White Mountain Guide Days 123-146
It’s been a while since I did an update on my website. The last few months have been super busy. I’m hiking four days a week until I finish this project and there seems to be very little time to devote to blogging now. In early June I decided to forego the New England 100 Highest portion of my project and adjusted my days hiking, subtracting the 8 hikes that I did specifically for the 100 highest, bringing my total days hiking towards tracing the Whites to 146 as of June 23, 2023. I have less than 50 hikes left at this point and I can see the finish line. It feels more than surreal to think that after almost four years, and everything that has happened since I came up with this silly idea in 2019, I will finish this journey. I’m more than ready now to finish some days, others I want to restart and never stop hiking this much.
The Physical Impact of Tracing
My knees are probably the part of me that is most ready for this to be done. I’ve been dealing with soreness and sharp pains, especially in my left knee, since November. I sprained my ankle in May, took three days off hiking, and got right back out there. It’s still a bit swollen but isn’t painful. My shoulders get sore after long days carrying my pack, and my hands are back to going numb at night, like they did last summer when I was hiking a lot more than I did in the winter. I know this is because of my partial mastectomy/reconstruction, so I am not blaming it on hiking but carrying a pack aggravates it for sure. I also will get some pain under my left breast from time to time, which is also from the surgery and aggravated by hiking. Besides all of that, though, I feel pretty good. I get tired, and getting out of bed is hard some days, but I’ve settled into my four day a week routine now and know what I have to do to finish.
Life After Tracing
When I’m done with this project I want to take a step back from posting so much on social media. It has been a lot of work to create a reel and a post for each hike, and I often am multiple days behind on posting because I have to create the content and write the posts. The posts are my form of journaling, and I am committed to the format for my own record keeping, even if it’s time consuming.
I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about what I want for my life after finishing this project, and am very excited to turn my time and energy away from the physical and devote a ton of time to writing and reading more. I’ve also got really into yoga, and would love to start practicing daily. I also intend on finishing my MFA. There are a lot of books that I want to write, one of which is the history of the White Mountain hiking trails, but I know that a book like that will be a decades-long project. I see the physical act of hiking as part of the research for this book. When I left my job in education, I knew that I wanted to try my hand at full-time writing. Specifically, to be an author. That is still my goal and I am lucky enough to have the ability to pursue that dream.
The Mental Impact of Tracing
I’ve definitely thought a lot about how spending less time being active and outside will impact my mental health. I definitely am thinking post trail depression is a very real possibility for me, because although I’m not thru-hiking, I’ve been outside hiking for over a year straight, multiple days a week. That much time outside and being active changes your physiology. It affects your hormones and I know that I will have to adjust to life after this adventure ends in the fall. I don’t think I will ever want to hike this much again, because it’s really hard on my body and when you make a hobby a job it takes a lot of the fun out of it. But I definitely want to work one hike a week into my routine going forward.
The things that I set out to accomplish on this fifteen month journey are things that I’ve accomplished and most of them have nothing to do with the physical act of hiking. I wanted to see the seasons change, to witness it first-hand on the trails, and I did. I wanted to spend an exorbitant amount of time in my own head, processing and pondering my life, the good and the bad, and I have. And I wanted to burn myself out on hiking. To spend enough time doing it that I would feel satiated and saturated, and I am. That doesn’t mean I am done hiking, but it does mean that I know I don’t want to make a career out of it as a sponsored athlete or influencer. I got the answers I’ve sought and it is both empowering and satisfying to know that I didn’t waste this time distracting myself. I leaned into the things I’ve been avoiding for years and faced them head on. The trail will only give you the time and the space, YOU have to decide what you want to do with it, and I am so glad I decided not to waste it. That I used it to better myself and get answers to some really hard questions.
5/1/23 White Mountains Trace Day 123
Today was a real test of how bad I want this (and apparently I want it pretty bad). There is a difference between being unsafe and uncomfortable and I’m very much leaning into discomfort going forward. The weather forecast was for rain and we just got a ton of it so there was a very limited selection of trails that would be safe for me to hike because of stream and river crossings. I opted for the only hike that I could reasonably complete and set out with all my rain gear in tow. The first third of the day was wet. It rained, misted, and the trail was a stream. Then, the sun came out and all was right with the world again. I’m learning how to hike in the rain now. I’m learning how to embrace the suck.
