New England Fall Color Backpack Trip

“I'm going to be out there from Oct. 6-18th and am still trying to figure out where I should plan a good overnight BP trip as well as some dayhikes to see the fall colors... I've never backpacked east of the Mississippi before and am finding it surprisingly hard to find info for the east coast! I know a bunch of you live over there, can you help? I've heard about the Bonds in NH - tell me more :) Anybody interested in doing at trip?”

“do the ultimate - Presidential Range and include Mt. Washington.”

“What guide or map would you purchase - or do you know of free info online - for hiking the Presidential Range, EarthNsky?”

“To add to ENS's suggestion.. the White Mountains in general are a great place to visit. You can pick and choose your difficulty level, and it's absolutely gorgeous. Flying into Machester, NH is probably one of your better options, but Boston could also work. There are several good websites on the Whites, you can do a google search and come up with a bunch.. I'd start with www.outdoors.org (The Appalachian Mountain Club's website). You can also find info there on other New England hiking spots.”

“Check out the AMC mountain guide book for the Whites. You can buy it at www.lattaoutdoors.com (the webmaster's other site).”

“If you can make it over to NY I have a trip going from the 9th through the 11th.

Weekend Among the Pharaohs ”

“I almost (should have) bought a good guide book for the Whites when I was up on top of Mt. Washington. I am trying to find information on it right now. It was something like Hiking the White Mountains and it is red with a picture of Mt. Washington on it.”

“the Mt. Washington website has a picture of the bookshelf in the gift shop and I can see the darn book on there but they don't have it for sale on the online shop. The search continues. I remember seeing it at EMS in Boston.”

“Lumberzac, will there be fall colors there you think? Also, it'll be the first bp trip my best friend has done since she was young and the mileage looks a little tough for her... How tough would you rate the hiking?”

“The climb up Mt. Washington is hella hard on any trail you take and the crest would be wintery at that time of year, so you may want to forgo my suggestion.”

“I found it. It is the AMC White Mountain Guide. and you can purchase it here for $21.95. I may have to splurge and get it myself.”

“in my opinion, that is the best guide for hiking in the whites. It's a pretty extensive book and covers pretty much everything in the region. I would also get the Nat. Geographic maps of the whites.”

“Colors should be about the same as the Whites. Most of the trails are fairly flat, but there are some steep pitches (like up Pharaoh Mountain which climbs a little over 1200' in a mile). I'm not really sure what your friend can do, but if you think the mileage looks like it will be tough for her, this might not be the best hike for her, as Adirondack trails tend to be fairly rugged with quite a bit of rocks and mud to negotiate.”

“BC, you should probably do something on the AT in the southern portion of the Whites.”

“One of these trails maybe? Hiking in the WMNF”

“Also check out the Views From the Top board.
http://www.viewsfromthetop.com/

There's a ton of info in the forums and also a section for trail conditions.”

“I always mean to get on that forum and never do it. May have to check that out tonight.”

“So will that book have info on hiking the AT in the southern part of the Whites?”

“It should have everything. It's a pretty fat (phat) book.”

“And will it be snowy there? (lol, can you look into your crystal ball for me?)”

“I doubt it. I believe the elevation in the Southern portion of the Whites is between 2000-3000 feet. The tops of the mountains will be cool, but I wouldn't expect to see much snow.”

“Snow could be a possibility.”

“That time of year is very hard to predict. It could be in the 70s or in the 40s during the day.

Snow is not likely, but not out of the question.”

“well put. Should go to Mt. Washington, snow is a good possibility. I saw snow there in the end of May.”

“Thanks guys, I'm the one used to answering such stupid questions, but I really don't know much of anything about hiking out there...”

“Planning of the Spring Trip to Mt. Washington should commense shortly.”

“you will enjoy it. The hiking in the east is something special regardless of what anyone says. I love our eastern mountains.”

“One more question - are permits/reservations needed? I have gathered that Columbus Day weekend is busy in them parts but what about heading out afterwards, on the Tues/Wed/Thurs/Fri following?”

“Okay, evidently that was such a stupid question no one wants to answer me, lol”

“I'm not sure about permits in the whites. If I had to render a guess, I'd say no.”

“bearcrossing, you need a parking permit in most places in NH, even when parking on the side of the road.

Are you interested in Maine at all?”

“The only thing I've heard you need reservations for in the whites are for the huts.”

