Tag Archives: Appalachian Trail

Ultralight Backpacking on the Carter-Moriah Range

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3 Days of Ultralight Backpacking & Hammock Camping on the Carter-Moriah Range in the White Mountains of New Hampshire.

FTC Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links, which means I may receive a commission for purchases made through some of my links.

For this summer backpacking trip, I headed up to the Wild River Wilderness to create a 36 mile hiking loop with 10,000 feet of gross elevation gain by linking together the Appalachian trail with several other lesser used and more rugged trails in the White Mountain National Forest.

My June temperature range for this trip was between 35° and 85° with a chance of rain each day, but mostly during the night.  Due to the wide temp range and the unpredictable weather typically encountered in the White Mountains, I packed in a puffy jacket and some ultralight rain gear for additional protection against the elements.  This brought my pack’s base weight right up to around the 10 lb mark.

  • Thank you to Upstart for sponsoring this trip.  See how they can help you build your credit and get free of high interest debt at Upstart.com/Sintax

I went with my standard minimalist hammock camping setup for this trip.  While I planned to stay at officially recognized campsites, I still wanted the ability to camp at a legal, but unofficial spot if the opportunity or need arose.  Due to the dense vegetation and uneven ground found at upper elevations in the Whites, I’ve learned that a hammock is often the only realistic option in those types of conditions.

Water would be plentiful along the river portion of my loop, but would only be reliably available at Imp campsite during the ridge hike section, so I had to plan accordingly for that during the first half of my trip. The second half of my trip would have more water, but would be on more challenging trails. Notably, the Black Angel Trail, a rugged and minimally maintained wilderness trail, and the Highwater Trail, which suffered substantial washouts and haphazard re-routes due to storm damage from Hurricane Irene back in 2011.

Route Overview – WIld River Carter-Moriah Backpacking Loop – Sintax77

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

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3 Days of Campfire Cooking and Hammock Camping – Harpers Ferry West Virginia

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Hammock Camping, Trail Cooking and the search for an Elusive Hearth in the Woods of West Virginia.

FTC Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links, which means I may receive a commission for purchases made through some of my links.

For this early February hammock camping trip, I set out to hike a 3 day hike with a nostalgic goal – to find a giant campfire hearth that my friend and I had built five years ago, somewhere off of the Appalachian Trail near the town of Harpers Ferry, West Virginia.  I had always wondered if it was still standing after all these years, and thought it would be a great excuse to spend some time in the woods a cook some hearty camping meals.

My weather conditions were forecasted to have a pretty wide range during this trip, from the upper 50’s down to 30 degrees each evening.  I had a rough idea of the hearth’s location.  We built it at camp not too long after leaving the Harpers Ferry National Historic Area’s boundary while heading south on the Appalachian Trail.  My goal for the first day was to get myself to a legal camping area in this general area so I could search for it first thing the next morning.  If I found it early, I would then have the option to do a day hike to Loudoun Heights and Split Rock for views of the Shenandoah River and Potomac River below the ridge.

For sleep and shelter on this trip, I went with a simple hammock camping and ultralight tarp setup (gear list below).  I used the extra space in my winter backpack to load up on extra clothing layers, a saw for harvesting firewood, a stool for working in my makeshift camp kitchen, and my white gas stove system paired up with a fry pan and diffuser to try my hand at baking some trail bread at camp.  The cooler temps also allowed me to bring some “real” food, so I brought along some ingredients to make some smoked sausage one day and pasta with a slow cooked meat sauce the next.

This trip video was sponsored by Anker and their model 521 and 535 Portable Power Station.

Route Overview – Harpers Ferry Loudoun Heights Winter Backpacking Trip – Sintax77

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

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Winter Camping on Mt Washington – Deep Snow, Below Zero

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Backpacking & Winter Camping on the side of Mount Washington.

FTC Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links, which means I may receive a commission for purchases made through some of my links.

For this adventure, I headed back up to the White Mountains of New Hampshire to do some snow camping and make another attempt at doing a Mt Washington winter ascent for some frozen views of the Presidential Range.  I tried this about a year ago, but a stomach bug and 85 MPH winds kind of put a damper on things.  This time around, I also brought a hiking partner, Frank.  We’ve done several winter trips together so far, but this would be his first time in the White Mountains.

Similar to last year’s trip, the plan was to set up a base camp at higher elevation, followed by a lighter weight trek up to the top of Mount Washington if weather conditions and visibility were agreeable. If the conditions were questionable, we made a back-up plan to scurry up the side of the nearer Mt Monroe.  And of course, if the weather really got bad, we would just play it safe and stay below tree line.

