~*~ Adventure Camp 2005 – White Mountain Traverse ~*~

White Mountains, New Hampshire

Dates: July 17 – July 22

Hikers: Kim, Sean and 9 teenagers from the VT/NH area

Mileage: 45

Elevation Gain/Loss:

Adventure Camp 2005! Sean, myself and 9 teenagers from 14-16 braving the White Mountains.

We spent the week backpacking, staying at the AMC shelters along the route. It was great since we only had to carry lunch ~ breakfast and dinner were provided and cooked by the "Shelter Croos". We began at Crawford Notch Depot (Highland Center) at the Shapleigh Bunk and went to Zealand Falls Hut, Galehead Hut and finally Greenleaf. The Croo's were great!

Though we started off the week as a whole group, Sean was having a lot of knee trouble and there were several campers who were a bit slower. We changed slightly so that I took the stronger hikers so we could bag more peaks and cover more miles (Team Tinkerbell!). It was good that I've been hiking all spring and summer because the White Mountains can be brutal. "Team Tinkerbell" covered about 40-45 miles total while the other group did about 30'ish.

The sharp ascents, descents and ROCKS (PA has competition) made for some interesting days, fun scrambles and tired kids! My group ended up hiking Jackson, Pierce, Zealand, Guyot, West Bond, Tom, Avalon, Field, Garfield (where I said hello to Uncle John for a friend), Lafayette, Lincoln and Little Haystack. I think I'm forgetting a couple of them.

Each kid earned a trail name throughout the first couple of days. I was proud to hike with Decaf, Santa, Dolly Llama, Tink, Gunns, Sloth, Spongebob, Baggins and Bookwheat. Though the trail was pretty rugged at times, they never once complained. Okay...maybe once.

Nights in the shelters were amusing and fun. The highlight was the Greenleaf Croo members that left around 8:30pm on our last night to raid Galehead Hut (a tradition). They returned at 7:15am the following day, after 16 miles round trip, carrying road signs, stuffed sheep, large bones and wooden signs. Watching the road sign descending off Lafayette was hysterical. I was up for sunrise every day but one...and even ended up assisting with the 6:30am wake up call on Friday at Greenleaf. (They made me sing) Anyone that knows me, knows that is just plain wrong. Nobody wants to wake up to the sound of ME singing anything!

It was a great week with great hiking! The White Mountains are beautiful, the Pemi Wilderness is inviting and amazing. I'm looking forward to being there again next summer on my thru-hike.

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