Daily Miles: 8.92
Daily Vert: 2015’
Overall Miles: 1245.26
Overall Vert: 358,109’
Trace: 52.7% -> 53.3%
Trails:
Hutman’s Trail
Hall’s Ledge Trail
5/6/23 White Mountains Trace Day 124
Today was gorgeous. I started the day off doing an out and back on Kelley Trail, then headed over to Bickford Trail, taking it into the Sandwich Wilderness to do a series of trails. I’ve not done Bickford Trail nor the other ones I visited on hike 2 of the day. There were water features, streams, brooks, and thick moss covering the trails. While some of these trails are used on a more consistent basis, some aren’t and I was pleasantly surprised by how easy they were to follow despite being less traveled.
Daily Miles: 13.05
Daily Vert: 3669’
Overall Miles: 1258.31
Overall Vert: 361,778’
Trace: 53.3% -> 53.8%
Trails:
Kelley Trail
Bickford Trail
Old Paugus Trail
Beeline Trail
Whitin Brook Trail
Bolles Trail
Beeline Cutoff
5/8/23 White Mountains Trace Day 125
Beautiful day in the Chocorua region again. Hiked up Liberty Trail for the first time and I highly recommend it. Tracing doesn’t always lead you over the summit, sometimes you stop a few hundred feet short and I’m completely ok with that. Today was one of those days. I’ve hiked several new trails in the last two hikes and I’m really excited to see even more new trails in the upcoming weeks. A lot of what I hiked in winter were things I’ve done before so I’m thrilled to be finally checking out some new areas. Also, I almost swallowed my first black fly today but was able to spit it out at the last minute.
Daily Miles: 12.38
Daily Vert: 3204’
Overall Miles: 1270.69
Overall Vert: 364,982’
Trace: 53.8% -> 54.5%
Trails:
Liberty Trail
Brook Trail
Bickford Trail
Bolles Trail
Beeline Trail
Beeline Cutoff
Jim Liberty Cabin
5/9/23 White Mountains Trace Day 126
Today ended up being a really nice day even though it started out a bit stressful. I could’ve sworn that I turned off my GPS at the end of yesterday’s hike, but apparently I didn’t so when I went to turn it on for today’s hike it was dead. I also knew (because I’ve hiked a lot in this area) that there wouldn’t be almost any service today and I wouldn’t be able to get any messages to Jason. I like to be able to at least send him one or two messages throughout the day and it made me stressed to think I wouldn’t be able to let him know I was alive. But, I did have some service on Hurricane Trail so I was able to send him some texts and that made me happy. The trail was beautiful, the weather was perfect, and I only have two more trails on Moosilauke to complete.
Daily Miles: 8.22
Daily Vert: 2028’
Overall Miles: 1278.91
Overall Vert: 367,010’
Trace: 54.5% -> 54.7%
Trails:
Carriage Rd
Snapper Trail
Gorge Brook Trail
Hurricane Trail
5/10/23 White Mountains Trace Day 127
Today was all brand new miles for me. I’ve never hiked any of the trails west of Glencliff Trail in the Moosilauke region and it was really nice to see what the AT looks like before hitting the White Mountains proper. I knew it was going to be a long day with a lot of elevation gain, but I felt good and was pleasantly surprised at how well my body handled the day. Daniel Doan and Lambert Ridge Trail were my two favorites of the day and in my opinion, hiking Smarts Mountain on J-Trail is the easiest approach.
Daily Miles: 16.20
Daily Vert: 4748’
Overall Miles: 1295.11
Overall Vert: 371,758’
Trace: 54.7% -> 55.7%
Trails:
Lambert Ridge Trail
Ranger Trail
J-Trail
Daniel Doan Trail
5/11/23 White Mountains Trace Day 128
Another potential big mile day ended up being much less daunting thanks to the kindness of strangers. I had fully intended on doing an out and back on Greeley Ponds trail as well as Goodrich Rock, Timber Trail, and then Fletcher Cascades. This would’ve been over 15 miles and around 3000’ climbing. However, I ran into the nicest man at the Greeley junction and asked if he would be able to bring me back to my car since he was headed to hike Tecumseh. It was fate! Overall it was a beautiful day with lots of sun.
Daily Miles: 12.35
Daily Vert: 2947’
Overall Miles: 1307.46
Overall Vert: 374,030’
Trace: 55.7% -> 56.1%
Trails:
Greeley Ponds Trail
Goodrich Rock
Timber Camp
Fletcher Cascades
5/15/23 White Mountains Trace Day 129
Headed back over to the Chocorua area again today to do my second to last hike on Chocorua. I’ve done this loop before so no new miles for me on the lifetime tracing but such a beautiful day to be outside. Bolles Trail from the Beeline Trail junction to Champney Falls is a less traveled route but since visiting it in 2021 it looks like some trail work has been done to it making it much easier to follow. Beeline is beautiful and definitely not as popular as Brook Trail. Saw some moose fur at the start of Beeline and reminisced about hiking Middle Sister this past winter. (I don’t miss it one bit).
