A year after section hiking Maine, we set out to tackle the New Hampshire Appalachian Trail. Except this time we planned on section hiking the state in sections. Simply put, it hasn’t worked out as planned. Add two more years and this is still a hike in progress. Please follow along, and feel free to get a good laugh at our expense. Hopefully you can learn something from our mistakes. Sometimes I wonder if we ever do.
The White Mountain Guide describes Lowe’s Path as the “easiest way to climb Mt. Adams.” There’s an important distinction to be made here: easiest doesn’t exactly equate easy, especially in the winter. The 4.7-mile climb to New England’s second highest peak, 5,799 feet, will beat your legs into submission like a drill sergeant at boot camp. Don’t worry, though, it’s jolly good fun. And the rewarding views of neighboring Mt. Jefferson, Mt. Madison, and big brother Mt. Washington will quickly cleanse any residue of a pre-dawn rise and shine.
On paper the Garfield Trail looks to be a daunting challenge: a five-mile, 3,000-foot climb in the White Mountains to the summit of 4,500-foot Mt. Garfield. In reality, compared to neighboring hikes such as the Liberty Springs Trail, Falling Waters Trail and Old Bridle Path, it’s a walk in the White Mountains National Forest park.
If you’re looking to boldly hike where no explorer has gone before, this trail isn’t for you. On the contrary, Mt. Washington is a major New Hampshire tourist destination, and the Tuckerman Ravine Trail is the White Mountains’ version of hiking Disneyland. This isn’t to say you shouldn’t do it. Quite the opposite, in fact. Consider it required reading for hiking.
The Cathedral Trail is the most direct route from the base of Katahdin to the summit. If the trail name alone doesn’t provide adequate foreshadowing, future hikers should know that “direct” means “straight up now tell me is the trail gonna be like this forever.” What’s more, the terrain likely qualifies as cruel and unusual—in a good way, of course, for trail masochists.
I’ve never considered myself afraid of heights. Cautiously reserved, perhaps. One could even say I have a strong sense of self-preservation. But downright chicken—who, me? I don’t know what you’re talking about. Katahdin, the crown jewel of Maine’s Baxter State Park, has a not-so funny way of testing this resolve.
Katahdin is Maine’s signature mountain, an honor bestowed upon it for more than simply boasting the state’s highest peak at 5,267 feet. From a distance Katahdin appears as though a crown rising above the vast woodlands of Baxter State Park.