Summer fun in New Hampshire, USA

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Monday, May 25. 2015

Summer fun in New Hampshire, USA

The only good summer fun this state offers is the White Mountain (ie large hill) climbing/hiking. Or the lakes, of course, where they never should have allowed power boats but, freedom. Those mountains are all good hikes with no climbing gear needed except an intrepid spirit, sneakers, and pretty good health - and do not forget to bring your legs. You might need them. Nothing wrong with trail maps either, and some snacks.

NH has 48 4000-footers, and the outdoor people from Boston, New York, CT, etc. with lake or ski places up there tackle each one. That's the main summer outdoor activity up there. Insanely vigorous people try hiking those peaks in winter. I tried that once, in college. Trust me. It is not fun but it is a good test of manhood.

OK, there are some fun trout streams too. Rumor has it that there are some wild Brookies, but I doubt it. Not much else to do there for fun and recreation in warm weather. The winter skiiing is good, though, and in the fall the woodcock and grouse hunting up around Pittsburg, NH, is quite fine. A guide is a good idea for that.

Other than that, Live Free Or Die. Thus lots of meth labs and lowlifes in the woods. Not much cultcha if you go for high cultcha.

Posted by The News Junkie in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation at 13:34 | Comments (11) | Trackbacks (0)

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My nephew is halfway through the winter 48, but he's at Emory now and has to get his climbing done in the higher by less-challenging southern Appalachias. I've never done even one in winter myself. I've done a few smaller ones closer to home, but even then, not often. Hard, work, and easy to blow out a knee, a hip, or a back with the poor traction.

#1 Assistant Village Idiot (Link) on 2015-05-25 13:52 (Reply)

BTW, despite the significantly lower peaks, the Whites are not actually much easier, according to those who have also climbed the Rockies. Some discussion here: http://assistantvillageidiot.blogspot.com/2012/05/comparining-mountains.html

#2 Assistant Village Idiot (Link) on 2015-05-25 13:55 (Reply)

My sis and her hubbie are tackling them. They move it.

#3 Bird Dog on 2015-05-25 15:51 (Reply)

From my home in Colorado I would have to climb DOWN 2000 feet to reach the summit of one of those hills. :)

#4 Guest on 2015-05-25 16:09 (Reply)

Your mountains aren't more difficult, except perhaps for the oxygen difference. Alaska and a few other places in NA are more difficult. Read up on it.

#4.1 Assistant Village Idiot (Link) on 2015-05-26 15:51 (Reply)

I did a bunch of the 48 when I was younger. I've restarted the list with my children.
In 1976 we were the first on the summit of Mt.Marcy. We were a party of 7 and a dog.
I have probably done more winter camping in the area than summer. No bugs, fewer people and you can always get warmer...
The Alpine Club of Canada has a house in Keene which is a great place to start from.

#5 EarlWer on 2015-05-25 17:19 (Reply)

Just spent the long Memorial Day weekend in the Franconia, NH area. My wife and I climbed Mt. Percival - small but with pretty views of Squam Lake on Friday and then hiked Mount Adams on Saturday. Going up Adams, we went up the Airline trail. I estimate the wind was blowing at 60 mph and the temperature was around 30 degrees. My wife was wearing her ski parka it was so cold. We didn't make it to the top due to the conditions, but used the Airline Cut-off trail and made for the Madison Hut. While we were at the hut (still closed) we saw an AT thru-hiker. He had left Georgia in February. We normally see the thru-hikers in July and August in the Whites - so he had a real jump on the crowd. We headed down via the Valley Way trail. Still snow in many areas and some monorail ice in places. Yesterday, the wife and I plus our married daughter and her husband hiked up the Beaver Brook trail and summited Mount Moosilauke. This is a beautiful mountain in the western-most White Mountains. Dartmouth College owns a sizable portion of the mountain. Beaver Brook is pretty rugged, with iron hand-holds and wooden blocks fixed to the rocks in places to assist getting up the trail. The waterfalls are quite wonderful. I am often amused at those who look down at our mountains, but please come hike the trails - they go up, pretty much straight up the mountains with very few switchbacks. In most cases it is rock, roots and mud. An 8 mile "hike" will leave your quads aching and your calves begging for mercy. My wife and I, plus the two children have hikes all of the 48 4000 footers in New Hampshire as a family - one of my proudest accomplishments.

#6 Hank on 2015-05-25 17:55 (Reply)

Testing for how to put a link in a comment

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northeast_111

#7 George Putnam on 2015-05-25 19:38 (Reply)

Some people hike all the 4000-footers in the northeastern US. See:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northeast_111

The original list was 111 mountains. With more accurate surveys, the list is now 115 mountains: 48 in New Hampshire, 14 in Maine, 5 in Vermont, and 48 in New York.

The list in New York includes 2 in the Catskills and 46 in the Adirondacks. Someone who climbs all 46 in the Adirondacks is called a 46er.

Interesting trivia: Only in New England is the "official list" updated when surveys are updated. The "official list" in New York was fixed long ago, never to be changed. It includes four mountains that were once thought to be 4000 feet high but aren't (Blake, Cliff, Nye, Couchsachraga).

Two friends and I climbed all of them in the winter when the list was 113 and we were younger. We all live in Vermont, which made it convenient to travel to both NH and NY. Maine was a longer trip. It took me nine winters. The three of us finished together on Killington in Vermont on March 14, 1992.

I don't think there is an online list of 111ers, but there is an online list of Adirondack 46ers here:

http://adk46er.org/member-roster.html

I'm #3056W (W is for winter).

I'm too out of shape for serious winter hiking now, but it was a lot of fun and I highly recommend winter hiking if you are fit. In the mountains, the best day in winter is better than the best day in summer.

#8 George Putnam on 2015-05-25 19:43 (Reply)

Mark Steyn lives in New Hampshire.

#9 JJM on 2015-05-26 23:41 (Reply)

Not that I want to add to the growing crowds but...

https://www.prescottpark.org/events/The-River-House-Restaurant-Concert-Series

http://nhpr.org/programs/writers-new-england-stage

https://www.zagat.com/b/boston/10-reasons-to-drive-to-portsmouth

https://nhfilmfestival.com/

It also has a blooming craft beer scene. We chose to move here (from Baltimore) because the area has so much to offer.

#10 Steven R on 2015-05-27 05:27 (Reply)

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Monday, May 25. 2015

Summer fun in New Hampshire, USA