Daily Miles: 11.40
Daily Vert: 3728’
Overall Miles: 1318.86
Overall Vert: 377,758’
Trace: 56.1% -> 56.8%
Trails:
Champney Falls Trail
Champney Falls Loop
Champney Falls Cutoff
Middle Sister Trail
Piper Trail
West Side Trail
Brook Trail
Beeline Trail
Bolles Trail
5/16/23 White Mountain Trace Day 130
Definitely thought Whitin Brook Trail was going to be almost flat and was definitely very wrong. That’s what I get for looking at Gaia instead of the physical maps when planning routes. Had to hike this trail twice today because of the other trails I needed but it was a hard albeit pleasant day. I started off not in the most excited mood. Oftentimes when I’m not feeling it on a hike I’ll listen to one of my silly podcasts (Girls Next Level) or Backpacker Radio. Sometimes I listen to my playlist of all really trashy hip-hop/pop music. Neither did it for me today though and I found myself struggling to get in the groove and find the vibe until about halfway through the day. That’s how it goes though, sometimes. Eventually I found the right stuff and settled on some really chill acoustic Chris & Thomas. Whitin Brook, Big Rock Cave, and Cabin Trail are new favorite hidden gems. I love less traveled trails.
Daily Miles: 11.64
Daily Vert: 3819’
Overall Miles: 1330.50
Overall Vert: 381,577’
Trace: 56.8% -> 57.3%
Trails:
Whitin Brook Trail
Big Rock Cave Trail
Cabin Trail
Lawrence Trail
Old Paugus Trail
5/17/23 White Mountains Trace Day 131
Today was really cold. I’m talking snow flurries cold. I had intentionally planned a lower elevation hike because of the weather and wanted to also do less elevation gain to give my poor calves a bit of a break after the last two days. I’m hiking five days a week for the next 4 ½ months so I am trying to somewhat ease my body into the upcoming months. I’ve done Flat Mountain Pond Trail before so I knew what I was getting into. This seldom visited area in the Sandwich Wilderness has a nice three sided shelter and tent sites about five miles into the woods. After completing the loop I had a 3 mile road walk back to my car which put me at almost 14 miles of hiking but only about 2200’ of elevation.
Daily Miles: 13.72
Daily Vert: 2199’
Overall Miles: 1344.29
Overall Vert: 383,776’’
Trace: 57.3% -> 58%
Trails:
Flat Mountain Pond Trail
Gleason Trail
Bennett Street Trail
5/18/23 White Mountains Trace Day 132
Although I’ve done all of these trails before back in 2020, I forgot how many PUDs there were. What I thought would be a nice “easy” day ended up being 11 miles and almost 3000’ of elevation gain. The Randolph Town Forest is one of the most underrated areas of The Whites. With hidden covered bridges, moss covered ledges shaped like steps, and views of the northern presidentials, I was blown away the first time I hiked in this area in 2020. Since then I’ve visited the Randolph Town Forest a few times just for fun and as part of my hiking project. Pond Of Safety, nestled at the far end of the forest, is clearly not visited often (at least not from the Durand Road side) and I felt like an explorer stumbling upon this small pond on a dead end forest road.
Daily Miles: 11
Daily Vert: 2930’
Overall Miles: 1355.29
Overall Vert: 386,706’
Trace: 58% -> 58.7%
Trails:
Vyron D Lowe Path
Four Soldiers Path
Pond of Safety
Underhill Path
Crescent Ridge Trail
Sargent Path
5/19/23 White Mountains Trace Day 133
Today was a special day. Today I got to hike with a person that I became friends with named Ryan. We did the Crawford-Ridgepole traverse together and had a wonderful time. The weather was near perfect (with the exception of the last .8 miles, the bugs were kept at bay by the breeze) and the trails were in pristine shape. I’ve never done the entire traverse of the Crawford-Ridgepole trail, and loved that although we completed almost 4,000’ of elevation over almost 12 miles, it felt like we weren’t having to do massive climbs or descents. What a wonderful day.
