Re-supply for section hike through the Whites

[Dogwood]

Yup, easy for one even with a modicum of getting a ride experience as a backpcker/hiker getting a ride in those directions and roads Peakbagger said. And, there tends to be little or no added hassle for rides to take ya 3 or 12 miles. It's vastly a one ride either distance.

[fastfoxengineering]

Ive never had a problem getting a hitch in the Whites.

From New Hampshire residents.

Massholes and Connnecticut plates give you weird looks. Your ruining their vacation.

A guy from Canada practically kicked his family out of the car to give me a quarter mile hitch once lol... I couldnt say no at that point.

Im always giving hikers rides around the Whites.

So far I've had 3 thru hikers go down North Twin by accident. All the way to the campspots on the dirt road. I end up bringing them to the gas station for soda and then to the zealand falls trail head. They dont realize how bad they messed up until were still driving 25 minutes later.

Walking around North Conway as a dirty smelly thru hiker is a treat. You can scare the tourists there.




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[peakbagger]

Probably worth a thread on how confused hikers can end up at the wrong place in the whites. I have picked up folks who decided to hike up and over Mt Washington figuring they would get quick hitch back to their car on the other side. Typically its not one hitch its 4 or 5 in row. I also will find folks trying to hitch back to their cars after a presi traverse via Mt Clinton Road (now closed) and Jefferson Notch road. Both are desolate dirt FS roads that get little or no traffic after dark.

[QuietStorm]

Thanks. This was helpful. I'm beginning to sharpen my plan. I recognize starting in Hanover as a section hiker will be challenging. Although I have over 2,000 AT miles under my belt, I won't have my trail legs. I'm hiking every other weekend and have a good workout plan in place but I don't underestimate the physical challenge (although don't agree with the poster who said something like 'at my age...') I'm breaking up the hike into three legs--Hanover to The Notch hostel-(pick-up, shuttle, overnight and re-supply), The Notch (Kinsman notch parking) to Rt. 302/Crawford Notch (pick-up, shuttle, overnight, and re-supply by Rattle River Hostel), and Rt. 302 to Rattle River Hostel. i'm giving myself about 4 days for each leg, which is ambitious, but have a little leeway to add days if needed. I'll be carrying 4 days' food for each leg. I am sending re-supply boxes to The Notch and Rattle River Hostel. Just praying for good weather and clear views.

[fastfoxengineering]

You can pray for good weather. But the truth is if its gonna be really bad weather, its unadvisable to he hiking the franconia ridge or in the presedentials.

It's more than just... a crappy view kind of day.


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[Slo-go'en]

You can pray for good weather. But the truth is if its gonna be really bad weather, its unadvisable to he hiking the franconia ridge or in the presedentials.

It's more than just... a crappy view kind of day.

End of June hike. Very good chance of a few days of rain in a 12 day window. If it's raining and your not hiking in a stream, your not on the trail.

I would take the Hanover to Franconia leg a little slower and do it in 6 days and not 4. Send a box to the Hikers Welcome hostel in Glencliff. The little store they can take you to doesn't have much in the way of hiker food, but they have a grill and they make a decent sandwich.

You really don't need to send a box to Rattle river, they will take you to Walmart.

[fastfoxengineering]

End of June hike. Very good chance of a few days of rain in a 12 day window. If it's raining and your not hiking in a stream, your not on the trail.

I would take the Hanover to Franconia leg a little slower and do it in 6 days and not 4. Send a box to the Hikers Welcome hostel in Glencliff. The little store they can take you to doesn't have much in the way of hiker food, but they have a grill and they make a decent sandwich.

You really don't need to send a box to Rattle river, they will take you to Walmart.

Yes most thru hikers go fram Hanover to Hikers Welcome Hostel.

Its a good push from Hanover to Glencliff.

The store in Glencliff is mediocre. But you only need 1 day of food food to get you to lincoln.

Slackpacking Moosilauke is very popular. And advisable in crappy weather. The Beaver Brook trail can be sketchyyyy in pouring rain.

I dont know how you feel about slackpacking. But the most efficient way to move through the Whites quickly is by having a really light pack. And slackpacking the AT in the Whites is easy using the hostels.

The Price Chopper in Lincoln is a good resupply.

The Walmart in Gorham is a good resupply.

Typically thru hiker schedule:

Mt moosilauke 1 day
The Kinsmans to Franconia Notch 1 day
Franconia Notch to Crawford Notch 2 days
Crawford to Pinkham 2 days
Pinkham to Rattle river 2 days

And looking back on that.. thats some serious terrain covered fast.

Its pretty much impossible to move faster than that unless your an absolute beast or can endure tremendous amounts of pain.

