For this backpacking adventure, we'll be exploring the
Wild River Wilderness, a remote area of
New Hampshire's
White Mountains for two days, covering 36 miles, countless rain storms, and a few injuries for good measure. ;)
The Wild River Wilderness is located in the
North Eastern corner of the
White Mountain National Forest, very close to the
Maine state line.
Designated by congress as a federal wilderness area in
2006, this is the newest wilderness area in the
WMNF.
Now you may think of anything outdoors as "wilderness", but
Federal Wilderness areas are designated areas of land that prohibit just about any form of man-made development. This would include motorized access, structures, facilities, and permanent shelters.
Trail maintenance is allowed, but only with hand tools.
Sounds like my kind of party for a couple days of backpacking and hiking!
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Trip Notes:
The main trail we were targeting for this trip was the
Black Angel Trail, although plans changed a little, but you'll see that in the video. According to our
Backpacker Magazine trip data, parking should have been available close to the Wild River Campground (44.305209, -71.065203), but the road was closed due to storm damage, so we had to park an additional 5 miles away.
We took the Wild River Trail to the intersection with the Black Angel Trail and headed up towards
Carter Dome at an elevation of 4,832 feet. An official 4000-footer, this would be our highest
point for the trip. It would also be the worst weather, with fog, wind, and rain to season things nicely. After descending Carter Dome, via the rainbow trail, we linked back with our previous friend, the Wild River Trail. Our target was the
Perkins Notch Shelter for a reprieve from the rain, but the lingering spirit of the Black Angel had a small surprise waiting for us.
None the less, this is where we would set up camp. Mileage for
Day One: 20 miles.
The next morning we broke camp and headed out again. After several miles we jettisoned the Wild River trail, which follows closely along the banks of the Wild River, in favor of the
Highwater Trail. This trail would follow the river, but from the ridge above. After descending into the
Moriah Gorge, we met up the Moriah Brook trail for spectacular river views and large sections of trail that had seemingly vanished.
Swallowed by mudslides into the river below. Luckily the navigation was fairly simple: follow the river! Lastly, we intersected with the Shellburne Trail for one one more waist deep river crossing. This would bring us back to the car just in time to begin our 9 hour trip back home.
Distance for Day Two: 16 miles, Trip
Total: 36
Miles
All in all, another great
New England backpacking trip!
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My Hiking
Gear List:
Kelty Salida 2
Tent (We're splitting this between us at a little over 2#'s each)
EMS Long Trail 70
Backpack
EMS "Stuffer" Jacket
EMS
Pack Cover
2 ReVive
Solar ReStore chargers for video camera, phone, etc
Osprey 2 liter Nalgene
Bladder for hydration
Sawyer Squeeze Water Filtration
System
1 Liter
Disposable Plastic Water
Bottle
Taurus 740
Slim Sub-Compact
Pistol (those flies can be vicious)
AMC New Hampshire White Mountains paper maps
Swiss Gear Trekking
Poles (
Cork Handle
Model)
Therm-A-Rest Z-Lite foam sleeping pad
Suisse Sport 30
Degree Mummy Bag (yes, this is a cheap $35 bag, but it does the job)
Nemo Fillo (inflatable pillow) **This thing costs more than my sleeping bag, but my wife got it for me, and it's awesome!
Sunscreen
Gloves
Brunton
Classic Compass
Beef Jerky,
Vacuum Sealed Tuna, pop-tarts, trail mix, snacks etc
'
Light My Fire'
Spork
Instant Coffee!
1 oz bottle of Ben's
Max 100 98%
DEET insect repellent
Sea To
Summit '
Insect Shield'
Mosquito Head Neat (
It's Black Fly
Season!)
EMS
Camp Cap (synthetic fast dry, & lightweight!)
EMS
Convertible Camp Pants /
Shorts
EMS '
Velocity' synthetic lightweight long sleeve shirt
Nike 'Pro
Combat' synthetic tee shirt
EMS synthetic socks
Garmont
Zenith Mid
GTX Hiking
Boots
4Sevens Preon 2
Flashlight
Princeton Tec Byte Headlamp
Leatherman Squirt Ultra-Light Multi-Tool
SOG Blink Spring Assisted
Knife
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Some of
Mike's Backpacking Gear:
Gregory Palisade 80 Backpack
DeLorme PN-60
Handheld GPS
Therm-a-Rest
Self Inflating
Sleeping Pad
Big Agnes Sleeping Bag
....and other gear choices similar to mine, but different brands etc.
All content, including music and sound effects, is original and created by myself. All music and sound effects are original works, created by myself, Sintax77, and are in no way owned or copyrighted by any third party.
- published: 07 Jul 2012
- views: 34301