grafton notch loop?

[natron]

love this notch, done a good amount of day-hiking and a little bc snowboarding there.. now I'm planning to do the loop, 2 days and 1 night, so where will I stay? looking for more info, besides bear box and kitchen area, compost toilet, etc.. looking for which ones get less people and have better views or just an overall better zen vibe.. thanx for any advice on these 6 locales! (I'll be doing this prolly in the spring/early summer mid-week)

1.bull-run
2.slide
3.east baldpate
4.lane
5.knoll
6.town corner

 

[MichaelJ]

It's a LONG loop if you only stay one night. Are you planning to do both east and west sides? All the good campsites are in the middle of a side, which makes only one night a bit harder. I'd probably, so long as it's not thru-hiker season, start and end the loop at the south, and stay at East Baldpate. But if you can, consider two nights so you can slow down and enjoy some of the terrain and scenery.

 

[natron]

south start prolly..

It's a LONG loop if you only stay one night. Are you planning to do both east and west sides? All the good campsites are in the middle of a side, which makes only one night a bit harder. I'd probably, so long as it's not thru-hiker season, start and end the loop at the south, and stay at East Baldpate. But if you can, consider two nights so you can slow down and enjoy some of the terrain and scenery.

initially I'm thinking starting south, foot on trail towards puzzle @5a, catch the sunrise.. continue counter-clockwise to hopefully slide peak site, a big 1st day, but 14 hrs. of trail time (breaks included) should do it.. still investigating, what campsites are the best in your opinion, Michael? thanx for the advice!

 

[Guthook]

initially I'm thinking starting south, foot on trail towards puzzle @5a, catch the sunrise.. continue counter-clockwise to hopefully slide peak site, a big 1st day, but 14 hrs. of trail time (breaks included) should do it.. still investigating, what campsites are the best in your opinion, Michael? thanx for the advice!

That's going to be a mighty rugged two days, but if you're in good shape, it's possible. I think all of the campsites on the GLT are great except for Stewart (the one just on the north side of Puzzle Mountain). Considering you're trying to do this in one night, though, you'll most definitely want to camp as close to the halfway point as possible, so either East Baldpate Tentsite or Baldpate Lean-to. Both are very nice campsites. The lean-to obviously has the lean-to, but also a lot of tenting space. The East Baldpate site is smaller, but I would imagine less popular and crowded.

 

[DMOutdoors]

I hiked it on an overnight last year in August. I started at the AT lot, climbed Old Speck, and went counter-clockwise. I camped at the Stewart Camp-site, and it wasn't that bad. That site has an upper section with a wide area for several tents and a lower section with 3-4 flat areas for tents. There is a toilet there on the upper section. I was the only one there when I camped, except I woke up to a crowded upper camp and had to retrieve my bear bag which was hung directly above all of their tents!! They didn't see my bear bag. It was pretty good and quiet though, I didn't even hear them come in late in the evening from the lower section. After that, it was another long day. Don't skip out on the spur to Long Mountain. Its an incredible spot to take a few minutes in to yourself. After hiking this loop, you will get that Zen vibe and a feeling that your a wilderness maniac. Have fun!

Grafton Loop Trip Report

 

[vegematic]

I hiked the west half in 2007 with guthook. We stayed at Slide campsite which had earthen tent pads and a kitchen area but I don't remember a privy. I thought the area was really nice - no long views but really pretty woods. Water source was a small stream that crosses the trail where the campsite path breaks off.

I hiked the east half in 2009 and stayed at Lane campsite, also tent pads, no platforms. The privy was in very poor condition. The structure was weak, the door was not fully attached, and the seat was soiled and broken. We ended up cat holing. It may have been improved since then. I don't recall a kitchen area but we followed a path from the camping area that brought us to a lovely low-angle waterfall into a shallow pool. It would be a great place to soak at the end of the day, about a 5-minute walk from camp.

Off of the AT you probably won't run into crowds of hikers, although you may run into an Outward Bound group as they use the area. If you're concerned about that you could probably contact them (Hurricane Island in Newry, ME) to ask if they will have a group out there when you want to go. I don't recall that any of the sites had composting privies, just pit toilets. I also don't recall any bear boxes. My memory might be off here though. Guthook - do you remember bear boxes?
-vegematic

 

[MichaelJ]

The Puzzle Mtn site (Stewart) was in poor shape when we did it in 2009 and the door literally fell off the privy while we were there. We had to set up our tent in the common area as all the pads were overgrown with vegetation. It's a long way down to the water source; however, the water source is *excellent* (a cascade). DMOutdoors' post seems to imply someone cleaned it up.

Sargent Brook was a very nice campsite. I don't remember if there was a privy, but there were clean, level, well-built tent pads and a cooking area. I think there might have been a bear box, too?

We didn't stay at Slide but it looked as nice as Sargent Brook.

Our first night we just hiked up to West Baldpate shelter. That's the one closest to the road, on the AT, *not* the East Baldpate campsite on the Loop.
West Baldpate to Stewart was 14.2 miles and took us 11-1/2 hours.
Stewart to Sargent Brook was 10.9 miles and took us 8-1/2 hours.
We were doing a loop-lollipop into the Mahoosucs for a total of 5 nights, we went on to Speck Pond, then through the Notch to Full Goose, then out the Wright Trail. We had our complete trip's food supply with us and that weighed plenty and slowed us down. That said, there's still a lot of up and down. The summit of Sunday River Whitecap is the best part of the whole trip. The tower on Old Speck is great, too. The terrain on the western half is absolutely beautiful and lovely, the eastern half tended to be more in lower woods and darker shadows. Puzzle summit is pretty nice, too. And of course the Baldpates rock (pun intended).

Photo Album

It's an awesome backpack, and if you've got the fitness level you may be able to do it in one night, but I think you'll be pretty unhappy when on your first day at mile 17 or 18 (? I don't have the book with me) you get to the mile road walk, then go back in the woods and start a long uphill for more miles until you get to camp.

I'd also make sure to be able to take your time on the western half and enjoy Sunday River Whitecap and Old Speck's tower.

 

[Adventurous]

We stayed at Town Corner a few years ago. The positives - the water source was close and there was plenty of room for tents in a large flat area. The negatives - there were no bear boxes and there were no views. There wasn't anything special about the site.

Knoll - while I didn't go to look at the site, there were great swimming holes nearby.

 

[Guthook]

Guthook - do you remember bear boxes?

The campsites on west side (maintained by AMC) have bear boxes, if I remember right. The campsites on the east side (MATC) had all had the doors removed from the privies the last time I was through there last year-- no idea why, although since it was literally every privy, I thought maybe it was some kind of maintenance in progress, but maybe it was just a very thorough vandal. Either way, I remember the water sources at the east side's campsites being really great.

 

[natron]

bull run?

think I've decided to start south towards puzzle and try to make it to slide or bullrun. I've hiked old speck and baldpates prolly close to 10x very familiar with that terrain.. (grafton only 1 hr. from my house) anyways love everybody's advice, very valuable, thanx guys!!

if anyone has any info on bull run, views, good water source, spaced out tent sites, etc., much appreciated!

*just got my new 2 man microlight fs llbean tent, set it up indoors yesterday, love it! easy, practical, $199.00, 3lbs 12oz. min. weight. (not sure on max. weight, small and light regardless)

I'll fill yall in with a tr afterwards! happy trails!

 

[MichaelJ]

I'll fill yall in with a tr afterwards! happy trails!

Looking forward to it! You're local, you know about blackfly season.