You can slackpack Moosilauke, the kinsmans, then carry 4-5 days from franconia to pinkham, then slackpack the wildcats and moriah to rattle river (but thats a BIG day hike)

I dont remeber how long it took to get from hanover to glencliff.

But heres how i did it.

I backpacked from Hanover to Hikers Welcome Hostel. I resupplied one day of food at the general store.

I then carried 1 day of food over mt Moosilauke. Stayed at the Notch Hostel. Zerod. Resupplied 1 day at price chopper.

I then hiked over the kinsmans to franconia notch. I hitch hiked back into lincoln to see some friends. Resupplied at price chopper 4 days and stayed at chets place.

I then hiked from franconia to garfield ridge tentsite.

Then from garfield ridge tent site to the pond after zealand falls on the flat section. I forget the name.

Then from the pond to Mizpah hut. Got some really good trail magic at the road before heading up to webster cliffs. It was also raining. Go figure.

Mizpah tentsite all the way to the campsite at the base of madison, which is only a few easy miles from the pinkham notch. The next morning, we hiked out to pinkham notch got breakfast at the vistors center and stayed at the barn. Resupplied at walmart for two days.

The next day we hiked from pinkham up and over the wild cats, over the carters to imp? Campsite. The next day we hiked to rattle river and stayed and zerod at the hostel. Resupllied at walmart and headed north towards Maine!

Most neros and zeros i took on the whole trail. But if theres one place your gonna do it....

Tons of rugged elevation change.

I've never slackpacked.. but next time I hike the AT..

My packs gonna weigh 5lbs or im slackpacking the whole thing.

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[egilbe]

Yes most thru hikers go fram Hanover to Hikers Welcome Hostel.

Its a good push from Hanover to Glencliff.

The store in Glencliff is mediocre. But you only need 1 day of food food to get you to lincoln.

Slackpacking Moosilauke is very popular. And advisable in crappy weather. The Beaver Brook trail can be sketchyyyy in pouring rain.

I dont know how you feel about slackpacking. But the most efficient way to move through the Whites quickly is by having a really light pack. And slackpacking the AT in the Whites is easy using the hostels.

The Price Chopper in Lincoln is a good resupply.

The Walmart in Gorham is a good resupply.

Typically thru hiker schedule:

Mt moosilauke 1 day
The Kinsmans to Franconia Notch 1 day
Franconia Notch to Crawford Notch 2 days
Crawford to Pinkham 2 days
Pinkham to Rattle river 2 days

And looking back on that.. thats some serious terrain covered fast.

Its pretty much impossible to move faster than that unless your an absolute beast or can endure tremendous amounts of pain.

You can slackpack Moosilauke, the kinsmans, then carry 4-5 days from franconia to pinkham, then slackpack the wildcats and moriah to rattle river (but thats a BIG day hike)

I dont remeber how long it took to get from hanover to glencliff.

But heres how i did it.

I backpacked from Hanover to Hikers Welcome Hostel. I resupplied one day of food at the general store.

I then carried 1 day of food over mt Moosilauke. Stayed at the Notch Hostel. Zerod. Resupplied 1 day at price chopper.

I then hiked over the kinsmans to franconia notch. I hitch hiked back into lincoln to see some friends. Resupplied at price chopper 4 days and stayed at chets place.

I then hiked from franconia to garfield ridge tentsite.

Then from garfield ridge tent site to the pond after zealand falls on the flat section. I forget the name.

Then from the pond to Mizpah hut. Got some really good trail magic at the road before heading up to webster cliffs. It was also raining. Go figure.

Mizpah tentsite all the way to the campsite at the base of madison, which is only a few easy miles from the pinkham notch. The next morning, we hiked out to pinkham notch got breakfast at the vistors center and stayed at the barn. Resupplied at walmart for two days.

The next day we hiked from pinkham up and over the wild cats, over the carters to imp? Campsite. The next day we hiked to rattle river and stayed and zerod at the hostel. Resupllied at walmart and headed north towards Maine!

Most neros and zeros i took on the whole trail. But if theres one place your gonna do it....

Tons of rugged elevation change.

I've never slackpacked.. but next time I hike the AT..

My packs gonna weigh 5lbs or im slackpacking the whole thing.

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That's about right, realistic.

