Blog No 44 Hiking the Appalachian Trail in New Hampshire
For the first few years we backpacked the AT on short section hikes, usually 3 or 4 nights over a weekend, hiking some 35 to 40 miles of trail through Georgia, North Carolina and the first part of Virginia. At one time or another I hiked with all my family along with friends. When we started out I had no plans to hike the entire trail; but as years went by, my brother, Garner, and I (we were hiking mostly by ourselves by now) began to fantasize about hiking the entire trail. It became apparent that if we wished to finish the trail we had to increase our pace. We began to hike a week at a time, usually twice and year. By the time we reached the White Mountains of New Hampshire, we had become veteran AT hikers.
For years we had heard about the difficulty of the White Mountains of New Hampshire and the trail lived up to its reputation. We reserved huts that had been built in the White Mountains exclusively for AT hikers, and they provided us with dinner and breakfast and a bunk bed to sleep in. The huts were run by college kids, who worked for the summer, and the job was very competitive. They carried all supplies from the base of the mountain along a steep trail on primitive backpacks called "hut boards." After they served us dinner they performed a scripted routine they had memorized that was usually quite good. Everyone went to bed early. New Englanders are set in their ways, and when it comes to the White Mountain hut culture this is particularly true. There was and abundance of water and sunshine; solar showers would have been a luxury, but were not allowed as it conflicted with tradition.
After an early breakfast, we were on our way but with much less weight in our backpacks―not having to carry tents, sleeping bags, but only snacks, lunch and water. In spite of this, hiking up and down rock-strewn trails, climbing over boulders and inching through narrow crevices, just hiking 5 to 6 miles, became a full day. We were rewarding with breath-taking vistas, brilliant rainbows, and memorable sunsets, that have remained some of the most treasured memories of the trail.
All photos by author
