Franconia ridge in all its glory in the Whites in New Hampshire
We aren’t getting snowed out but the White Mountains of NH have been working us physically with long days, tough climbs, and little time to write or relax. It’s been so great to get into NH and we’ve enjoyed the amazing views of the Whites. We’d heard about this section of the trail since the beginning and it’s awesome to finally get here. However, we haven’t had much in the way of blog updates or phone calls home since we left Hanover almost a week ago so I’ll give the quick update here.
After an awesome stay in Hanover with Truckin’ and Doc, we hit the trail and immediately hit the rain. It got cold and windy for the first few days. We pushed through with a big food carry and did good miles in the low 20’s per day. For food, we tried it a bit different this time, taking lots of food and hoping to stay on the trail for as long as possible without having to go into town. It was heavy at first but kept getting better each day. We also got into some meal foods after eating primarily snacks since ditching our stove last month.
We’ve met up with lots of hikers, new and old. This has been one of the best parts. We had a fun time for a day with Coney from Cincinnati. It was great to meet up with Peanut and Handstand again along with Hermes and the PA kids. We’ve also met up with Flying Squirrel again and are actually sharing a hotel room this evening in Gorham, NH.
The hiking has been wild. We normally walk around 3 miles per hour; Stopwatch makes sure of this. We’ve had sections of 1 mile per hour hiking lately, climbing boulders, skipping on rocks through bogs and mud sections, and hiking the highest mountains since the Smokey Mountains of TN. It’s been challenging but rewarding. We ditched our mileage plans and simply decided to hike what we could get in over a full day. Another challenge has been that the Whites don’t have many shelters and we have to pay to stay for a change. It’s been logistically very challenging but we’re almost through and thoroughly enjoying ourselves.
I’m not sure how well our reception on the phone and internet will be for the last two weeks of the hike but we’ve had such an awesome following and support group that we will make every effort to keep everyone updated on the last part of this journey. We’re enjoying the present and also getting very excited for what is to come.