Daily Miles: 11.76
Daily Vert: 3922’
Overall Miles: 1367.05
Overall Vert: 390,628’
Trace: 58.7% -> 59.4%
Trails:
Crawford-Ridgepole Trail
Cotton Mountain Trail
5/22/23 White Mountains Trace Day 134
Today ended up being a complete cluster. Originally I had a wonderful little 11 mile traverse of the AT planned. However, my paid shuttle driver never showed up at the trailhead in the morning so I had to bail on that plan and create an impromptu loop out of nothing but traverses. I headed up Mount Cube then down the other side on the Appalachian Trail and planned to walk the road back to my car. Well, that “road” didn’t actually exist anymore. I ended up having to walk even further along the dirt road to route 25A then thumb a ride back to my car. What made me feel frustrated was that because of this cluster I will have to add a day to my hiking calendar which is already jam packed. I can’t make other people do what they say they’re going to do, and as much as I try to account for all the unknowns on this whole hiking adventure I can’t account for unreliability. And I don’t have a choice but to do these hikes as traverses. Anyway, the miles were done and I hit almost 60% traced today so that’s good news at least.
Daily Miles: 9.17
Daily Vert: 2235’
Overall Miles: 1376.22
Overall Vert: 392,863’
Trace: 59.4% -> 59.7%
Trails:
Cross Rivendell Trail Cube Section
North Cube Spur
Kodak Trail
Hexacuba Shelter Spur
5/23/23 White Mountains Trace Day 135
Today started rough. For the second day in a row I have had unexpected things happen that are out of my control at the beginning of the day. Yesterday my carspot never showed up, and today I got a flat tire!!! I haven’t had a flat tire since I was a teenager. Thankfully I was able to change it quickly and head to the trail. The plan was to hike the rest of the trail that I had started yesterday. I did an out and back on Mount Cube Trail which is another part of the AT. On the way up I ran across two northbound thru-hikers! It’s really early in the season for people to already be up in The Whites so I warned them about the snow on the Carters and they were really grateful for the intel. After completing the out and back I headed back home to get my tire fixed.
Daily Miles: 6.59
Daily Vert: 2300’’
Overall Miles: 1382.81
Overall Vert: 395,163’
Trace: 59.7% -> 60%
Trails:
Mount Cube Trail
5/24/23 White Mountains Trace Day 136
Today was a mix of what can only be referred to as bushwhacking with long stretches of climbing over, under, and around blowdowns for the better part of 12 miles. I knew going into this hike that it wouldn’t be a cake walk (Three Ponds and Hubbard Brook’s reputations precede them) but I was hoping that it wouldn’t be that bad. I mean, how could it be worse than the worst trail in The Whites, right? I came out the day feeling sad and concerned about our trail system. I came out of the day wishing that I had an entire summer to set up camp on these two trails so that I could clear all the blowdowns and make a new trail where the beavers have ruined what’s already there. I want to learn how to build new trails. Next year I want to join Trailwrights so that I can learn how to build trails. I wish that I could work on trails full time. But I live 90+ minutes away from the mountains. Regardless of what my life looks like in the fall, I know without a shadow of a doubt that I want to start spending multiple weekend days per year doing trail work.
Daily Miles: 14.70
Daily Vert: 2927’
Overall Miles: 1397.51
Overall Vert: 398,090’
Trace: 60% -> 60.7%
Trails:
Mount Kineo Trail
Donkey Hill Cutoff
Three Ponds Trail
Hubbard Brook Trail
5/25/23 White Mountains Trace Day 137
Another day of wishing I could do more to help our trails. West Side Trail is a newer trail in The Whites. It’s a random trail that is a straight shot from Kendron Flume Trail to the Ethan Pond lower parking lot. I’m not entirely sure how much it is used, but it’s always nice to see new trails. They’re always bouncier. The duff isn’t as hard packed and the trail corridor feels fresher. Then, after traversing Arethusa-Ripley Falls Trail I reached the burned section of Frankenstein Cliff Trail. This section is both beautiful and sad to me. It’s sad because I don’t like seeing burnt trees everywhere, but it’s beautiful how the blackened wood juxtaposes against the bright greens of new growth.
Daily Miles: 10.72
Daily Vert: 3039’
Overall Miles: 1408.23
Overall Vert: 401,129’’
Trace: 60.7% -> 60.9%
Trails:
Kendron Flume Trail
West Side Trail
Ethan Pond Trail
Arethusa-Ripley Falls Trail
Frankenstein Cliff Trail
Falcon Cliff
Frankenstein Cutoff
Dry River Trail
Maggie’s Run
Saco River Trail
5/26/23 White Mountains Trace Day 138
Today was a really nice day in an area that I’ve been to once back in 2020. The trails leading south from the Percy Peaks are less traveled than the loop trails that I did last summer, and although it’s certainly not the easy way to the summits, Old Summer Club, Bald Mountain Notch, and Rowell Link make for a long meandering trail to these peaks. Sadly, there has been some major logging done on two of the side trails, a small part of the Cohos Trail, and areas flanking the Cohos Trail. I can see a huge improvement in the trail conditions though since 2020. It’s clear that the Coho Trail Association has been out to the area to do some major trail work.
