The Tall Whites

When we asked previous thru-hikers about their experience in The White Mountains of New Hampshire we always received mixed reviews. Some stated they were the hardest & worst part of the trail. Others said it was so beautiful you don't even notice the climb. I think somewhere between those two arguments is where I fall. The Whites are tough & the hardest terrain we have faced yet but the views make it worth it. Our first full day into the Whites we planned for an easy 14 but came to find out that was a bit to much for our first day. Our first mistake was not getting out of town and on the trail until 11:00, but we started out strong & made it over Little Hay Stack. There we had lunch just before the afternoon shower that rolled in on us. Just as quick as it rolled in it rolled out & the sky opened up nice for our upcoming views.



Spanky & PaddyCakes enjoying our first view of the day

Sleeping Beauty finishing up our first climb. 

The view from the top was gorgeous but soon outdone by the next view. We climbed Mt Lafayette then walked along the Franconia Ridge Line. We followed stone carens up & along the ridge with 360 degree views. 

Franconia Ridge Line

Steps up marked by the carens. 

PaddyCakes looking good on top. 

View of part of the ridge we just hiked. 

The Ridge line was a fairly busy trail due to the easy access of a parking lot on a spur trail. So we enjoyed the sites then kept on, we had miles to make. 

All that climbing made us hungry again so we stopped for a snack at Garfield Pond. 

Spanky had a snack of a block of cheese. Oh the diet of a thru-hiker. 

We took in one last view for the day on Mt Garfield then headed down the steepest decent I have ever hiked. At one point the trail & a stream merged so we were climbing down wet slippery rocks trying not to kill ourselves. 

View that night. 

One very special thing about the Whites is there are huts along the trail that you can trade work for stay. Since our day dragged on & we arrived late they only had two spots available so we let Sleeping Beauty & Spanky have the first one. Along with your stay they feed you dinner that night & breakfast. They did feel sorry for us & gave us some lemonade, cookies & bread. They knew we would eat anything. They also let us pitch our tent up by the hut, which is highly illegal due to the "sensitive alpine area". But, we found a flat grassy area that didn't hurt the area so all was well.

One of the huts. This ones name is Zealand Falls Hut. 

Spanky earning his keep 

Sleeping Beauty doing some dishes

The next morning we started out early since we had not gone as fast as we thought we would the day before. A fog had rolled in that morning so our first few climbs were in the clouds without views. 

It cleared up in time for us to enjoy Zealand Falls at the next hut. The girls were so nice that they gave us pancakes & the most delicious oatmeal left over from breakfast that morning. We washed a few dishes for them in return for the food. They also fed us potato soup with homemade wheat bread. It was a deliciously unexpected treat. 

Zealand Falls

We ended the day around 4:00 so we could rest up for the next day's climb. We found a great stealth camping spot right by the river. 

The next morning we started out early because we had some big climbs ahead of us. Since we started out in Crawford Notch the weather was sunny & nice. But, the higher we climbed the more clouds we started to get into. The trail started to get misty & cold so we had to layer up our clothes to stay dry & warm. 

Our first view of the day

Getting higher in the clouds

Grey clouds starting to roll in. 

You can't tell from the picture but the wind was whipping around something fierce. 

As we climbed climbed climbed we realized we were making great time. We had expected to get to the first hut around 12:00 but we ended up getting there at 10:30. Since we were ahead of schedule we stopped in the hut to see if we could get another delicious bowl of oatmeal. Well, we got oatmeal but instead of the 6 toppings oatmeal we received at the last hut we got the biggest, lumpiest, cold bowl of

mush you have ever seen. Even as hungry as we were we could hardly touch the stuff. The crew at this hut was obviously a little burnt out from the summer. So we ate our lunch we had packed & headed on to our second climb for the day. 

Once we started up we realized we were in for zero views for the rest of the day. The fog was getting thicker, wind more powerful & temperature dropping quickly. 

Our last view before we were completely in the clouds. 

Normally this 360 degree view would include mountains but not today. Our next destination was a hut called Lake of the Clouds & today it was living up to its name. 

We couldn't see the hut till we were this close.

We went into the hut & had some free soup. We were planning on staying at Lake of the Clouds hut for the night, but since we got there so early they wanted us to push on.  Lake of the Clouds is an interesting place because it is in the middle of about 6 miles of terrain that is above tree line.  There is no where to camp and it is 2 miles from Mt. Washington which is known for "the worst weather in the world".  Unlike some of the other NOBO (Northbound) hikers who were not willing to leave the hut we pushed on.  It was the second worst weather we have ever experienced. 

PaddyCakes ready to make the climb over the top of Mt. Washington

Had to ignore this sign. 

We pushed on up to the summit of Mt. Washington in 41 degree weather and with gusts of wind that topped out at 75 miles per hour.  It was treacherous on those rocks, but we kept a positive attitude and looked forward to making it to the Madison Hut 8 miles ahead.  One of the workers at Lake of the Clouds even wrote a note for us saying that we were willing to push on when no one else was and to please give us a work for stay or at least floor space in the hut to sleep on.  It turned out to be a wonderful decision.  The crew at Madison was awesome! They took us in, gave us hot chocolate and fed us stuffed shells and pizza.  They made us feel really welcome even though they were also keeping 8 other thru hikers since the weather outside was so bad.  It was a good end to an 18 mile day in the Whites.

A picture of the inside of the Madison Hut

The next day we had pancakes for breakfast.  PaddyCakes ate 10! You have to take advantage of those free calories when they are available.  The weather that morning was still cold, cloudy, and windy, but it wasn't raining. We had a climb over a couple of mountains before descending into the "valley" where the weather forecast said it was going to be 70 degrees. 

Weather starting to clear up

PaddyCakes happy to be going down into the valley and out of the bad weather

Between this mountain and the ski slopes in the distance of the picture was our valley. 

It was a steep climb down, but with every step the weather got nicer and warmer.

Puddin loving the water running down the mountain and happy to be back in her tank top.

Rock hoppin across the stream

We were going to push for 14 miles to make it to Carter Notch shelter, but the warm weather of Pinkham Notch lured us in and we called it an early day.  We figured we deserved it after the day we had previously.  We camped by the river and enjoyed being warm in our tent. 

The next morning we woke up early and began our climb of the Wildcat Mountains.  They are notoriously steep on both sides and because of our short day we decided we would just knock all of them out and conquer them in a 17 mile section that would put us just outside of Gorham, NH and put the Whites in our rear view. 

One of the lakes surrounding Carter Notch Hut

A view from the top of the Wildcats



Starting to get back above tree line

Fortunately for us, the weather could not have been better.  It really was perfect. 

A rare picture with both of us in it

Another one of the lakes at Carter Notch Hut

Our first view of Maine to the north

a 360 panoramic view on one of the balds up top.  Beautiful day for a hike.

PaddyCakes saying goodbye to the Whites.

A rare view of Mt. Washington out of the clouds in the background

We hiked out of the Whites happy to be done with them, but sad to be leaving the beautiful views.  The Whites were harder than anything else we have hiked along the Appalachian Trail so far, but also have been the most rewarding.  Looking back we remember how terrifying the terrain looked, and it was, but we now feel like we can take on the world and no mountain will be too much of a challenge for us.

We are now staying at the White Mountain Hostel along route 2 in Gorham, NH.  We are 16 miles from the Maine border and the Whites are behind us.  It is a really good place to be.  We have 298.3 mile left on our hike and it feels wonderful.  We are excited to get into our 14th state tomorrow and see what Maine has to offer us.  New Hampshire has been as wonderful as everyone has said and it will always have a place in our hearts.