[at-l] AT trip report - NH near Moosilauke

[agaudet at theworld.com (Arthur Gaudet)]

3 day trip this week took me from Rt 112 to Eliza Brook shelter and back,
along the AT. Since the Winter is just leaving these parts the path has
obstacles, about a dozen blowdowns, various shapes, sizes, difficulties in
getting around. The trail varies in altitude from 1800 to about 3200 feet
and there are patches of snow everywhere. The wildflowers are showing their
stuff: painted trillium, red nodding trillium, twin flower, trout lily, and
more are all blooming in the warmer, dryer pockets. Along this trail, about
a mile in from the road, a meadow of 3 or more acres is covered in trout
lily, ready to bloom in about a week. It will be spectacular.

The Whites this time of year are a challenge for tenters. The ground is so
saturated that your boots squeeze water out of it with every step, making a
ground cloth & pool-bottom type tent a necessity. The trail is flowing with
water nearly every place, and sometimes comes up over your toes. After the
first day the boots stay wet. On the plus side the area is deserted, there
are no black flies (yet) and the animals are not as skittish about having
people about.

I was reading by twilight on Wednesday and caught a movement in the corner
of my eye, an animal was approaching my tent. I stayed still as it
approached, the biggest rabbit I've ever seen - a snowshoe hare! I knew
these animals existed since I see their prints during winter hikes, but in
30+ years this was my first sighting. I remembered the scene from Monty
Python and thought this really could be the killer bunny! "What's 'e goin'
to do? Nip me bum?" The bunny approached my tent, trying to browse while
keeping an eye for signs of life. It browsed within 3 feet of my doorway,
and moved on. As I stuck my head out the door to watch it caught my motion,
and bolted in an explosion of jumping, each leap taking it 10 feet or more
in a jagged route away from me. Very exciting!

On the hike out yesterday I came across not one, but 2 "bear trees". One was
a tree used in previous years, and now scratched and gouged fresh this
Spring. Another was a newly scratched tree used for the first time, about a
mile from the other tree. The scratches had removed all the bark along one
side, from a height of 3 feet to well over 10 feet from the ground. The
outer bark, inner bark and the meat of the tree all heavily gouged. Bears
are active in this area!

All in all it was a nice outing as a jump on the backpacking season. I had
hoped for moose sightings, and found plenty of poop, but was happy with
seeing a snowshoe hare and these bear trees. In 2 weeks the Whites will
endure a surge of hikers that won't let up until Labor Day,  and most of the
AT hikers will hike right on past my "snowshoe campsite", just 1/2 mile from
the AT.

--RockDancer