Trailhead Used: Ammonoosuc Ravine Trailhead
44°16’01.2″N 71°21’40.7″W
Base Station Rd, Jefferson, NH 03538

This is a large parking lot with room for many vehicles.  A parking fee of $5 dollars per day or an annual National Park pass is required.

Trails Used

  • Ammonoosuc Ravine Trail
  • Appalachian Trail (Crawford Path)
  • Mt Monroe Loop Trail

Campsite

  • Camp along Ammonoosuc Trail 44.26398, -71.32182
    • This was a small unofficial campsite located in a hollowed out spot not too far before entering the Lakes of the Clouds Forest Protection Zone.

Notable Backpacking Gear

Camera and Nav Gear used for this episode

Camping with Wild Ponies – Solo Backpacking in the Grayson Highlands

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3 days of Solo Backpacking, Hiking & Tent Camping on a section of the Appalachian Trail in Virginia’s Grayson Highlands.

FTC Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links, which means I may receive a commission for purchases made through some of my links.

For this 3 day, 2 night backpacking trip, I headed out for some hiking and solo camping in the Lewis Fork Wilderness and Mt Rogers National Recreation Area, within the larger George Washington and Jefferson National Forest.

With an emphasis on exploring the wild pony grazing areas surrounding Pine Mountain rather than grinding out mileage, I created a modest loop by combining a portion of the Appalachian Trail with the Virginia Highlands Trail. This gave me a super laid route with my campsites for the first and second nights located in the same general area, separated by less than a couple of miles.

I had a backup plan to do a larger 22 mile loop similar to the one I did in this area a few years back, but I knew from that trip that there was a good possibility I would want to slow things down and soak in the sights in this particular area.  Overall, I was very happy with my choice, but keep in mind that there are many more spots to explore if you’re planning your own trip to the Grayson Highlands.  The details of my previous larger loop can be found here if you’re interested.

The Grayson Highlands are known for their high winds and unpredictable, rapidly changing weather, but luckily for me, the mid September forecast called for an ideal temperature range of 55 to 80 degrees. This allowed me to get by on an ultralight backpacking setup with minimal extra clothing and gear.  My shelter for this trip was my Outdoor Vitals 1p tent in “fast and light” mode –  which just means that I left the main tent body with bugnet at home and set it up using only the tent fly, poles and ground cloth.

Thank you to Revtown Jeans for sponsoring this trip video!

Grayson Highlands Backpacking Trip – Route Overview – Sintax77

Trailhead Used: Elk Garden Trailhead Parking,  36°38’46.7″N 81°34’59.0″W
Whitetop Mountain Rd, Troutdale, VA 24378

This is an easily accessible grass and gravel parking area with room for a decent amount of cars. No fee or permit is required for parking or backcountry camping.  There are pit toilets without running water on site.  I began my hike at the gate on the other side of the road.

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

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Hammock Camping on the Six Husbands Trail

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

FTC Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links, which means I may receive a commission for purchases made through some of my links.

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

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Stone Shelter Camping in a Snow Storm

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Backpacking & Solo Winter Camping during a Snow Storm on the Appalachian Trail and New York Long Path.

FTC Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links, which means I may receive a commission for purchases made through some of my links.

For this 3 day, 2 night camping trip, I decided to do a backpacking loop in New York’s Harriman State park.  Despite being just a half hour north of New York City, Harriman SP offers hundreds of miles of trails, rugged mountain terrain, and rustic lean-to shelters built in the 1920’s.  Covering over 47,000 acres, it stands as the second largest state park in New York and feels more like a national forest shortly after hitting the trail.

Because I did this trip in mid December with a forecast of possible snow and a temp range of just above freezing down to the teens, I figured the crowds would be at a minimum.  The shelters in this area also appeared to have some great personality, so I decided to do something different – go minimal and just sleep in the shelter with a sleeping pad and a down quilt.  This is a convenient and common practice for most Appalachian Trail hikers in fairer weather, but it would be a first for me in winter.

Route Overview – Harriman State Park Winter Backpacking Loop – Sintax77

No permit is required to backcountry camp in Harriman SP, but there are rules and regulations regarding backcountry camping. Most notably, you may only setup camp within 100 yards of one of the park’s lean-to shelters.  You can find more information on the official Harriman State Park website here.

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

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