Daily Miles: 14.76
Daily Vert: 3814’
Overall Miles: 1422.99
Overall Vert: 404,943’
Trace: 60.9% -> 61.6%
Trails:
Old Summer Club Trail
Rowell Link
Unnamed Connector Trail
Victor Ledge
Devils Rest
Bald Mountain Notch Trail
5/30/23 White Mountains Trace Day 139
Today was really nice and quite a confidence boost. I’ve been putting off this hike for a bit, because last time I did Piper Trail back a few years ago I felt like it was hard. But today it felt easy! I was so happy when I looked at my watch and saw I only had another 400’ of elevation before the junction because it felt like I hadn’t even reached the hard part yet. In reality I had almost finished it. What I’ve discovered over the last three weeks of hiking 5 days a week is that you can train your body to do just about anything if you’re dedicated and persistent enough. I’ve never considered myself even a normal speed hiker and always felt embarrassed about my meager 1.8 - 2 mph averages. But for the last 3 weeks I’ve been hitting anywhere from 2 to 2.4 mph elapsed on every hike! Even with 3000’+ elevation gain. It’s mind boggling to me. Because I’m not trying to be faster, I just am.
Daily Miles: 10.77
Daily Vert: 3598’
Overall Miles: 1433.76
Overall Vert: 408,541’
Trace: 61.6% -> 62.1%
Trails:
Piper Trail
Liberty Trail
Hammond Trail
Camp Penacook Shelter
Nickerson Ledge Trail
Weetamoo Trail
5/31/23 White Mountains Trace Day 140
Today was really hard. I set out to do a loop up in the Mahoosuc area, one that I read up on prior to the hike since it’s all new trails, however as much as you can plan for conditions that are less than ideal, you can’t always plan on how your body will react to them. It’s amazing to me how I can go from feeling like a hiking machine one day and death the next. Today I felt like the latter. The temperatures were atrocious. I don’t do well at all in the heat and the twelve miles of trail felt like the worst slog of all time. No matter how much I drank and tried to take it a bit easy, I was beat by the end of the hike. Sometimes we need to be reminded that we aren’t in charge out there. And today was that for me
Daily Miles: 12.41
Daily Vert: 3883’
Overall Miles: 1446.17
Overall Vert: 412,424’
Trace: 62.1% -> 62.6%
Trails:
Peabody Brook Trail
Giant Falls Spur
Dryad Falls Trail
Dryad Falls Spur
Austin Brook Trail
6/2/23 White Mountains Trace Day 141
Today I took it really slow and reminded myself that I’m lucky to be doing this. That if this were my last day before another life altering diagnosis, I’d want to savor every moment on the trail. That I’d want to stop and take pictures of the flowers and breathe in and out slower. It’s really hard to get sucked into the vortex - the pull to perform and compare myself against other hikers. But I’m not on the same journey as them. We are all on our own individual journeys in life. Comparison is the thief of joy. Getting caught up in the rat race is too. That’s why I want to slow down now. If that means I have to get up a little earlier or that I’ll be hiking a little later, then it’s worth it to actually enjoy my time out here. When I was hiking after my cancer diagnosis I savored every single step because I didn’t know if it would be my last. I didn’t know when I’d be back out there. I need to stop rushing. Because I don’t know what tomorrow holds.
Daily Miles: 9.37
Daily Vert: 2234’
Overall Miles: 1455.54
Overall Vert: 414,658’
Trace: 62.6% -> 63.2%
Trails:
East Pond Trail
East Pond Connector
Little East Pond Trail
6/3/23 White Mountains Trace Day 142
Today was National Trails Day. I didn’t plan it this way, but I did trail work on my adopted trail today as part of my hike. In 2021, I adopted the Cedar Brook Trail. This trail is about 5 miles long and located 2 miles one way into the woods (at minimum). The reason I picked this trail was because it has an old logging camp on it. I also picked it because it’s in my favorite wilderness - the Pemigewasset. The hike that I did was really nice. I’ve done all of these trails multiple times in the past, so none of this was new territory for me, but I didn’t mind. Weather was really nice, cool, in the low 50s. The bugs are out, though, and I am very grateful for the bug net that my friend Danielle gave me last year.
