New Hampshire's White mountains in Septe mber

“Another outfit that doesn't seem to entice the biker babes is white linen pants, white bucks, and a blue double-breasted blazer. You can get a serious ass kicking from wearing that outfit during biker week.”

“ooooh, biker weeeeek! Kewl! I'll be sure ta bring my black leather chaps! yeehaw. ;o)

I don't think there is a firm date set yet. I'm flexible as of right now, but at some point I'll need a job again...
sigh...

When is the worst of blackfly season...aren't we getting a bit close by mid-late June? =:0”

“I did a Presidential traverse 3 week in June last year and had no problem w/blackflies.

Coming up the Valley way to Madison it was a hot, humid,somewhat buggy, but a big ole T-storm rolled through and cleared things out.

The ridges generally get enough breeze to keep the flies down. Slogging through the valleys can be miserable though!!”

“AmyG--

I will follow you up any trail you hike in leather chaps.”

“I think we should be past the worst of the black fly season in mid June. Also, once we get much elevation we will be above the black fly haunts.

Mebbe Telemark, Mad river... or Lee can be more specific.”

“All bets are off this year. There are usually at least one small snowfield on Jefferson at Summer Solstice, this year I bet it will be very large. This is an exceptional snow year, and there will be stashes in King Ravine and the Great Gulf and of course Tuckerman well into July.

This will push the blackfly season out, so you might encounter a lot in June. This will also push the bloom in Alpine Gardens out so you might see them as a consolation.”

“thanks telemark”

“Yeah telemark, Thanks for all the info you've given us!

Yall are more knowledgeable about the area than me so Whatever route yall pick is good to me. Like I said before, I trust yalls decision in planning.
I do like the idea of starting at Crawford Notch. Have we got the number of days figured out yet? 4 or 5? I do think we should try to plan on not using the Huts because of cost and planning factors. Just tent sites and/or shelters.
10 miles a day seems reasonable. If we get to camp early then a little day hike could be done.”

“I think we may end up using 1-2 huts. I will call and get some cost ifo tommorrow. I am pretty sure the consensus is 5 days. Looks like we will do a little of everything, huts tenting etc. I think yous sutherners can handle it! LOL”

“OK
I recon that will be fine. I think I'll survive. LOL”

“10 miles a day? What ya doin, joggin them trails? 7miles will let us/me enjoy the scene!”

“Jerbear...

I think one thing that could come out of a recon trip would be a look at the mileage.

Secondly, I think there are some definite short-cut options, such as the A-Z trail from Zealand Hut to Mizpah Springs or the bridal path trail at the start that goes straight up to Lafayette (bypassing Lincoln and Liberty).

Third, we will have to be flexible. The weather above the tree line is so unpredicatable and potentially hazardous that even more flexible is required than for most mountain hikes.

We also some built in flexibility in terms of getting off the trail early. For example if we plan to end at Pinkham notch, we head down to the visitors center from many points.. ranging from the Lake of the Clouds Hut to the peak of Mt. Madison.

All in all, I think we should be able to please the greyhounds and the rose smellers.
I, for one, go in both modes... a cool cloudy day is great for getting the miles. A hot beautiful day is great for takin' in the scenery, enjoying the shady places and gettting wet in streas and ponds along the way.”

“As far as the recon trip in June, since Amy and Pete are graduating, mebbe we can celebrate a little with 'em. I'll buy at least a round of beer. And we can raise a glass to Oldie, on the off chance that he doesn't fly in for the hike.”

“aww, that's sweet of you to offer, Ped. I expect lotsa presents...first round is a good start, throw in some chocolates and I'll be putty in yer hands!

;oP”

“Yummmm... chocolate... putty in my hands... Sounds DreAmy....

Wait a second! My children will be on that trip! Innocent little Pedster boys. And the drinking will hafta be in moderation, and in a restaurant not a bar!”

“I was thinking... it looks like we've got a set of dates set: Friday August 31 - Thursday August 6 with Friday for people arriving and Thursday for people departing. Some people might decide to hang out in the WHites for more, or less time by changing their arrival or departure dates.

Are we fully agreed that these are the core dates?

At what point should we ask Phil to put this in his TT hike calendar?”

“Sounds like a good plan Ped. I'll look at flight scheduals and see when I'd be showing up and leaving.”

“Okay now.I've been watching this thread, and would like to go on it with Jeannette. I've seen alot of " we could do this and we could do that's". I'm a bit confused now. I see we have some firm dates. I think---- check those dates please. What about an itenerary, where will we be on what days, etc.... I ask so that those of us who live nearby and can only come on the weekend can pop in and out. I'll be watching for it, here and on Phil's page. Just want a consolidation of all the info.

Happy trails”

“Uphill
The route is the next thing to work out I guess.”

“Those dates should be Friday August 31- Thursday September 6?”

“Yep, yer right Baum...
(we'd best leave time traveling out of our agenda)”

“OKay, I will get my flight arranged when I get back. 2 weeks.
Wher should I fly in and who want to shuttle me. I save share well! Yo bear”

“There are various airports you can try. Manchester NH has some cheap flights, Logan in Boston has all kinds of flights. Portland ME is probably OK... there are aslo some airports nearby... but they might cost a whole lot.”

