A guest contacted us from New Jersey/New York City area. She was familiar with the White Mountain National Forest having once lived in North Conway. In fact she named off a number of awesome random hikes from her past including Avalon, the Moats, Nancy Pond Trail to Norcross Pond, Kearsarge North, the Presidentials, Baldfaces, and others. Since that time, the interest in such things still strong, curiosity about bushcraft and backpacking has surfaced and our guest felt a good way to jump start the learn was to go on an educational backpack. Coordinating with Redline Guide Debra McCown, it was decided a Zealand Notch Traverse would be a way to ease into this and provide one heck of a good time. Here’s is Debra’s own summary of the trip followed by a few photos.
[…] The first day began with a careful assessment of gear. As a detail-oriented person, our guest wanted to make sure everything was just right. This process eliminated some extra pack weight by removing several unnecessary items, but she also had some extras that she felt would add to her comfort, help her enjoy hobbies during the trip, and reduce her fear of being cold. Enthusiastic, she’d done a lot of research to put together a pack with everything she needed. She did, however, bring a heavier-than-standard version of some gear items, which she’d bought in an effort to save money over lighter alternatives.
She set out up Kedron Flume Trail with a full backpack, which she found challenging. The trail was steeper and more scrambly than she expected, but she made it to the top! The steep trail, however, made for a tiring day for our guest, who hadn’t done much hiking in recent years. So, while the original plan was to camp at Shoal Pond, she decided that the closer Ethan Pond was her preference. While the trade-off of this decision was a location where campfires are not allowed, there was a payoff in the form of stunning sunset views over the pond.
At the tent site, she got an introduction to setting up camp and having separate cooking, food storage, and sleeping areas. She learned about leave-no-trace toileting in the woods, though Ethan Pond, as a developed tent site, has a pit toilet, so it wasn’t necessary to use those skills just yet.
She began Day 2 with renewed enthusiasm, on a good night’s sleep and the sun shining, and with her guide helping out by carrying her heavier gear. With the uphill part of the route behind her, she began to really enjoy the trip! She said this flatter, gentler trail through a ‘fairy forest’ area reminded her of all the things she enjoyed hiking in years past.
While she hiked, pointing out birds and asking questions about plants and moose poop, she also began talking about the many things she’d learned from her experience so far, like the fact that it can be tough to engage in other hobbies like bird-watching when you’ve got ground to cover and that carrying a lighter pack with less gear really makes a difference! As we went down the trail, she named several items that she would remove from her kit in the event that she does backpacking again in the future — and items that would need to be lighter in order to get her total pack weight down to a comfortable 16 pounds.
But the biggest turning point in her day came when a series of seemingly disruptive events occurred all at once. She felt an urgent need to use the bathroom on a narrow, rocky section of trail at the same time that a thunderstorm arrived with thunder and pouring rain. After scrambling over some rocks, she dropped her pack, quickly found her toilet kit, and scurried up a steep slope into the woods to find an appropriate toileting spot.
She later reported that her first-ever poop in the woods did not go as well as planned, but she figured it out. She described the moment of doing this in a thunderstorm, on the side of a mountain, almost like a spiritual experience. For her, it resolved a bunch of fears and doubts: She could climb a hill, she could backpack in the rain, and she could poop in the woods! She felt empowered.
Immediately after this, she asked to hike ahead and lead the way. In the last few miles to the parking lot, she eagerly led the way down the trail — including a significant water crossing — with a new sense of confidence! While physical exhaustion the night before had her expressing doubts about going on adventures like this at her age, the skills and confidence she gained during the trip had her talking about the possibility of going camping or backpacking with her daughter in the future.
At the end of the trip, she wasn’t sure yet if backpacking was something she’d try again — but she was so glad that she’d done it! And she plans on trying out more new experiences, like bushcraft and wilderness survival, in the future. —Debra