Daily Miles: 15.45
Daily Vert: 2365’
Overall Miles: 1470.99
Overall Vert: 417,023’
Trace: 63.2% -> 64%
Trails:
East Side Trail
Cedar Brook Trail
Wilderness Trail
Hancock Notch Trail
6/5/23 White Mountains Trace Day 143
Today Danielle and I hiked together for the first part. It was really nice to get to hike together for a bit and catch up on life. The weather was less than ideal until the very end of the day. It was either drizzling, misting, or raining but we made the best of it. The more I hike in the rain, the more I realize that while it’s not necessarily a blast, it’s definitely doable. The trails that I hiked today are all new to me. All of the trails are on or around Cranmore Mountain in Conway, NH. They reminded me a lot of the Uncanoonucs only with better views.
Daily Miles: 16.45
Daily Vert: 3534’
Overall Miles: 1487.44
Overall Vert: 420,557’
Trace: 64% -> 64.8%
Trails:
Blackcap Trail
Blackcap Spur
Pudding Pond Trail Connector
Cranmore Trail
Blackcap Connector
Peaked Mountain Trail
Middle Mountain Trail
Pudding Pond Trail
Artist Falls Trail
Peaked Mountain-Middle Mountain Connector
6/6/23 White Mountains Trace Day 144
Today I did a bunch of trails in the Waterville Valley area. I’ve done about half of the trails already and was happy to revisit them. The remainder of the trails that were brand new to me were amazing. The more that I hike on trails maintained by all the different organizations throughout The Whites, the more I am blown away by how well maintained the trails under the jurisdiction of private trail organizations are. Conversely, the trails maintained by the White Mountain National Forest and the AMC are in much rougher shape (I am a trail adopter for the WMNF). I wish that these two much larger organizations would do a better job or had the funding/people to do a better job maintaining their trails.
Daily Miles: 14.95
Daily Vert: 3372’
Overall Miles: 1502.39
Overall Vert: 423,929’
Trace: 64.8% -> 65.4%
Trails:
Snow’s Mountain Trail
Snow’s Mountain View Spur
Greeley Ledges Trail
Elephant Rock Trail
Boulder Path
Cascade Path
Big Pines Path
Livermore Trail
Old Skidder Trail
Kettle’s Path
Irene’s Path
Flume Spur
The Scaur Spur
6/8/23 White Mountains Trace Day 145
Today it rained. Seems to be the theme of the week. I set out late to do a 7 mile hike in the Randolph Town Forest, all trails that I’ve done before, and quickly remembered how many trail junctions there are in that area. I rely heavily on Gaia in this region as well as in the northern presidential area in order to make sure I get every single trail because there are so many tiny sections to hit. In 2020 I didn’t have Gaia and relied on my watch and maps which was a real nightmare. I’ve always been pretty anti-technology when it comes to hiking but have really loved this particular app as far as navigation goes. It’s free and you can record your route while in airplane mode. It has almost all the trails in the White Mountains on it too.
Daily Miles: 7.34
Daily Vert: 2585’
Overall Miles: 1509.73
Overall Vert: 426,514’
Trace: 65.4% -> 65.8%
Trails:
Crescent Ridge Trail
Mt. Crescent Trail
Carlton Notch Trail
Castleview Loop
Sargent Path
Cook Path
Peek Path
Interpretive Trail
6/9/23 White Mountains Trace Day 146
Another rainy day (That’s three out of the last four). I’ve done Highwater Trail before so I wasn’t surprised by the two water crossings, however they were much higher than last time (up to my knees at both). Shelburne Trail is all new to me so with the exception of what I’ve read in the guidebook, I didn’t know what to expect. The majority of this trail is a nice gradual grade up to the last part where you are walking up the drainage of a small brook. Then, you reach the junction where Kenduskeag Trail drops off the southside of Shelburne Moriah Mountain. From what I saw it appears as though that stretch of trail isn’t used often. The Shelburne Trail wasn’t my favorite. With the exception of the part where it reaches the junction with Kenduskeag Trail, it’s not anything to write home about. I also was not a huge fan of the heavily overgrown old forest/logging road that the trail follows for the last few miles. Whenever I walk through open overgrown sections of trail like this I always wonder what’s lurking in the brush to get me (aka monsters). The mosquitoes were absolutely out of control for the last few miles of logging/forest road time and were just the motivation I needed to keep a steady pace for the last few miles.
