NH Hikes

[xjbone]

Other than the Presidentials, what would you suggest for a 3-5 day backpacking trip? I'm looking for:
1. scenery/peaks
2. no crowds
3. 6-12 miles per day
4. shelters- would be nice, but not a requirement
Thanks!

 

[Artex]

Pemi loop would be a nice option, though there'll be some crowds on the Franconia Ridge. Still, it's worth it. Lot's of great places to camp along the way.

 

[TDawg]

Venture into the Pemi my friend, either a "Pemi Loop" or a traverse from Lincoln Woods to either Zealand or Crawford Notch.

There's a number of places to stay around the wilderness including Liberty Springs, Guyot Shelter, Garfield Shelter, Ethan Pond, Galehead hut, Zealand Falls hut, and other good backcountry spots.

To steer clear of the crowds you might want to avoid the huts. Also theres good camping below Bondcliff. Buy the White Mountain Guide if you havent already.

Whatever you do, I'd advise to include the 3 Bond peaks into your itinerary to satisfy your scenery criteria, as I'm sure others would agree.

Bang for your buck, I'd agree with Artex and say go for the Pemi Loop, the potential crowds on Franconia Ridge will be a small price to pay for the rest of hike.

Enjoy!

 

[TDawg]

There's a good description of the Grafton Loop's eastern half (which is the only half open right now I think) included in the Maine Mountain Guide 9th edition. If I remember correctly, there's 4 or 5 tentsites, sounds good to me.

Although, this is in Maine and not NH, but its close enough over the border!!

 

[dvbl]

Half of Maine's "100 Mile Wilderness" (or all of it if you like to go fast)

Edit...
oops, just caught your title.

 

[Amicus]

Grafton Loop Trail

While I myself have not done this trail yet, but from what I have read, doing this trail now will beat the crowds. Even though "Backpacker" did a article on it a couple of months ago, You should have the trail to yourself.

I encountered dozens of back-packers doing the Grafton Loop Trail in both directions on Tuesday (July 4), as I did an up-and-back on the 7.8 (RT) mile section (also the AT) from Grafton Notch to East Baldpate. The majority were a big AMC group-hike that I met on the summit ledges of E. Baldpate, led by Chris DeVries (sp.?) and a close-cropped young woman named Jess of the AMC NH chapter. (She mentioned that she had worked on the trail crews that blazed the new parts of this Trail.)

There were also lots of vehicles in the parking lot for this Trail, several miles south on Rte. 26. The secret seems to be out, and people were doing the full length.

Of course, it isn't NH either, and wasn't that the question?

 

[xjbone]

Thanks for the suggestions. I will be going mid-to-late September, so hopefully the crowds will be thinning out at that time.

 

[David Metsky]

Post Labor Day, pre leaf season. That's a good time. Bugs will be gone as well, it's a nice time of year to hike.

If you really want solitude you should be looking at the areas north of Rt 2 and east of Rt 16. You can do loops in the Pemi, Dry River/Presidentials, or a point-to-point along the AT but you are likely to run into more people on those trails than you would north and east.

-dave-