The White - NH - Pemi Loop

“Sirpete just remember to take the tags off! Made that mistake already.

I have several half empty butane cannisters, I am always afraid to bring one of them and I don't want to carry 2. I figure that I will use them for Car camping.
What kind of stove do you have?

Any weather forecasts for the area?”

“Pepsi, if you want to contribute to breakfast, you could bring OJ (no, not "that" OJ) and anything else you or others might want. In fact, you are all welcome to bring stuff if you so desire. I will also stop at the supermarket Thursday evening on the way to the house to pick up any last minute provisions for the trip.

Also, if you are arriving Thursday night and are staying at my place, you may bring any spirits of your own choosing. Since I'm not sure when everyone is arriving, you are more than welcome to either go to a restaurant for dinner, or pick something up and cook it at the house. Although my house is a tad rustic, we do have the capability of cooking food.”

“It is recommended to hang all you food at night, especially if we stay at 13 falls where bears have a condo. I haven't seen too many snakes so I cannot speak from experience. I do hope to see a moose if at all possible. I will begin to check the long ranger forecast beginning next Monday. Unless there is a hurricane or asteroid about to hit the northeast, I'm going.”

“I'm going no matter what.

Really, moose? How cool would that be?!”

“Lt. I have the Twister 270HPZ stove that requires CampingGaz fuel. I've been think of switching to the pocket rocket by MSR.

Moose are best seen in the early morning or late evening near ponds or marshland.”

“Will we be in those locations? I've never seen a real live moose - I'd love to get to spy on one!”

“There are no poisonous snakes in New Hampshire. Oddly, 2 small areas of our nearby Catskills are known to have rattlers.

MadRiver - the MSR pocket rocket is a great little stove - I'm thinkin' 'bout getting one myself.

Best chance for a moose sighting on these trails would be very early am around Garfield Pond…if our route put us there at that time.”

“Second the vote on the pocket rocket i love mine!

Seeing a moose would definately be cool! I am thinking about bringing my 35mm camera for the awsome photo ops.”

“Depending on what time we reach Garfield, we might end up staying rather than make it to 13 falls. If so, we can lie in wait by the pond in the morning and hopefully see a moose. We can then venture to 13 falls and frolic in the water before heading to Guyot.”

“Moose and frolicing in water. Can anyone ask for more?

Sounds good.”

“The weather channel homepage only shows the weather for our Friday departure. As it stands now, it looks like it will be a good day. I'm realistic enough not to think that we will get four beautiful days in a row. That would be nice, but not realistic. I just hope we don't get downpours for our one or two days of bad weather. Passing thunderstorms are definitely a possibility, so pack accordingly. I just pray that the haze that has been stationary over the Whites for the past several weeks will move off and give us clear skies with which to cast our gaze upon the beauty of the Pemi.

Just a reminder that the sites we plan to stay at are paid sites. It cost $8.00 per person to camp at these designated areas. Personally, I have no problem paying since the caretakers do an excellent job of keeping the site clean and maintaining the integrity of the wilderness experience. Plus cleaning out a compost toilet is not fun.”

“I just hope that there are no porcupines eating the toilet seats!

I checked the weather for Mt. Washington trying to get an idea of the weather at a higher elevation and it looks like it is getting down to the 40's at night.”

“That sounds about right. I did an overnight at 13 falls several weeks ago and it got down close to the 40's. Actually, I prefer sleeping in cooler weather. I hate when my tent turns into a sauna at night. I will be using a smaller tent this time so I do hope the weather drops enough so that the tent is cool at night.”

“Yeah me too, I hate sweating when I sleep. I am going to be using a tarp, either my silnylon or my treker tarp, depending on the weather. I hope that it will be fairly nice so that i can bring my silnylon. It sould be nice to save the 2lbs.”

“I will admit that I too will try to cut weight whenever possible, however, there is a certain level of comfort that I will not drop below. I've never used just a tarp or hiked with anyone that did, so I will be interested to see just how the hammock and tarp fare during our little adventure.

I loaded up my new Kelty with about 50lbs and it felt better than my old North Face at 25lbs. I'm not suggesting that I will carry anywhere near that weight, but I am willing to carry a tad more weight than is minimally required in exchange for a little more level of comfort. One down side is that I usually go with my wife, so we always share on carrying our provisions and other creature comforts to make the trip more enjoyable. Hmmm, maybe I should hire a sherpa to carry my pack.”

“My last hike was my first adventure with a tarp. It was pretty tame nice weather, warm. I think that the whites might be a little more of a test for it than the Poconos. I don't like to sacrafice comfort either but it adds to my comfort level by keeping my pack as light as possible.”