“Really nearby airports include Glen, Franconia and Gorham... I'm not sure what they have in terms of scheduled sservice tho.

I might be able to shuttle you, depending on specifics about time. Boston and Manchester both have Concord Trailways Bus Stantions. I did say I'd try to be available for Walkindude already thos, so if he needs a lift from Manchester, I'd need to be able to combine the two pick ups.”

“Given that some of you are heading to the Whites in August, outside magazine has a nice article on Tuckerman's Raven. CLICK”

“Your best bet is to fly into Manchester or Portland. None of the other airports mentioned have commercial flights.

I don't know how many people are going to be going on the trip, but the first week of August the huts will be extremely full. I have my doubts that you can get anything, even mid-week, at the Presidential huts.”

“Madriver -- Just beat me to it!! (re: outside mage on Tuckermans's Ravine). However, after you read the piece, go to the www.outsidemag.com homepage to see a bigger, more dramatic picture of the ravine full of snow!”

“lee:

I made myself a promise that next spring I will ski Tuckerman's Raven. First, however, I must have my testicles replaced with brass balls.”

“PedXing, any idea yet on just which June dates? I'll check back here tomorrow. I'm off to the U.P. overnight to see my daughter.”

“Hey Pete, Amy, Mad and anyone else. Can we nail down a June w/e?? How about the w/e of the 16th? From what I remember, the w/e of June 2 is the only June w/e that is definitely not OK.”

“I am very interested. Franconia Notch - yes!
I need dates. Just hit this one quick - I am bringing the boys up to Stokes this weekend and I have to go pick them up. I will check back on Sunday night.”

“ANyone want topost a revised itnerary for 8/31 - 9/6 as a basis for negotiating/nailing down a plan?”

“Mad - thanx for the link. nice.

Hey Ped, I'll be your plan...when would you like to nai...errr negotiate?
;o)

My weekends are flex right now, but I can't promise anything til I get back from my trip and know the job status...”

“Twas a nice link Mad.”

“I think that we will be best able to really nail down Amy, I mean a plan after you(Ped) me and Amy do that trip in June. We will best be able to determine the amount of miles we can travel after then. I think for now unless there are any objections we can stick to our tentative plan of some type of traverese and then after we do some miles up there we can be more specific and make some educated recomendations to everyone going, but thats just one opinion I for one don'r really care. Getting out in the whites will be fab no matter where we are gunna be.”

“ok, so the second weekend in June...?
either that or probably the last is good for me.

:o)”

“Looks like I can fly in on August 31 and be in Manchester at 12:48 PM, and depart back home on Sept 6 (Thursday) early AM.

Are we just gonna begin the hike on Friday or Saturday?”

“Pete 'n' Amy: Sounds like the w/e of June 16th?

Mad 'n' Pekka (anyone else?) care to join us??

Anything else I should work on nailing
down?”

“Dude: I'd be happy start on Friday and hike up to the Liberty Springs site... but I'm really open. Its just a couple miles from the parking lot.”

“I wont be able to start the hike until late friday night. My thought was come in and car camp Friday night and start the hike on saturday morning. If you 2 are gunna be at the Liberty site (maybe with Jerbear), then anyone one else thats starting in the morning can come up with me. I don't know what Amy's plans are but I'm sure we can all meet up and start out together early at the camp site on Saturday.”

“There are some advantages to meeting up Friday. I think we can put this decision off for a while, depending on how the main trek looks and when other people can make it.”

“PedXing, can you give me a brief synopsis of what you're thinking for the June 16 weekend? After rolling through the thread, I get a bit lost in the Sept. details, vs. the June recon hike. Coming out of my winter sloth, I need to know just what type of regimen I need to begin to be ready (if that's possible from my starting point) for the Whites by mid-June. BTW,I have cousins-in-law in Concord, N.H.”

“Well Pekka, so far we are being flexible. It was originally SirPetes suggestion and he talked about slack packing it. The idea is to get into two good days.

Sept is a week long thing with 5 full days on the trail. Some people are likely to add some extra trail time to those days.

I think we are still open to input. Any other Junesters wanna comment...

Mebbe next time I'll start a june White Mountain thread.”

“It didn't dawn on me that I will have Monday off from work anyway because of the holiday so I may just take that Friday off. I will wait to see what everyone else is doing though, no sence taking it off if we aren't all going to get into the woods early anyway, but it's a viable option for me.

Pekka, come on with us in June. It would be great to meet ya.”

“I think we need a thread to be for the June trip & one for the September trip.”

“Hhmmmmm... June 16th is the day I'm suppose to deliver my girls to their father in Detroit where he will take them to Maine. I wonder if I offer to drive the girls to Maine, if he'd pay my traveling expenses. I could drop the girls off on Friday, hike with y'all and then drive back home. Just a thought...”

“well, that's a lonnnng drive for ya, Sunny, but I can vouch for the gorgeous scenery up through Maine!

would be fun to have ya!! :o)”

“Hey c'mon along Mizz Sunny...”

“Since Dude and I both mentioned a June thread and no one objected (and others mentioned getting confused), I went and started a June trip thread making this a "pure" September thread.

Please post June related stuff on the new thread, and please, please correct me when I got something wrong and please state your opinion if ya disagree with me.”

“Thanks Ped.”