HAMMERS REFLECTIONS ON NH & ME

NEW HAMPSHIRE (161 miles)

New Hampshire is known for its 48 – 4,000 foot mountain peaks, its lack of trail marking, its gnarly rocky trail and its expensive AMC huts.

The highest mountain in New Hampshire is Mount Washington (6,288ft) which has recorded the strongest winds witnessed by man. Reports are the observers  drew straws to see who went out with the recording instrument. The loser had a rope tied to his waist and they opened the door and held onto the rope. The brave soul was hauled back indoors – the windspeed was recorded at 231 mph.

While we were on Mount Washington, it was windy – 35 to 50 mph with gusts up to 60 mph and wind chill of 25 to 35°F. So it felt cold and windy but people we spoke to at the warming hut said on their many trips up the mountain: “this would rate as a good day”, as it was not raining on top of the cold wind. So we were lucky to have such a great day, as  rain was predicted for the next day.

As predicted the rain did come and on passing one of the AMC huts to fill our water bottles, we met Terry with whom we hiked with around Lehigh Gap in Pennsylvania, when we hiked in the wrong direction before realising our error. It was wonderful to see him but with rain intensifying, it was a quick chat and we were on our way to find a campsite.

The AMC huts are gorgeous huts in great settings but at prices of  $100+ for a bunk bed and close to $200 if you include breakfast and dinner. There is a work for stay option for two lucky thru-hikers each night, available if the huts require help. The huts seem to cater for section hikers and it does create a bit of resentment among some thru-hikers, particularly in poor weather conditions. Apart from filling our water containers we had little engagement with the AMC huts. Our visa requirements did not allow us to do work for stay. Saying all that, the AMC shelters are obviously popular, with most of them full and for some the bookings are filled months in advance.

Weather in New Hampshire can be rough when up on  the exposed mountain tops. The winds are strong enough to blow you out of your footsteps and if this is combined with rain, it can lead to hypothermia quickly.

New Hampshire has also had some of the most sheer trail that often required bouldering type skills to negotiate. The mud has also been on the extreme side. When wet the soil behaves like pudding, with a hiking pole sinking down a metre or more when the mud was probed. 

On reflection New Hampshire is perfect for shorter hikes carrying a small pack or a daypack. So much of it is the sort of hiking that involved rock scrambling or bouldering and required the use of all four limbs. Carrying a full pack with multi-day day food provisions made for very tough going. 

MAINE (281 miles)

Sometimes things do not go as planned. It is always the simplest thing to do a straight thru-hike. That is to go in one direction, which in our case was NOBO. We have learnt over the years that weather and injury can make this a difficult task. Of our three long distance hike only one has ended up as a straight thru-hike and even then we did the last 900 miles separately,  and in Corky’s case a year later.

So it was somewhat disappointing to make the decision to flip north to Maine on this hike. We hiked the Hundred Mile Wilderness and summited Mt Kathadin from Monson going north as this made entering Baxter State Park administratively easier. From Mt Kathadin we returned to Monson to hike south back to Manchester, Vermont. We soon realized that heading south had some advantages. We were meeing  NOBO hikers who were mighty excited about finishing their hike. We have met some with what might be called white line fever. They were so focussed on finishing that they look as if they would walk over the top of you, if you did not get off the trail to let them pass.

We were also looking forward to seeing people whom have met earlier on trail. In fact we have met a number of hikers we’ve spent time with on our NOBO journey. The first was Slim Pickins’  who we had last seen in the deluge in Vermont. You may recall Slim and his Dad Rusty provided trail magic and music back in New York. It was raining when we met in Maine. It lifted our spirits to meet a friendly face. We met Poop Spoon next, yes an unusual trail name to be sure but probably not what you are thinking. We met him in Hamburg and shared a shuttle in a classic car and we crossed paths over the next couple of weeks or so. He is such a positive, effervescent fellow and it was great to see him again.

The third was Triple P who we met at the garden store where he managed to eat 5 ice cream cider donuts. He is only 17 and is a confident young man who has hiked the trail mostly solo. Unfortunately we met Triple P in a gnarly section of Mahoosuc Notch and did not have the opportunity to extend the brief conversation.  We met quite a few more friendly faces as we headed south through New Hampshire. This included our friends Dave and Julie who started the AT almost three weeks after us. Coincidentally we flew out of Sydney at the same time but on different flights. We last saw them in customs at Los Angeles Airport.

Hiking through Maine had so many highlights – sleeping under the stars for the first time since Fontana Dam, views of the sky, blue skies, open mountain summits with views of endless wilderness.  

The down side of SOBO hiking is that the  maths of trail miles  has become increasingly challenging for Corky, particularly when tired at the end of the day. We didn’t want to flip the map SOBO.