“I am trying to keep the weight down by taking the bare minimum. I did save over 2lbs by switching to my sister's one-person tent. Water is the heaviest item, so I plan to budget my water so I am not carrying any more than I need at the moment. Food is the next heaviest item and I plan to budget that as well by placing my meals in zip lock bags. I will not know what else I must trim until I actually load up my pack. I'm heading up to NH on Friday, so I hope to address all these issues this weekend.”

“Guys - my water filter is missing a part and I don't know if I'll be able to fix it by next week. Can I share the use of one of yours? Please let me know...

Thanks”

“Yes, I will share mine with you.”

“Thank you very much.”

“That is if I bring it I might just use Aqua Mira drops. Either way I will throw it in the car just in case. It is a MSR miniworks.”

“Okay - who is definately bringing a water filter and may I use it too?

;)”

“LOL sorry, what i meant to say is , if we need to share it I will carry it.”

“ahhhh - got ya!”

“I always bring mine, so you are more than welcome to use it TT.”

“I dig my new MSR water filter - but it's the only thing I'm finding I can cut out, aside from the silly @#$% stove I posted about. I'm throwing my filter in the car, but expect to leave it there.

Heat really gets to me, I've noticed, more than most people, and I'm comfortable when others are hypothermic. Think it has something to do with my salt intake - I practically do lines of the stuff. So, I'm gonna skimp on food & comforts for water. REally don't wanna give up the wine though...”

“Mousespray what method do you use for water? I was using a filter and i tried Aqua Mira but I didn't really like the taste.”

“Before the filter (got it a little over a year ago) I was using the pills - I don't know what name - but I don't like the taste either - and in some situations I've had to settle for some pretty mucked up cruddy water, and end up picking pine needles out of my oatmeal. Got turned onto the MSR ceramic filter by a buddy and refused to use pills ever again.

But with this July heat, I'm thinkin' 'bout using the pills just to save the litte bit of weight. Course I'd rather just mooch off someone elses filter...”

“My wife is curious about something. What is the age range of our little group? I'm sure I'm the elder statesman of this group at 49, so what are all your ages if you don't mind me asking?”

“I'm 13...just last week”

“Hmmm, I might have to rethink this trip.”

“Hey i just got my drivers licsense i can pick ou up pete!”

“Yep, definitely need to rethink this trip.”

“Come on Mad what is wrong Twinkles is pretty old. I think she is going to be like 18 in a couple of months.”

“I don't believe I can allow a 13, 16, and 17 year old to cross state lines under my supervision without written permission from their parents. I'm still under probation from that last misunderstanding.”

“Running afoul of the Mann Act again?”

“don't worry - I'll be sure to pack my fake ID”

“That toe sucking incident got blown way out of proportion.”

“Hey don't worry about being alone in the car with Twinkle she can handle herself. She is already sueing one guy for statutory rape. He says he didn't do anything but nobody believes him.”

“Hmmm, your heading up to NH on Thursday Lt. aren't you? Isn't there a train depot in Deep River???”

“Hey - watch it boys. Play nice.”

“Okay - what's the deal with the Monday? I need to be back in the city Monday night for work on Tuesday - what's your plan Mad? How am I getting back to the city?”

“Hmmm, she is demanding, isn't she? The term "high maintenance" comes to mind. Anyway, let's see, three of us live in CT. I'm sure after backpacking with all of us for four days you would feel comfortable catching a ride with any three of us back to the New Haven train station.

I was planning on returning to CT Tuesday morning, but I can change that to Monday evening if we exit the woods early enough. I do want to return to the house and shower and change my filthy clothes before hitting the road, however. Since I have to play golf on Tuesday, it might be best if I return to CT on Monday. So to answer your question TT, I will be giving you a ride back to the train station if you so desire.”

“Maybe after we meet maybe you will have me drop you at the Metro North station here.


...or maybe you won't.”

“Actually I might be bailing! Work is being a real pain in the arse this week. It is going to be a last minute thing for me whether or not i can get the time off. This sucks!”

“Sorry. Just asking a question. I didn't know what the return trip plans were and did not want to assume anything and end up stranded in NH. Sorry.

Damn, "high maintenance"?”

“Since I already took the time off and convinced the wife that you guys were not planning to leave my bludgeoned body on the side of a trail, I will be going. If you all bail, then I will just plan a different hike.

Don't take the high maintenance remark too personally. Most women who are high maintenance are drop dead gorgeous, otherwise men wouldn't even bother with them. So take it as a complement.”

“Nice try at a cover up. Not working, but nice try.

Also, I am going on this trip whether or not everyone else bails. I am going even if there is a huge comet headed straight for Earth. I am going even if...well, you get the picture.

So I guess Madriver and I are definates!”

“Well TT, it's you and me. You needn't fear by the way, I one hell of a nice guy, a tad warped when it comes to humor and my outlook on life, but nice all the same.”

“I haven't bailed yet i am working my butt off trying to get thing done so that i can still go. this trip is going to be aawesome and i would hate to miss out on it.”