Hiking the Whites in NH

[mac]

This being my first thru, I'm puzzled to see that people actually charge hikers to sleep on the section of AT through the White Mountains. Nothing against the AMC or any of its affiliates or supporters, but funds are not easily dispersed without a job for 6 months. Anyone have any advice on what the best way to hike that section without it costing money?

[rickb]

As a practical matter, its relatively easy to avoid staying at any of the AMC mountain cabins with bunk rooms called "huts". They cost a bundle, unless you are one of the first thru-hikers to arrive and get a "work-for-stay".

Most, but not all, of the designated AMC campsites can be easily and legally avoided by pitching a tent off trail, 1/4 mile away from a road or man-made facility and below tree line. As a practial matter, I'd say that most probably end up shelling out $8.00 at a couple places, which helps underwrite the cost of a full-time catre taker and compost turner.

If it were me, I'd want to have at least $24 budgeted for campsites in the Whites.

Rick B

[Lone Wolf]

Anybody taking 6 months to hike the AT should have adequate funds to cover any and all expenses. The AT is not a wilderness trail. It is the super highway of long distance trails.

[Peaks]

The is a lot of misunderstanding about hiking the Whites.

As Rick says, budget some money to stay at some of the AMC tentsites. (You can usually also do work for stay there also and pay nothing). (By the way, work for stay is a good way to get to know the caretakers and hut crews)

Anyway, the folks at Hikers Welcome in Glencliff can answer all your questions about how to hike the Whites when you get there. It really isn't a big deal. It has been discussed here and elsewhere numerous times.

[DebW]

There are fees at certain campsites in Vermont also. I think it's around $4-5. Stratton Pond, Griffith Lake/Peru Peak Shelter are the ones I remember. Could be others.

[Presto]

You can get through the whites without paying. It takes a little planning but when you get that far you will become resourceful knowing where to stay. We did work for stay at one hut and paid only once at a campground - it is pricey though if you do pay. Campgrounds are $8/person and the huts are so rediculous you will never stay there if you have a tight budget unless you get work for stay. There are some legal sites off the trail a ways but they are tough to find without asking around. You will know what to do when you get there.

[MOWGLI]

Deb, if you make it that far north, and I hope that you will, you'll be resourceful enough to figure it out. You might want to budget $50 for campgrounds in VT, NH & ME in the event that you choose to stay at one of these paid sites. The woods are big though, so if you don't want to pay and are willing to hike off the trail a bit, you can always find a place to pitch your tent.

Little Bear
GA-ME 2000

[peter2003]

New England AT camping fees:

1. In VT it is easy to pay nothing; just hike a little way past the ponds and set your tarp or tent-no problem here.

2. In NH you will probable get stuck staying at the AMC site at Liberty Springs (right after Route 3 and Old Mann of the Mountain) or Garfield Ride Tentsite because there are not a lot of stealth camping spots in the Layayette Ridge area. After this it will take a little planning since bad weather above tree line in the summer is someplace that you do not want to be. An example, you could stealth camp arount Mt. Pierce and hike the entire Southern and Northern Presidential range, or drop off somewhere on the Northern Presidentials and stay at an RMC Cabin (cost about $8.00) or the Valley Way campsite near Madision Hutt. The RMC cabins are highly recommended by a lot of hikkers (but you will have to drop about 800ft in evelation to get to them).

3. After Madison Hutt there are plenty of places to camp.

Good luck,

Pete

[L-Passo]

I didn't pay a dime to camp in the whites.
GAME 2002, I did work for stay through 2 stormy nights but the work is easy and if you have nice weather I would suggest cowboying it on the highest points possible.-as long as your head and gear don't get blown off you'll enjoy a beautifull sunset and sunrise. L-Passo

[JackW]

Cowboying??? Is there a glossary somewhere?

[jlb2012]

SGT Rock's site has a lexicon - I just added the entry for cowboying - see link : Cowboying

[Blue Jay]

Call me paranoid, but I would not cowboy above tree line in the Whites. It's easy enough to get caught in a dangerous weather situation in the mist when you are awake. By the time you got up, stuffed your sleeping bag in your pack, you could easily be flash frozen.

[Rambler]

Info on the Whites

[icemanat95]

Originally posted by Blue Jay
Call me paranoid, but I would not cowboy above tree line in the Whites. It's easy enough to get caught in a dangerous weather situation in the mist when you are awake. By the time you got up, stuffed your sleeping bag in your pack, you could easily be flash frozen.