“For your perusil peroosal READING:

Keep this thread near the top and the White Mts experts will chime in. Pepsi and Pedxing know a LOT about the Whites as well as some others. I'll offer what I can. I've stayed in campgrounds and dayhiked, but my backpacking there is limited to Carter Notch, where we bp'd to the Hut on New Years.

Yes, it can definately snow in October. I was up there on Columbus Day in 2001, and it snowed 4-12" on that day. Here are 2 shamelss links to my photo albums for that week:

Autumn in New Hampshire part 1
Autumn in New Hampshire part 2

A great place to check out is Dave Metsky's White Mts website. Lots of great info there, including dayhikes, trail info, and trip reports.
2 of my favorite dayhikes are probably detailed on this site. Both are approx 9 mile loops. Trust me, 9 miles in the Whites is a GOOD dayhike. One is Mt Washington, via the Ammomoosic (spel?) Ravine, Crawford Path, and returning via the Jewel Trail. The other is Mt Lafayette from Lafayette Camground in Franconia Notch, which includes Little Haystack, Mt Lincoln, and Mt Lafayette.

The Bonds are supposed to be wonderful, and "might" be better suited for backpacking in October. Pepsi and Ped know some great loops in that area.

For foliage, check out these 2 sites:
New Hampshire Foliage Report 1
New Hampshire Foliage Report 2

For maps, I recently bought 2 from National Geographic Trail Illustrated:
740 - White Mountains (Lincoln, Franconia Notch)
741 - White Mountains (Presidential Range, Gorham)

The first map includes the Bonds and Pemi's, while the second includes Mt Washington and the norhtern presindentials.

For base camping in campgrounds, I stayed at Crawford Notch Campground on rt 302.
Another campground is Lafayette Campground in Franconia Notch.
I am not sure but their seasons may end in late October.

I am not aware of any camping permits required, but many of the parking areas require a fee. You could probably pick up a week (or 2 week?) parking pass in area stores instead of shelling out $3 every place you park.

Good luck and have fun in the Whites. You won't regret it!”

“The Bonds are supposed to be wonderful, and "might" be better suited for backpacking in October. Pepsi and Ped know some great loops in that area.

I meant to say that weather wise, The Bonds might be more predictable than Mt Washington and the northern Presi's.

Staying at the high mountain huts require reservations but most of them close early October.”

“Jeez Pennsy, those pictures you took SUCKED.”

“Also, if you're looking for something a bit tamer, but still holding lots of character, there's always the Green Mtns of Vermont.

Not as dramatic as the Whites, or remote as the Adirondacks and Maine, but Vermont's Green Mtns hold their own charm. Feature trails are the Appalachian Trail (AT) and the Vermont Long Trail (LT).

Green Mountain Club”

“hardy har har Mister Fancy Pants! ;o)
Those pics were Pre Digital when I still used Velvia slide film. Bringing those albums back up brought back wonderful memories of hours and hours spent slide scanning. Argh.

btw - Autumn part 2 includes pics from the above dayhikes I mentioned.

Dang, I gotta get back to the Whites before the year is out.”

“Thanks Pennsy! You live nearby?”

“Pennsy, I haven't gotten around to planning a buttkicker yet, but one can be improvised. You must come up and hike the Whites soon!”

“Nearby is relative, Bear Crossing. I've travelled 300 miles to the NY Adirondacks for a dayhike. The White Mts is about an 8 hour drive from east Pa, so using that logic, it's sort of nearby.

Artex - I'll see if I can open up a weekend soon. At least 3 trips are planned in October, but not all are etched in stone. I'll let ya know. Hmmm, last weekend in Sept is a possibility though. Hey, you start class yet or is it next week?”

“Classes start tomorrow. LET THE FUN BEGIN!”

“Those poor kids.


jk
You'll do great.”

“Gotcha Pennsy.

And Twigeater, Maine isn't out of the question, though that's where we went last time I was out there so I was thinking about exploring NH and Vermont this time...”

“I am still hoping to do a nice fall colors trip in New England...haven't committed to anything yet...”

“Where ya at Fritz?

Pennsy, I finally got a chance to look at those photo albums (they were loading wayyyyyy to slow on my computer last night) - absolutely beautiful!”

“So what the heck is a Notch anyway??”

“it's what the New Englander's call gaps, which is what the easterners call passes.”

“I am in Pennsylvania...hoping to go to either New Hampshire or Maine for a long weekend.”

“bump for the White Mt experts to chime in: Pepsi, Ped etc, where art thou?”

“Where in NH or ME?”