Anyone here redlining NH right now?

[Alex_NH]

Hello all. I'm a new member and am happy to have an active forum of this sort. I am currently working my way through redlining the 30th edition and am about 38% complete. It's been awesome hiking some of the lesser traveled routes around--especially during the pandemic. I was wondering if anyone else is currently doing the same who would like to do some car spots with me? I'm local to the White Mountains region and can often hike during the week with a little planning. And I'm always down to leave work a little early in the summer and sneak in ten or twelve miles. It would also be cool to chat with another redliner, whether aspiring or a finisher.

 

[TEO]

Alex, welcome to the forum! You've made good headway on a worthy goal. I'm not working on redlining at the moment, but based on advice that I've received from leading infectious disease researchers, I would not recommend sharing a car with someone even that you know well. (Even outside and wearing masks, they observe at a minimum of 6' distance from others.) It's a bummer, because there are hikes I'd like to do with my hiking partner that would be much easier with a car spot. But even though we're old friends, we're rigorous about keeping our distance.

If you absolutely must share a car, I would say only do so with all the windows down, wearing masks, and one person up front and the other in the back.

 

[peakbagger]

I have done a lot of redlining with a few friends in the last two years (covid has put a damper on it). It tends to drive them nuts that I dont keep track, I am just doing trails with them that I havent done before.

 

[Alex_NH]

Thanks for the tips. You're right about distancing right now.

I was the same way about keeping track, but luckily I kept a journal in recent years and just started getting serious about it this year. But once I wrote it all down I was well on my way!

 

[peakbagger]

Plan on spending a lot of time in the Maine section of the WMNF, Lots of trails with remote trailheads.

 

[Alex_NH]

I'm looking forward to that bit. The stuff I've hiked in that area has been great.

 

[Mike P.]

As a hint, in a few places, you may be able to park your car and ride a bike to a starting point. On the edges of the WMNF where the terrain is a bit flatter, or if planned correctly, park you car at the top of an area and ride downhill to the start. I did a Carter's hike sometime ago that way, parking at Pinkham Notch and heading north on 16 to Imp. (originally said Crawford, that was a brain fart)

 

[wardsgirl]

Hi Alex! I can only hike during the weekends, but I am totally up for some socially-distant car-spotting reciprocation if our goals match up!

I have hiked 85% of the trails in the WMNF. Oddly enough, most of my Redlining miles come from being an AMC Adopt-a-Trail program Region Leader for 25+ years. I had hiked 60% before I realized that Redlining was even a thing.

What I envision for car-spotting in times of global pandemic:
I can leave you and my car at trailhead terminus A. I can then drive your car to trailhead terminus B and begin my hike from there. We greet each other somewhere in the middle of the hike. At the end of the hike, we both get into our own cars, disinfect the steering wheel, and go home! The potential for contamination would be pretty slim, as long as we promise not to snot on each other's vehicles. I also carry a container of hand sanitizer in my car and presumably you will do the same.

Some places, of primary car-spotting interest to me- because they will allow me to finish hiking the trails in the Moosilauke section without backtracking, are:
-Carr Mountain
-Black Mountain
-Hurricane Trail
-Blueberry Mountain
These aren't long hikes, but they are tedious to complete as anything but a car-spotted hike.

The rest of my redlining quest lies almost exclusively in the Northerns and Carters.
Let me know if anything matches up for a carspot with me!

There is also an extensive community of Redliners on Facebook, if that interests you.