[at-l] Weekend in the Whites - trip report

["Mara Factor" <m_factor@hotmail.com>]

So, I decided to forgo the weekend traffic and drive up to the Whites 
Saturday morning instead of in the Friday evening crawling parking lot.  
This would also give me the opportunity to stop by Ragged Mountain (one of 
my favorite outfitters) for 5 minutes and pick up the gaitors they were 
repairing.  Over an hour later, I finally left Ragged Mountain, grabbed 
lunch, and made my way to the trailhead.  It was 1:00 already.  Oops!

I had tried this loop just three weeks earlier but gave up when I realized 
that postholing in 1.5' of snow at 3000' would only get worse approaching 
4000'.

Now, the trail head was a black fly haven so I quickly just grabbed my pack 
and started moving.  The first couple of miles to Rocky Branch shelter #1 
were a quick and easy walk up an old rail (or road?) bed.  Just a couple of 
streams to cross along the way.  Stopped at the shelter to apply some DEET 
and then moved on.

Then, for the first time in all my years of hiking in the Whites, I had to 
take my boots off to ford a river.  There were four crossings on my way to 
shelter #2 and while I could rock hop the second and third crossing, both 
the first and fourth required boots-off / sandals-on foot-numbing 
in-the-snow-melt crossings.  The weather was great though so it took no time 
to dry off and warm up my feet.

I was surprised to find marked campsites along the trail.  If I remember 
correctly, there were four sites between shelters #1 and #2, two more along 
the Rocky Branch before hitting the Davis Path, and then two more between 
the Mt. Davis side trail and Stairs Mtn. trail.

The shelter was bug free and at first I thought I would have the shelter to 
myself.  Then a group of seven showed up.  No problem.  They were nice 
people, condsiderate, and did not stay up late.  There was a bit of rain in 
the evening but not even enough to force people back into the shelter.  As 
it turns out, I was fortunate to have shared the shelter with them that 
night...  more on this, later...

There were signs of moose all over the place but with that many people at 
the shelter, none made an appearance.  This was the same shelter where years 
earlier, I had seen a moose for the first time while hiking (rather than 
driving).

The next day, I slept late (8:00) but was still up and out rather quickly - 
I guess thruhiker habits are slow to die...  Knowing I had all day and a 
buggy shelter area as my destination, I took my time.  Many long breaks at 
trail junctions, summits of both Isolation and Davis, and even an hour to 
put my feet up and read a book at one of the two campsites along the Davis 
path.

The summits over 5000' were all in the clouds but the views were still quite 
impressive - from the Franconia Ridge to the Carters.

There were patches of snow still scattered here and there.  Given that this 
is one of the less used areas in the Whites, the trail was not in 
particularly good condition.  Lots of mud, rotting puncheons, downed trees, 
and overgrown firs to push through along the way.  There were also lots of 
Trillium out and a few Trout Lilies (they looked like them, anyway), too.

This loop around Isolation really reminded me of areas in Maine in the 100 
mile wilderness.  The climb up the 4000'er was a gradual and steady climb, 
the trail was suitably wet, muddy, and slick, it followed a flowing river, 
and there were few enough people out there.  I can only imagine what Mt. 
Washington would have been like just a few miles away.

I looked up around 4:00 from my last break and thought the sky looked a bit 
threatening.  So I finally moved on and made my was down Stairs Col trail 
back to shelter #1 where I tented on one of the huge platforms there.  
(FWIW, setting a Nomad up on a platform is even easier than on the ground.  
Didn't need any stakes or extra line, just put the loops around teh wooden 
boards and/or eyebolts.)

The brook that was the water source from three weeks ago at this site was 
now completely dry but the main Rocky Branch River was only a few feet 
further away.  Water was not an issue.

It sprinkled again that night - just enough for me to put up the awning and 
have to carry out a wet tent the next day.  I was up and hiking by 6:30 in 
the morning and on the road by 7:30 - in plenty of time to beat all the 
traffic heading back to Boston.

Not quite the end of the story...

Last night, I get a call from one of the people I had shared the shelter 
with.  My poles are usually the first thing that gets tossed in my car.  Not 
Monday...  I must have driven off without them because they found them at 
the trailhead adn recognized them.  They remembered  my trail name and that 
I had hiked the AT last year.  A bit of surfing and they tracked me down.  I 
still have to retrieve them but at least I know where they are now.  My 
poles usually live in my car and I wouldn't have known they were missing 
until I went hiking again - umm, probably tonight.  Ooops!  :-)

Wishing I was still out there...

Mara
Stitches, GAME99

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