It is ILLEGAL to camp above treeline unless your camp is sitting on at least 3-4 feet of snowpack. To do so is inviting a fine.

A lot of thru-hikers get riled up about the regulation in the Whites, and blame the AMC. The AMC does not make the regulations pertaining to camping above treeline, the US FOrest Service does, and those regs have been in force for a LONG time.

They don't exist to funnel people onto AMC and RMC sites either, the AMC and RMC sites came into existence to give people more convenient and less impactful camping options which would allow them to remain in the mountains at night. The regs exist to protect extremely delicate alpine plant life from erosion. The Krumholz may seem to be spiney and tough, but when you consider that it took most of those plants 60-70 years to grow to knee height, you realize just how fragile living conditions are up there.

Now I have camped out above treeline in the Whites, about 200 meters from Thunderstorm Junction, but that was in Winter. It's an adventure, because the wind blows something fierce up there. It'll strip a tent fly out of your hands and blow it into the Gulf in about half an instant. Most of the ultralight gear that is being used these days would be prone to similar treatment unless it is carefully secured.

As far as paying at the AMC camps, be mindful of the fact that the White Mountains are among the most heavily visited hiking trails in the world, and much of that traffic is focused on the Franconia and Presidential ranges. The AMC caretaker serviced campsites offer a means of keeping the impact of overnight hikers to a minimum. The need for this was established in the 1960's and 1970's when there was an explosion of backpacking without the benefit of an organized LNT ethics program. The woods quickly became defoliated from people building campfires, pine bough beds, rain trenches around their tents, etc. Catholes were unheard of, people dug slit trenches instead and filled them with excrement and toilet paper then abandoned them. Establishing campsites with privies and caretakers to keep things under control was a necessary step to bring things under control and prevent us from loving the backcountry to death. Paying a small fee at the campsite, merely makes it possible to keep these campsites going.

And lets put things into perspective. When I was a thru-hiker, I would hit town and head for a pizza parlor or a McDonalds, or a restaurant and blow a minimum of 8-15 dollars on food and drink. A lot of hikers will drink that much in beer in a single town night and some will burn 3-5 times that on occasion. 8 bucks is 3-4 drafts at a pub, 2-3 if, like me, you prefer good beer rather than the mass produced stuff. Hell, I consider 8 bucks to be a deal for forest protection AND a campsite and a reasonably clean privy. The beer ends up in the privy after an hour or two anyhow.

You can avoid paying in the Whites. It takes some real planning and maybe some map-reading skill to locate likely spots. It is not illegal to camp in the Whites, you just have to be below treeline and at least 200 feet from the trail. There are also many unpaid established tentsites along the way, but none of them are high up. They are nearly all in the valleys. If you can get down off of Madison before sunset, there are a number of nice sites right on the trail at Clam Rock. There are a few others that I can't quite put my finger on right now, but they are marked on the maps.

Once again, don't sweat the small stuff. You don't have to stay at the Huts or the AMC or RMC campsites, but they are nice options. Two of the Huts are self-service now and much less expensive. Carter Notch and I believe Lonesome Lake. That might be a nice option to exercise in bad weather since they offer good shelter at a decent price.

[Virginian]

Dont sweat it. If your north bound you will have figured it out by the time you reach NH.

White blaze/Pack on Back

[Trailjockey]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Virginian
[B]Dont sweat it. If your north bound you will have figured it out by the time you reach NH.


Hey! You know, I think I got it figured out! Thanks Virginian(or is it "The Virginian")
I don`t think any of us could have managed without your words of wisdom.
I knew lurking on this post would payoff. Now I can hike with confidence.
Thanks again Virginian!

[Aswah]

stealth camping... there was a notebook in 2000 at pinkham notch visitor center with 300 or 600 "stealth" spots. I stealthed some and paid at two spots... and one caretaker didn't charge me... aswah

[art703]

Most huts have a less expensive tent area close by. You can always fin spot to camp on your own even along franconia ridge if your willing to hike down a spur trail.

[chknfngrs]

I am just beginning plans for a section hike of the presidential range. is there an estimate of mileage between these two? I just want to see if it's viable for a few days worth of hiking. If so, I'm going to purchase maps and guides. Thanks for the help!

[art703]

That part of the whites is tough time will depend on fitness and weather.