A while back my talented weaver friend Jean told me about her adventurous daughter Anne and how she would love for me to meet her. Now that I’m working as a guide with Redline Guiding she came up with the idea of giving her a guided trip as a birthday gift. What an awesome mom!
I asked Anne what she wanted out of the trip and she mentioned that she had heard people talking about the challenging wilderness trails in the Whites. She wanted to explore those but didn’t feel confident enough to do so by herself. I immediately thought she would love the Dry River wilderness. I actually hadn’t hiked the trails in there yet when I came up with the idea so as soon as I could I planned a long day hike to explore the loop I wanted to hike with her. That day was challenging and wet with threatening thunder storms. How different this weekend was! Beautiful weather, a leisurely pace, and lots of laughter.
Day one started at the Dry river trailhead, we would follow the Dry river trail to Nauman tent site taking the Mt Clinton trail up. Along the way the trail was often obscured by fallen leaves and since there were no blazes to follow I would point out what to look for when you’re not sure where the trail goes. Various signs of human impact would give it away. Anne quickly learned what to look for, a great skill to have.
At nauman camp site we found a platform in the back to set up our tents. I figured we would get there with plenty of day light left so I finally mustered up the courage to bring my single wall non free standing tent which normally needs ten stakes for a taut set up. Anne’s tent had a few more tent poles but also needed to be staked out. The strong gusts gave us an extra challenge but we both eventually figured out how to set up our tents securely. Success!! I was quite surprised how useful those metal rings on the side of the platform turned out to be. After dinner we enjoyed some reading in our sleeping bags. Having hiked in shorts and t-shirts most of the day we were now wearing most of our layers. We sure were glad we brought our hats and gloves.
Day two had us pack up and stop by the Mizpah hut to scoop up some of the breakfast leftovers. Free pancakes? Well, if you insist…
We then proceeded to climb up to Mt Pierce. It was another beautiful day and the views were great. While I was trying to take a picture of my mascotte ‘Red’, Anne was striking an excellent ‘look at me on top of the mountain pose’ effectively upstaging Red. There were no hard feelings.
We continued on to Mt Eisenhower with the beautiful new cairn. We were now catching some of the predicted wind force and didn’t linger. On to Franklin and Monroe we went! Monroe was a fun extra for Anne since she’s working on summiting all of the NH48 4000 footers list and this one would be number 30 on her list. Congrats Anne!
At the Lakes of the Clouds hut we found a protected spot and enjoyed our lunch. I also did a brief map and compass overview. Topo lines, magnetic north, all that good stuff.
We then headed down back in to the Dry River wilderness. The trail got slightly more challenging with some rock scrambling and muddy sections and one or two confusing spots. Excellent training for Anne.
We both loved this quieter wilder area. Sometimes we’d walk in silence mesmerized by our surroundings. But there was also lots to talk about. Our conversation topics ranged from hiking the Appalachian trail to staying on trail to knowing when to turn around, to pee rags and whether to carry deodorant or not.
Since it had been so quiet on the trail we were surprised to see five men at the shelter where we planned to stay the night. Four were taking up all the floor space, the other had set up a tent. Luckily we found two spots for our tents and quickly settled in.
The next morning we headed out to complete the Dry River trail. We stopped to admire the Dry River falls and explored some spur trails that led to old shelter sites. We looked at our map and discussed the pros and cons of bushwhacking. From one site we could’ve done a short cut back to the trail but the steepness of the little ravine separating us combined with a number of blow downs made us decide that in this case following the spur trail back was the smarter way to go.
We had our lunch break next to the bridge, on the side of the river. Soaking up the sun, enjoying the scenery eating tasty snacks, what more could we wish for? We lingered but eventually had to move on making our way back to the car. I’d say we had a pretty good time. It was cool to introduce someone to new experiences. Anne had never backpacked more than one night out, crossed her widest river yet and had always planned her trips to not include high wind days. Teaching new skills and seeing someone gain confidence is great fun!
Arlette Laan Hiking Adventures and Sock Doll Creations 