Chris' Camping Chronicles Vol. 2

For our second adventure Jesse and I decided that we would head up to the White Mountains of New Hampshire. On the advice of Brad, our Stock Sup, we decided on Mt. Moosilauke which is the 10th highest peak in the Whites at 4802 ft. In the weeks leading up to the trip the weather was looking fantastic and sunny, but in true New England style it soon looked more like chilly, foggy conditions for at least the first two days. This was disappointing but wasn't going to deter us from pushing forward with our adventure.

We gathered our gear which included my new Meso 22, Terra 65 and Orion sleeping bag and headed out onto the trail Monday morning for two nights. We immediately started noticing that there were wildflowers blooming throughout the woods. Trillium is pictured above.

When we were about halfway up the steep trail to the summit we encountered a group of extremely miserable looking teenagers descending the mountain. Apparently they had experienced some rainy, cold weather the previous night and were looking pretty haggard. They must have thought Jesse and I were crazy because we were having a great time.

As we approached the south peak of the mountain we met some day hikers who informed us that the summit was in a cloud and the winds were very strong. We heeded their warning and got our gloves and a few more layers on. Once we got above the treeline and felt the 50mph winds we were both immediately frozen and decided it was best if we just got over the summit and down to the shelter.

There was still a steep hike down to the shelter and we discovered that there was still snow and quite a bit of ice on the trail. This made our hike slow and slippery at times, but eventually we made it to the Beaver Brook Shelter to set up camp. Upon our arrival we met Commander Joe, a 62 year old southern gentleman from Tennessee who had begun hiking the AT in 1998 but was only able to make it to NH and had to quit. He was attempting to finish his AT adventure now, but feared he had come too early in the season because there was still so much snow on the trails. He was quite the character and it was fun having such a random person to chat with.

Both Jesse and Commander Joe snored all night long which seems to be the story of my life these days. I was impressed by the incredible sound of the two of them snoring in unison. I couldn't help but laugh in the middle of the night when I realized that the snoring was actually vibrating the wooden floor of the shelter! Needless to say I got very little sleep and was happy when morning arrived.

In the morning the sky began to brighten and soon we could see the mountains that were adjacent to us. We decided to chill at the shelter and take our time hoping that the weather would clear out for us. Our friend Commander Joe bid us farewell and headed out. Chef Jesse prepared some delectable oatmeal and yummy Via instant coffee and we hit the trail back to the summit. Neither of us had high hopes for the weather clearing as the woods were still very foggy and we could hear the wind whistling in the trees. As we approached the treeline again it did not look very clear but at least it was considerably warmer. As soon as we got above the treeline the clouds moved out and we began to see the stunning views. In an effort to make sure we didn't miss our window we rushed to the summit.

Our timing was flawless and just as we got to the summit the sun came out! Words can't describe how excited we were. Jesse and I could hardly believe that we were actually getting some nice weather for our trip. We decided to plop down and have some lunch and enjoy the good camping karma we had been blessed with. We both had perma-smiles on our faces for the rest of the afternoon.






After our lunch break we headed down the mountain to set up camp at the Jeffers Brook Shelter. When we got to the shelter we noticed there were some people there so we decided to set up our camp in the woods away from the shelter. A kid approached us from the group and we learned that it was group of 11 Sophomore High School girls from a local boarding school. It was apparently a part of their required curriculum to go out camping for 4 nights. The group we had passed as we ascended the mountain the previous day was from the same school. The girls at this camp were equally as miserable, but we decided to take advantage of their campfire and they even fed us which was sweet! There was a wonderful waterfall nearby and there was a lady slipper near our tent.


My Meso 22 was awesome and slept two quite comfortably. I had to sleep with Jesse's smelly hiking feet in my face all night but I actually got some decent sleep and woke up feeling refreshed. As we gathered our things and had breakfast and coffee I noticed that the guide for the high school girls was trying, with little success, to get everyone out of bed. Rather than stick around to listen to nasty, tired high school students complain about camping and hiking we hightailed it out of there immediately!

The weather was looking fantastic so we hopped in my car and headed north on some back roads into the Franconia Notch area. The surrounding mountains were beautiful and green. I realized that I had hadn't been to that area during spring or summer in many years. I always go during the winter for snowboarding when everything is dead, sleeping, or hiding!

I was sad that our trip had to come to an end, but once again we had an incredible adventure. As we drove home we were already planning our next trip to the White Mountains! I hope someday I can say that I hiked all 48 of the 4000 ft peaks of New Hampshire! : )