Daily Miles: 12.28
Daily Vert: 2194’
Overall Miles: 1522.01
Overall Vert: 428,708’
Trace: 65.8% -> 66.6%
Trails:
Highwater Trail
Shelburne Trail
6/12/23 White Mountains Trace Day 147
Today I tackled more of the Mahoosuc Trail. I did a 5 ½ mile stretch from Centennial Trail to the junction with Peabody Brook Trail and noticed how the trail gets significantly more difficult as you go north on the trail. I’m glad I did this section because it’s one more stretch I don’t have to do again. The weather was really nice and although it was cloudy, it was nice, minus the humidity. I’ve done the Peabody Brook Trail twice now. It’s a nice trail so I don’t mind. Centennial Trail is also really nice.
Daily Miles: 13.13
Daily Vert: 4188’
Overall Miles: 1535.14
Overall Vert: 432,896’
Trace: 66.6% -> 67.2%
Trails:
Centennial Trail
Mahoosuc Trail
Trident Col
Peabody Brook Trail
Data Reset Explanation
On June 19, 2022 when I started this hiking project, the goal was to hike every trail in the 30th edition of the White Mountains Guidebook AND the 100 highest peaks in New England. Because of the weather in March and April and because I will be starting grad school again in late August (something I’ve been on the fence about for the last year), I am foregoing the 100 highest portion of my attempt. The statistics that I’ve been using to track my progress up until June 12, 2023 reflected the 139 hikes towards tracing PLUS the 8 hikes I did towards the 100 highest. I will be resetting my data to ONLY reflect the tracing going forward.
NEW STATS:
Miles: 1466.33
Vert: 407,592’
Days Hiking: 139
6/15/23 White Mountains Trace Day 140
Today I am officially starting my journey towards just tracing the whites. I made this decision a few weeks ago, but wasn’t ready to fully commit to it. I hiked Livermore, Scaur, Trypyramid, and Pine Bend Brook Trails today, and also hit the summit of North Tripyramid. The last time I hiked this peak, I think, was back when I was still in treatment. I remember it being REALLY hard. It was winter, I had just completed 20 rounds of radiation and 12 weeks of chemotherapy, and was still getting Herceptin every 3 weeks. Looking back now on that 14 month time period and all the hiking I did while getting chemo, I honestly don't know how I did it. I also mildly cringe that I was doing that while being so sick. I wasn’t overdoing it, I felt like I was under doing it, but now, looking back, I feel like if I saw someone doing what I was doing, I would be like, “that person is so hardcore or crazy or maybe both.” It’s hard to imagine myself as anything but very much not hardcore. Especially now that I am officially having to forego the 100 highest part of my hiking goal. We can be really hard on ourselves. I am really hard on myself. Someday, I hope I get to a place where I can give myself permission to feel pride for some of the things I’ve accomplished.
Daily Miles: 9.95
Daily Vert: 2809’
Overall Miles: 1476.28
Overall Vert: 410,401’
Trace: 67.2% -> 68.2%
Trails:
Livermore Trail
Scaur Ridge Trail
Mt. Tripyramid Trail
Pine Bend Brook Trail
6/16/23 White Mountains Trace Day 141
Today I became friends with mosquitoes. Between the rain and the bugs, late spring is interesting. It comes with its own set of challenges. I remember in the winter I was so excited for summer. I thought it would be such a piece of cake to hike once there was no more snow. But here we are. It’s absolutely easier but still has its own challenges. The mosquitoes have been relentless lately. I tried using Deet on the last few hikes and it really messes with my head. I feel like I’m having some sort of out of body experience when I use it. So today I used Picardin instead and it works but the mosquitoes like to bounce off you when you have it on. I realized every time I stopped walking that the mosquitoes were following me. They were my party posse/hiking buddies for several more miles. This was a hard hike. Climbing up Square Ledge is no joke. Then ascending 800’ in .7 miles to the junction with Walden Trail from Square Ledge Trail was certainly relentless but I got through it. Oliverian Brook Trail is beautiful.
Daily Miles: 13
Daily Vert: 3,324’
Overall Miles: 1489.28
Overall Vert: 413,725’
Trace: 68.2% -> 68.8%
Trails:
Oliverian Brook Trail
Square Ledge Trail
Passaconaway Cutoff
Square Ledge Branch Trail
6/17/23 White Mountains Trace Day 142
It was supposed to be a really rainy day and I was lucky enough to get a carspot from my friend Danielle so that I could do the Pemi Trail one way instead of going out and back. I also did Greenleaf Trail. I’ve never done this trail before and it was really interesting. And by that I mean it was a consistent climb after the first 3 tenths of a mile. I’ve hiked all of the trails except the Garfield Ridge Trail leading towards the Franconia Ridge and I would definitely say that this is a great trail to do if you’re looking for a quick way up to the ridge. I’ve done Pemi Trail before but haven’t done two of the miles without snow so it was nice to see what that section of trail looked like in summer. The Basin was beautiful as usual and I was really surprised to see so many people out hiking and walking around the Basin even though it was raining. It has been really rainy the last few weeks. I’m hoping the whole summer isn’t like this (gulp).
