Hammock Camping on the Six Husbands Trail

Hammock Camping and Solo Backpacking in the White Mountains of New Hampshire

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For this adventure, I decided to get back to my ultralight backpacking roots with a rugged 27 mile loop through the Great Gulf Wilderness, Dry River Wilderness, and Presidential Range, with a gross elevation gain of around 8,400 feet. The centerpiece of my loop would be the Six Husbands Trail, a trail that some say is the most difficult in the White Mountain National Forest. Now , if you’re familiar with the WMNF, you probably know that just about every trail is pretty intense, so this could get interesting…

For sleep and shelter, I went with my standard minimalist hammock camping setup consisting of a 10 oz hammock, 5 oz tarp, and a pair of 40° down quilts. This got my base weight down to around 7 lbs. A full gear list can be found at the bottom of this post.

The Six Husbands Trail was Built from 1909 to 1910 by trail builder Warren W. Hart of the Appalachian Mountain club. Hart was known to build his trails specifically with adventure in mind, and this trail was no exception. It begins deep in the Great Gulf Wilderness at the junction with Wamsutta Trail, which along with the connected Alpine Garden trail is actually just the renamed southern portion of the Six Husbands trail. Wamsutta was one the six husbands of female Indian Chief, Weetamoo, who has a nearby waterfall named after her.

White Mountains Six Husbands Backpacking Loop – Route Overview – Sintax77

Trailhead Used: Pinkham Notch Visitor Center, 44°15’29.2″N 71°15’11.1″W
361 Rt 16, Jackson, NH 03846

This is a huge paved parking lot with room for many cars. The trailhead is located behind the visitor center.

Full GPS track data, including campsites, etc, for this trip and many others can be downloaded on my Trip Data Page.

Trails Used, Day 1

Old Jackson Road Trail (Appalachian Trail)
Madison Gulf Trail (Appalachian Trail)
Spur Trail to Lowes Bald Spot
Madison Gulf Trail
Straight (north) on Great Gulf Trail
Setup camp along the Great Gulf Trail.
- There are two signs for legal camping just after the junction with Wamsutta Trail. The one I chose was the second one, and the larger of the two with easy access to the West Branch Peabody River. Note: There are no fires permitted in the Great Gulf Wilderness.

Day 1 Mileage: 7.2 miles
Day 1 Gross Elevation Gain: 2,314 feet
Day 1 Gross Descent: 1,173 feet

White Mountains Six Husbands Loop – Route Overview – Sintax77

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Trails Used, Day 2

Backtrack (northeast) on the Great Gulf Trail
Left (north) on the Six Husbands Trail
Say hello to the summit of Mt Jefferson
Left (south) on Gulfside Trail
Trinity Heights Connector to the summit of Mt Washington
Crawford Path (Appalachian Trail)
Left (south) on Dry River Trail
Camp along Dry River Trail at Dry River Shelter #3
- This is a 3 sided wooden lean-to shelter with additional spots for tents or hammocks, water, and a legal fire ring directly out front.

Day 2 Mileage: 11.3 miles
Day 2 Gross Elevation Gain: 4,281 feet
Day 2 Gross Descent: 4,328 feet

Day 2 Elevation Profile – White Mountains Six Husbands Loop – Sintax77

Trails Used, Day 3

Continue south on Dry River Trail
Left (west) on Isolation Trail
Left (north) on Davis Path
Right (south) on Glen Boulder Trail
Left (north) on Direttissima Trail
Return to Pinkham Notch Visitor Center

Day 3 Mileage: 9.2 miles
Day 3 Gross Elevation Gain: 2,922 feet
Day 3 Gross Descent: 4,024 feet

Day 3 Elevation Profile – White Mountains Six Husbands Loop – Sintax77

Grand Total Mileage: 27.7
Grand Total Gross Elevation Gain: 8,423

Full Route Elevation Profile – White Mountains Six Husbands Loop – Sintax77

Thank you to EcoFlow DELTA Max for sponsoring this trip.
As mentioned in the video, you can become a backer for their Kickstarter launch using the link in my YouTube Video description.

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Full Gear List on Lighterpack.com with weights and gear links.

Notable Backpacking Gear

Camera and Nav Gear used for this episode