Gorham to Libby House Barn. Hiked 3 miles to Crawford Notch Route 302. Caught a ride to Pinkham Notch from a retired corporate lawyer turned rock climber from Boston. He dropped his son off at the Notch. We had learned the weather was bad on Mt Washington and that some people were getting cut up descending Mt. Madison to Pinkham. We washed clothes and ate some great meals and ran into Earth who had recovered from last year's Lyme disease (he's a German thru hiker who had to go back to Germany to get well and resume his hike). At Pinkham we saw Nutella again who looked pretty beaten up by the trail but nevertheless hungry for carbohydrates! We also saw the heavily tattooed military hikers we saw at Ethan Pond. Day 11 7/18 Zero Day at The Barn at Gorham ; saw Earth and SloGo. Could not do more hiking due to storms on Washington and Madison. Ate twice at Mr. Pizza. We collected a lot of intelligence at the Hostel on how to climb the remainder of the Presidentials. We've decided to hike Washington from Pinkham hiking south to Crawford so you can ascend Mt Madison which is the dangerous part. Also we will stay and pay at AMC huts which will relieve us of undue stress related to weather and conditions and lighten our load as we will leave some weight behind at Lilly's Barn in Gorham.7/19 Take at 7:45 am bus to Boston 3 hours. Concord Coach Lines $41 Jet Blue at 9:00.Ate at McCormicks and Schmidt Quincy Market
345.3 to go!
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