[Dogwood]

Thanks. This was helpful. I'm beginning to sharpen my plan. I recognize starting in Hanover as a section hiker will be challenging. Although I have over 2,000 AT miles under my belt, I won't have my trail legs. I'm hiking every other weekend and have a good workout plan in place but I don't underestimate the physical challenge (although don't agree with the poster who said something like 'at my age...') I'm breaking up the hike into three legs--Hanover to The Notch hostel-(pick-up, shuttle, overnight and re-supply), The Notch (Kinsman notch parking) to Rt. 302/Crawford Notch (pick-up, shuttle, overnight, and re-supply by Rattle River Hostel), and Rt. 302 to Rattle River Hostel. i'm giving myself about 4 days for each leg, which is ambitious, but have a little leeway to add days if needed. I'll be carrying 4 days' food for each leg. I am sending re-supply boxes to The Notch and Rattle River Hostel. Just praying for good weather and clear views.

If you're willing to entertain hitching and shuttles factor you factor that into your three legs possibly not doing all the legs linearly in the same direction. Look at the elevation profile for your hike. Reversing a segment could make a huge elev difference or descending rather ascending. It could make for an easier 144 miles. It could be useful since you're not going to have your trail legs in a tougher AT state.

[fastfoxengineering]

If you're willing to entertain hitching and shuttles factor you factor that into your three legs possibly not doing all the legs linearly in the same direction. Look at the elevation profile for your hike. Reversing a segment could make a huge elev difference or descending rather ascending. It could make for an easier 144 miles. It could be useful since you're not going to have your trail legs in a tougher AT state.

Crawford Notch. Webster Cliffs. The Presidential Traverse. Mt. Washington. Mt. Madison. Down to Pinkham Notch. Wildcat ABCD. Down to Carter Notch. The climb up Carter. The Carter-Moriah traverse. It hurts just talking about it.

Ambitious for 4 days. Ambitious. All this on the tale end of beating yourself up from hanover to glencliff, Moosilauke, kinsmans, franconia ridge.. garfield. South twin..

At least you can open up the stride after zealand falls.

I would tell the average hiker to plan for 6 days for that section. And pray for good weather.

The Wildcats to moriah is a death sentence in wet weather.

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[tdoczi]

If you're willing to entertain hitching and shuttles factor you factor that into your three legs possibly not doing all the legs linearly in the same direction. Look at the elevation profile for your hike. Reversing a segment could make a huge elev difference or descending rather ascending. It could make for an easier 144 miles. It could be useful since you're not going to have your trail legs in a tougher AT state.

my unscientific observation is that this exact thing is so common amongst thru hikers (especially WRT to moosilauke) as to be possibly even be the norm. if someone took a survey and counted and told me 60% of nobo thrus hike over Moosilauke southbound i would not be the least bit surprised.

i like to interject that at times into discussions about purity.

[fastfoxengineering]

my unscientific observation is that this exact thing is so common amongst thru hikers (especially WRT to moosilauke) as to be possibly even be the norm. if someone took a survey and counted and told me 60% of nobo thrus hike over Moosilauke southbound i would not be the least bit surprised.

i like to interject that at times into discussions about purity.

I stayed at hikers welcome hostel with a big group of thru hiker friends.

There was like 20 of us doing moosilauke the next day. Pretty sure I was the only 1 of 20 who didnt slackpack sobo.

Ascending beaver brook is deffinetly the smart way to do it.

For some reaskon ive descended that trail 4 times now.

Youd think id learn my lesson.

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[Dogwood]

my unscientific observation is that this exact thing is so common amongst thru hikers (especially WRT to moosilauke) as to be possibly even be the norm. if someone took a survey and counted and told me 60% of nobo thrus hike over Moosilauke southbound i would not be the least bit surprised.

i like to interject that at times into discussions about purity.

IMO it is or was more common around Mt Greylock in Mass. slack from summit to one of the Dalton trail angels and hike on from the summit on a thru. it was more a NOBO thing. I did it...one time. Another time went linearly forward. I'm half pure. It was big thing in the past. Dont know if it still is. Made for a 28 mile 3/4 day slack pack.

Sometime that steep granite trail step and rebar construction segment on the north side of moose is icy slick and more dangerous descending than ascending plus you're hiking to the hostel which factors into why some do it.

[tdoczi]

IMO it is or was more common around Mt Greylock in Mass. slack from summit to one of the Dalton trail angels and hike on from the summit on a thru. it was more a NOBO thing. I did it...one time. Another time went linearly forward. I'm half pure. It was big thing in the past. Dont know if it still is. Made for a 28 mile 3/4 day slack pack.

