Four Thousand Footers in ONE Backpack?

[Cool Hands]

I was looking at the maps in my White Mountain Guide, and I realized that, with so many trails around, wouldn't it be possible to do ALL of the Four Thousand Footers of the Whites in one, continuous, epic backpack? I see that in most places where there have to be major road crossings one could walk less than 2 miles to another trailhead, and the only somewhat disconnected peaks from the massive network of trails would along the Kilkenny Ridge and Mount Moosilauke -- and both of which could serve as a start or an end to the journey in the first place. Maybe, during some future summer, this could be possible to accomplish in one trip. Also: Has anyone ever heard of someone attempting anything similar before?

[Cool Hands]

So, it would probably be something like: north on Moosilauke, through the whole Kinsman Ridge (take it all the way to Cannon), then down to the notch and up the whole Franconia Ridge (take the Flume Slide Trial up), then over Garfield and the Twins, down to Owl's Head and over to the Hancocks, accross the Kanc and over Osceola, Tecumseh, and finally the Sandwich Range (with small roadwalks), maybe even by Chocorua, then back up farther east through Passaconaway Campground, over Sawyer River Road quickly, and up Carrigain, then through the Pemi and up the Bonds, Zealand, Hale, and over the peaks along the west of Crawford Notch, up the Southern Presidentials and Washington, down Tuckerman (or through the Great Gulf) and then a massive loop of the Wildcat-Carter-Moriah Range and maybe some peaks in the Eastern Whites (just for fun), then across Hall's Ledge Trail and the Rocky Branch Trail up Mount Isolation, then up to Washington again and the Northern Presidentials, then finally through Randolph and up the Kilkenny.

[Blissful]

Wow that took a bit to compile. Good for you! I met a few that were finishing this achievement, not in one trip but over the course of several years.

[DLANOIE]

I completed the 4'000 footers back in 2006 during my thru hike. Mnt Moosilauke was my last one. Mnt. Isolation was my first, hiked back in 1995, so I guess it took me eleven years to finish. Doing it all at once would be AWESOME. Maybe someday...I would like to know if anyone has done this!

[Amanita]

I know that there are "speed records" for both the 4000 footers in NH and the ADK 46s. Some of these records are heavily supported (example; "Cave Dog") others are completely unsupported.

So I'd bet it HAS been done, and someone has written down how long it took, too.

Sounds cool though.

[Driver8]

I think it's a great idea - best of luck in pursuing it!

[pfann]

Four Thousand Footers in ONE Backpack?

When I glanced at the title my first thought was, Man that's got to be one big pack! There won't be room for your sleeping bag.

[The Old Fhart]

It has been done.

[Cool Hands]

Four Thousand Footers in ONE Backpack?

When I glanced at the title my first thought was, Man that's got to be one big pack! There won't be room for your sleeping bag.

Resupplies could definitely be made at Lafayette Campground when crossing Franconia Notch, Waterville Valley (proably only by mail here), the AMC Highland Center if one passed through the notch that far north, the Pinkham Notch Visitor Center, and finally at Randolph, NH. I'm sure a few stays at the AMC Huts would also cut down on necessary food supplies. Right now it's just a crazy thought though, haha.

[Mr. Clean]

check out viewsfromthetop for more info.

[peakbagger]

Matts Rowling has done it once in one continuous backpack starting in the south and has attempted but not finished twice starting from the north, one of his companions did complete it N to S. Its called the Directisima. This hike was also done many years ago and apparently there was an article in Appalachia about it. Matts started planning from scratch but ended up using bascially the same route (althouhg he had a few extra 4000 footers to climb)

One of the "rules" is that in order for it to count, it has to be entirely self supported and the hiker has to carry everything except for water, which means starting out with a 90 pound pack. As the link in a prior posts shows, there have been multiple supported records for climbing all the summits but they normally dont meet the continuous hike rule.

If you go on viewsfromthetop.com and search for "directisima" you can get more details. Matt's route uses the bushwhack down from the Franconia ridge over to Owl and then back up to the ridge method. He also has a pretty long road walk from Waumbek to Jefferson.

[Driver8]

One of the "rules" is that in order for it to count, it has to be entirely self supported and the hiker has to carry everything except for water, which means starting out with a 90 pound pack. As the link in a prior posts shows, there have been multiple supported records for climbing all the summits but they normally dont meet the continuous hike rule.

By this logic, AT thru-hikes don't count as continuous hikes. JMO, but certainly for a first attempt, I think doing it with resupplies would be a fine accomplishment. Also, is it just me, or does summitting four dozen peaks in three or four days seem a bit absurd? Smell the roses - enjoy the view!

[Cool Hands]

By this logic, AT thru-hikes don't count as continuous hikes. JMO, but certainly for a first attempt, I think doing it with resupplies would be a fine accomplishment. Also, is it just me, or does summitting four dozen peaks in three or four days seem a bit absurd? Smell the roses - enjoy the view!

Still just a crazy idea! But if I did attempt it, I'm sure I'd budget my time appropriately, and I know I would be out there just to have some fun... probably over a week, no more than 10 or 15 miles each day. And I now realize that, if I refused any shuttles or hitchhikes, I would have to bike over from near Randolph (it looks like the western most trail on the north slope of Adams, the Castle Trail, is just above a pretty big hill, so probably from there) to the trailhead at Jefferson, which is overall around fifty feet lower, but requires two gradual hundred or so foot climbs. Never really biked over significant distances before, but that doesn't sound too bad. In any case, it would be either that or an eight mile roadwalk...

[MEB]

I attempted the Direttissima back in 2009 with Mats Roing....I made it three days before my feet failed me due to boot and foot problems. I have my trip posted on trail journals for anyone interested in reading more about it. It was quite the adventure!

-MEB

[Old Hillwalker]

I attempted the Direttissima back in 2009 with Mats Roing....I made it three days before my feet failed me due to boot and foot problems. I have my trip posted on trail journals for anyone interested in reading more about it. It was quite the adventure!

-MEB

I've had the honor of hiking with MEB, and she's one mean hiking woman. Wicked cute too. Hmm, I guess that's not very PC

[hikemikehike]

interesting idea

[Cool Hands]

I may have gone overboard....

I just signed up for the amazing "White Mountain Guide Online" on the AMC's website, and in a couple hours, along with my computer's calculator, I was able to get the total elevation gain, the total distance, the approximate time, and a complete trail route for the entire endeavor:

48 four thousand footers
Several small road walks; none more than 1.6 miles
One eight mile bike ride
+91,365 feet
-90,786 feet
265.11 miles
191 hours 45 minutes
~22 days (at 8 hours of hiking per day)

As a point of comparison, the AT's average elevation change is 217.88 feet per mile, and this route has 687.08 feet per mile of elevation change.

I attached a screenshot from the Google Earth view of the map I made with the White Mountain Guide Online. If I decided to do this, I'd probably wait a few years. Very interesting though, and it's amazing how little road use would be necessary.