Daily Miles: 8.06
Daily Vert: 2491’
Overall Miles: 1497.34
Overall Vert: 416,216’
Trace: 68.8% -> 69.2%
Trails:
Greenleaf Trail
Pemi Trail
Sunset Rock
6/19/23 White Mountains Trace Day 143
Today was a long day. Danielle, Bria, and I did almost 20 miles together in the Dry River Wilderness. It was a real confidence boost because I haven’t done this much elevation or miles since last summer and felt fine to hike the next day. I never thought that I would get to a place where my body acclimated to this kind of lifestyle but here I am. Somehow I’ve acclimated. I’ve done all of these trails before, back in 2019 I overnighted this exact hike, and remember it being really hard. It was during a drought and I had hardly enough water for the whole first day. This time, the trail was soaking wet because of all of the rain we’ve had. This loop is really pretty. I highly recommend taking Davis Path to Isolation if you are looking for a long day.
Daily Miles: 19.83
Daily Vert: 5239’
Overall Miles: 1517.17
Overall Vert: 421,455’
Trace: 69.2% -> 70.2%
Trails:
Rocky Branch Trail
Isolation Trail
Davis Path
Isolation Spur Trail
Davis Spur
Stairs Spur
Crawford Spur
6/20/23 White Mountains Trace Day 144
Today I did a shorter day because of how long yesterday’s hike was and how late I got home. The drive to the trailhead was 2.5 hours and then I hiked for four hours so although it was a short day, I didn’t get home until 6pm still. I actually really enjoyed today, though. I did the stretch of the Mahoosuc Trail between Carlo Col Trail and Success Trail and there were two spots with some really neat rock scrambles that I enjoyed. I never thought I would say I enjoyed a rock scramble, but here we are. It made the hiking more interesting and broke up the day a bit. Then I got picked up on Success Pond Rd by a resident and that took a mile off the road walk for me. All in all a really nice day.
Daily Miles: 8.12
Daily Vert: 2273’
Overall Miles: 1525.29
Overall Vert: 423,728’
Trace: 70.2% -> 70.6%
Trails:
Carlo Col Trail
Mahoosuc Trail
Success Trail
Outlook Loop
6/22/23 White Mountains Trace Day 145
Today I had a long day but it was a good day. I headed west to the Appalachian Trail in Hanover, NH, a stretch of trail I haven’t done before. The terrain was really nice and the elevation gain was barely noticeable for the majority of the day. Talk about a huge difference from what it’s like hiking in the White Mountains proper. I crossed paths with a few northbound thru-hikers, saw an empty cooler that was labeled, “trail magic” and ascended Velvet Rocks four times on top of traversing it on the AT. All in all, it was a nice day.
Daily Miles: 15.68
Daily Vert: 3442’
Overall Miles: 1540.97
Overall Vert: 427,170’
Trace: 70.6% -> 71.5%
Trails:
Velvet Rocks Trail
Velvet Rocks Shelter Loop
East Wheelock St. Spur
Ledyard Spring Spur
Ledyard Link
Trescott Spur
Oli’s Trail
Hanover Center Trail
Moose Mountain Trail
Fred Harris Trail
Nat Thompson Trail
6/23/23 White Mountains Trace Day 146
Today I did a quick ascent up Ammonoosuc Ravine Trail. I didn’t go all the way to the top of Mount Washington, because that wasn’t the goal, but it was really nice to get above treeline again. I spent most of last summer in the Northern Presidentials working on the myriad of trails scattered along the west side of Jefferson, Adams, and Madison. I remember how hard it was, that most days I wouldn’t be able to maintain over 1.5 mph elapsed time because of the terrain and grade. Climbing Ammo today, on the other hand, seemed easy. It felt like any other day on trail. I can’t believe how strong I’ve gotten over the last year. I can't believe that I trained my body to be able to handle this. I still feel like a bookworm posing as an athlete, but I’m stronger than I was a year ago and that’s 100% due to the amount of time I’ve spent hiking. I guess if you do something often enough and work hard enough at it, you can become good at it.
Daily Miles: 7.83
Daily Vert: 3177’
Overall Miles: 1548.80
Overall Vert: 430,347’
Trace: 71.5% -> 72%
Trails:
Ammonoosuc Ravine Trail
Crawford Path
Tuckerman Crossover
Davis Path
Ammonoosuc Link
