A Bad Walk Improved: the difficulties of White Mountain Trails

“I took a walk in the woods and came out taller than trees.” – Henry David Thoreau

Mark Twain supposedly quipped "Golf is a good walk spoiled". Apparently it was a common sentiment in his day. It is also one with which I entirely agree. While I have many family members who enjoy their time on the links, it is not my game. I can think of dozens of activities I'd rather devote myself to than slashing at a little white ball with a very expensive stick. No matter how serene the setting I realize that the frustration of playing golf ultimately could ruin an otherwise pleasant day.

Straight up the fall line with my 2 mountain goats

No my preferred outdoor activity is scaling mountain peaks. In most ways hiking is the polar opposite of golf. Instead of expensive clubs a hiker can be content with almost any found stick. Rather than complicated rules, the climber simply seeks to reach a peak safely. While golfers enjoy riding in a cart between shots, a hikers one requirement is that they walk every mile. While golf courses are carefully designed & landscaped, the mountains are as we find them.

Perhaps that is the one aspect of golf that stirs a small amount of envy, grounds keepers. While courses themselves do not impress me, the grounds keeping crews do. Golfers enjoy the constant work of grounds keepers trimming and maintaining their outdoor playgrounds. Hikers on the other hand often do much of this work themselves. Even where professional trail crews maintain certain paths, their work is seasonal and devoted only to the most needy areas. Would that we had full time grounds keepers on the hundreds of miles of White Mountain trails.

a river runs down the trail

But we do not. In fact compared to other regions, White Mountain hiking trails are terrible. They are terrible because the frequent violent winds drop trees across our paths. The trails are horrible because many of them were cut a century ago when the idea of getting to the top meant going straight up the fall line. Trails in the White Mountains are rough because their geography puts thick snarls of tree roots at the bottom, countless water crossings in the middle, and chunky granite scree fields at the top. Much as I love these hills the trails through them are often terrible footing; a knee crushing, hard scrabble, heart pounding, ankle twisting bad walk.

But that is also the challenge of reaching all the White Mountain peaks, it is overcoming those high natural barriers. To climb any New Hampshire 4000 foot peak is no casual walk in the park. Like many experienced White Mountain hikers I am confounded by folks who come to the trails dressed for a mild stroll. These mountains mean business when one gets up close to them. The trail obstacles often makes getting up and down a test of fortitude. AT thru-hikers will half their daily mileage in the Whites due to the severity of the terrain. Whether you are undone by the distance, scared of slippery water crossings, gripped by exposed rock scrambles, or caught off guard by high winds & snow up high, these mountains have something to put the fear into you. By overcoming all these challenges one gains a true sense of accomplishment.

still snow between the peaks

Because of the rigors on these trails, I must devote my full concentration to hike them. My attention is required from the moment I begin to prepare at home to the minute I am back at the car. I find a sort of zen in walking these trails. I can not think too much about anything off the trail while hiking. But my focus on the mountain has a different quality than attention to work. Instead of being wearied by this concentration I am invigorated. I feel my mood and mind improved after devoting myself to the trail for a day.

do not trip in the root traps

Last Sunday I hiked the Hancock's with my two regular companions, a.k.a. my little mountain goats. The Hancock's have a little bit of most things that the White Mountains offer. The beginning is pleasant, then the water crossings and mud are a little tricky, then the tangles of tree roots cross the trail, then it starts getting steep, then rocky, then extremely steep, and across the top it can be windy and/or snow covered. On a clear day the view of the Osceola's from North Hancock is spectacular. On Sunday we had all those things except the view which was obscured by fog. But we did find a spruce grouse on North Hancock who squawked and strutted around us for 10 minutes while we ate lunch.

The mud and slick rocks and steep slides and crumbling snow on the ridge made for one bad walk. Yet because we were out in the woods, met some other happy hikers, indeed just for the 9 mile effort, I came away improved. I expect I will find all that again on my next "bad walk" in the White Mountains. Lucky me.

and yet no place makes me feel this content