When you hike the Appalachian Trail, you get in the habit of looking behind yourself periodically to make sure you are still on the trail. If you get into “the zone,” it’s all too easy to miss a turn in the trail corridor and amble off along some other road, …
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AT Section Hike: Bear Mountain to Rt 7
I just got back from a short section hike on the Connecticut Appalachian Trail where I finished the northern half of the state, hiking from Bear Mountain to Rt 7. Autumn is past its peak here, but hiking in the woods was quite beautiful and easy compared to my last …
Read More »AT Section Hike: Monson to Maine Highway 27
I took a 75 mile section hike on the Maine Appalachian Trail last week and it was simply divine. The autumn color was in full glory and I had 50+ mile views for days on end. This hike had everything: drama, magic, danger, fear, thirst, fatigue, awe and one singular …
Read More »AT Section Hike: Mt Garfield to Skookumchuck Trail
Last week, I finally finished section hiking all 161 miles of the Appalachian Trail in New Hampshire. Now that it’s done, it’s hard to believe that it was only 161 miles. I’ve probably hiked twice that just to reacquire the AT each time I bag a section of trail. I’ll …
Read More »AT Section Hike: Mt Wolf to Reel Brook
The 1.9 mile section between of the Appalachian Trail from Mt Wolf to the Reel Brook trail junction is one of my last remaining sections of the Appalachian Trail in New Hampshire and I finally got to hike it last Saturday. As usual, I had to hike a lot more …
Read More »AT Section Hike: Rt 2 to Zeta Pass
In July, 2007 I went on a 4 day backpacking trip along the Appalachian Trail starting on Rt 2 outside of Gorham, NH and ending at the Wild River Campground. During our hike, we walked from the Rattle River Trailhead at the Androscoggin River to Zeta Pass (this is all …
Read More »AT Section Hike: Kinsman Notch to Mt Wolf
On August 5th, 2007, I did a 9.2 mile (RT) day hike from Kinsman Notch to Mt Wolf on the New Hampshire Appalachian Trail. This is the section right after the decent from Mt Moosilauke, which is the first really big peak that northbound thru-hikers encounter in the White Mountains. …
Read More »Planning an Appalachian Trail Section Hike
When planning an Appalachian Trail section hike, the first thing I do is to consult a ragged 2006 copy of the AT Thru-Hikers’ Companion that I use to keep track of all of the miles I’ve hiked. I provides a mile by mile account of all of the shelters, water …
Read More »Preventing Trailhead Parking Break-ins
One of my regular readers contacted me recently about a car break-in they experienced at a trailhead parking lot in the White Mountains. Unfortunately, it happens, despite the efforts of the park service to patrol these lots. Your best protection to prevent a break-in is to not leave anything in …
Read More »AT Section Hike: South Kinsman
It's been a while since I've done a section hike on the Appalachian Trail, but I got back to it on Saturday, completing a very short section that I'd missed last Autumn along the Kinsman Ridge Trail in The White Mountains. This hike was special because my regular winter hiking …
Read More »AT Section Hike: Cornwall Bridge to US Rte 7
Connecticut Appalachian Trail My work-hike balance has been seriously off kilter the past few weeks, but I got back into the groove this weekend with a 1 night backpacking trip on the Connecticut Appalachian Trail, my first foray into the state. Spring has arrived in Connecticut and we saw a …
Read More »AT Section Hike: Guilder Pond to Sheffield
After spending the past few months section hiking the AT in New Hampshire and Maine, I did a big section down in southwestern Massachusetts on Wednesday, finally finishing the state. As usual, I got off to an early start, sneaking out of the house at 5am (we're visiting relatives for …
Read More »A Bear Encounter in the North Country
I had a benign bear encounter this weekend at Lower Gentian Pond on the Mahoosuc Trail, way up in the northern part of New Hampshire, near the Maine state line. I stupidly left some beef jerky in my rain jacket which was hanging inside my tent vestibule overnight. At about …
Read More »AT Section Hike: Hogan Rd to Lower Gentian Pond
I just got back from a fantastic weekend in the North Country of New Hampshire, hiking a 12 mile section (18 miles total) of the Mahoosuc Trail from Gorham, NH to Lower Gentian Pond. This was the last section of the Mahoosuc Trai that I had left after hiking from …
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