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Day 10-11 The Finale
Intro and Day 1:
On Tuesday, June 20th, 2023, I set off into the woods with a goal- hike to, from, between, and within all 6 federally-designated “big W” Wilderness Areas of the White Mountain National Forest (WMNF). This idea had been percolating for several years, partly as a joke when I’d respond to Bob’s inquiry of “where should we go hiking this weekend?” by squiggling my finger back and forth and around in the map in very non-linear, non-logical way. I didn’t want to decide on 1 place to go I wanted to go to ALL OF IT.
It turns out you can also connect all 6 Wildernesses in a route that is somewhat logical and linear, and a 95 mile route was my end result. The White Mountain National Forest contains 148,000 acres of designated Wilderness, spread across 6 different distinct areas. Twenty years ago this summer, I went on my first Wilderness trip- a ten day Girl Scout canoe trip in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness- cementing that my life trajectory would include seeking out the wildest places and guiding others along the way.
The Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness covers over 1 million acres, making the White Mountain National Forest Wilderness Areas seem minute by comparison. Yet, on a night of solitude deep in the Pemigewasset Wilderness, I felt much further removed from other humans than on many a BWCA trip- it truly felt like it was just me, my pack and my stuffed raccoon out there. Perhaps this is because of how sound travels across lakes, or because every BWCA campsite (unlike most WMNF Wilderness campsites) has a fire grate and latrine and is marked on the map, or because the BWCA is one of the most visited Wilderness Areas.
What is a Wilderness Area anyway? The Wilderness Act of 1964 set aside federal land and defined it as
“A wilderness, in contrast with those areas where man and his own works dominate the landscape, is hereby recognized as an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain.”
https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/fseprd719753.pdf
At first glance, it may seem like the entire WMNF (or Superior National Forest) could meet that criteria, but the “Land of Many Uses” sign at its entrance is a reminder that National Forests were originally preserved, in part, for their timber value. Evidence of recent or current logging persists across the WMNF, and historic logging is evident in many of the Wilderness. My 11 day trek was planned as a tent-camping only endeavor, a plan that evolved as forecasts called for days on end of potentially dangerous thunderstorms. Ultimately, I tented for 7 nights (3 nights within designated Wilderness and 4 nights in between Wilderness areas). I also spent 2 nights at Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC) lodging within the WMNF (outside of designated WIlderness), and 1 night on a friend’s couch.
While I myself was just a visitor to the AMC’s Carter Notch Hut, the hut itself is permanent, and therefore the area, while still scenic and awesome, is not “untrammeled by man”. The same goes for the Ethan Pond and Sawyer Pond back country sites that I stayed at- places within the WMNF managed more for recreation than for ecological preservation.
The distinctions do get murky at times though. The BWCAW, for example has a notable no-sign policy, while trail junctions within the WMNF Wildernesses are marked with signs (though, in contrast to their non-wilderness counterparts the signs do not list miles). There are non-Wilderness areas of both forests that provide more solitude than the busiest Wilderness sections.
Regardless, I had my eye on setting foot in each of these 6 areas in 1 continuous route, after all, the whole is greater than the sum of it’s parts. The route I took was continuous, even if my presence on it wasn’t- I popped off route twice by car to get out of the rain, picking up where I’d left off on my return.
Day 1- Mt. Passaconaway, Sandwich Range Wildnerness, and Camp Rich- 6.3 Miles
My friend (and driver) Emily and I left from the Ferncroft parking lot in Wonalancet around 10:30am. My pack weighed 45 pounds when I put it on that morning and certainly slowed my pace, yet felt reasonably comfortable. It was drizzling rain so we abandoned our initial plan of bagging Mt. Whiteface via the Blueberry Ledges trail due to possible tricky footing when wet. Instead, we took Dicey’s Mill up Mt. Passaconaway. Despite being a grey Tuesday, there were four other people on the summit when we arrived. I set up camp at Camp Rich- a large campsite with a latrine, fire circle, and many options (all to myself) for tent pads. With the rain, water was plentiful and the spring was delicious and cold. My hike ended around 2:30, so I took a nice afternoon nap while Emily hiked down and headed back to Vermont. It was tempting to run over and bag Mt. Whiteface that afternoon, but I knew I should save my energy for the longer upcoming days.
Read on for more:
Day 2-3
Day 4-6
Day 7-9
(Day 10-11 coming soon!)
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