Sometime that steep granite trail step and rebar construction segment on the north side of moose is icy slick and more dangerous descending than ascending plus you're hiking to the hostel which factors into why some do it.

its totally about the hostel and related to the resupply problems that have been discussed. almost everyone goes to that hostel and the hostel probably asks everyone if theyd like to slack moosilauke in the opposition direction. i imagine given all the circumstances involved their success rate at convincing people to do this is high.

i'm not sure greylock has the same level of incentive

when i slackpacked moosilauke/kinsman and the area just south of it over the coruse of several days everyone i saw went the other direction over moosilauke (except for me. not out of a sense of purity, just other logistics thru hikers dont have to deal with)

[Slo-go'en]

My knees much prefer going up then going down. Plus going down can be down right dangerous. A lot easier to get hurt going down then going up. Plus the down is often at the end of the day when your tired. But what goes up, must go down so there really isn't any way to avoid it. Yep, my knees hurt just thinking about it. I really need to move someplace where the hiking is easier

[peakbagger]

Hostels need cash flow and running slack-pack shuttles is reliable revenue. It also opens up having a hiker stay 2 nights instead of one without a lot of extra work on the owners part. There is lot to be said for a shuttle over Moosilaukee as its from one AT road crossing to another AT road crossing, no blue blazes so its an easier sell. Same with the Wildcat/carters/Moriah slackpack, road to road and no blue blazes although its a very long day. Having the slack pack end at a hostel makes a lot of sense as the hiker can set his own pace and not worry about missing a pickup at Kinsman Notch and having to walk 3 additional miles down to the Notch Hostel.

FYI the northbound hike from Kinsman Notch is no cake walk as a slackpack. Its a long haul all the way out to the crossing under the parkway. The hike up South Kinsman has a taste of uphill boulder scrambling at its best that will become a bit more prevalent heading northwards

[tdoczi]

Hostels need cash flow and running slack-pack shuttles is reliable revenue. It also opens up having a hiker stay 2 nights instead of one without a lot of extra work on the owners part. There is lot to be said for a shuttle over Moosilaukee as its from one AT road crossing to another AT road crossing, no blue blazes so its an easier sell. Same with the Wildcat/carters/Moriah slackpack, road to road and no blue blazes although its a very long day. Having the slack pack end at a hostel makes a lot of sense as the hiker can set his own pace and not worry about missing a pickup at Kinsman Notch and having to walk 3 additional miles down to the Notch Hostel.

FYI the northbound hike from Kinsman Notch is no cake walk as a slackpack. Its a long haul all the way out to the crossing under the parkway. The hike up South Kinsman has a taste of uphill boulder scrambling at its best that will become a bit more prevalent heading northwards

oh it makes total sense and i would at least consider doing it if i were a NOBO thru. and i don't begrudge the hostel the chance to make money.

but in a conversation about purity i think you need to acknowledge just how rampant these things are. i find a lot of purists don't like to do so.

[peakbagger]

I think there has been many discussions over the years that the level of purism tends to decline as the number of miles and months hiked increases.

At one time there was an informal group of hostels and shutters that offered a "slack the whites" option. They utilized blue blaze side trails to break the whites into one day slackpacks. it was extra miles each day but was an option although I think is gradually died out as the reality of hiking a typical 6 extra miles a day and 2000 feet of vertical to get up to the ridge would decidedly reduce the demand.

I have met folks who did Crawford Notch to the Caps Ridge trail lot (highest trailhead in NH at 3008) and then do the Caps Ridge trail to Pinkham the next. Another alternative catch the 9 AM hiker shuttle up the autoroad to the top of Mt Washington and then hike south to Crawford Notch one day and then do it again the next day northbound to Pinkham. This really chews up morning daylight.

[fastfoxengineering]

What I found is once you get to NH there are two kinds of hikers.

"Purist" type LD Backpackers who have the health, ability, fitness, stamina, and stubborness to backpack that far.

Slackpackers who have the will and want to finish the hike. They do whats necessary to finish the trail. Probably been slacking up the whole trail.

At that point we all live in harmony. No one cares how one hikes at that point. All that matters is your still there lol.

Purism talk only truly matters on the internet from people who have never thru hiked.


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[tdoczi]

What I found is once you get to NH there are two kinds of hikers.

"Purist" type LD Backpackers who have the health, ability, fitness, stamina, and stubborness to backpack that far.

Slackpackers who have the will and want to finish the hike. They do whats necessary to finish the trail. Probably been slacking up the whole trail.

At that point we all live in harmony. No one cares how one hikes at that point. All that matters is your still there lol.

Purism talk only truly matters on the internet from people who have never thru hiked.


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for the record, and at risk of causing more of a tangent than i already have, i only bring up the slackpack reverse over moosilauke in discussions of purism to point out that very few, if any, hikers hike the whole trail while never doing something someone somewhere would call "unpure." i find it interesting the things that are objectionable and the things that are not, to those who seem to care.

another place, even more curious, where i observed such a thing to be very common is north of pearisburg, though not as common.