Day 5: (November 9th) 19.4mi/31.2km Ahipara to Takahue Saddle Rd

We pack up wet, dew covered tents, and after a delicious breakfast of leftover fish and chips, start the long road walk to town (Kaitaia).

SH1 is a busy paved road, but there is good scenery

In town, I stop by the Post office and mail my extra shoes ahead to Hamilton, using a service they have called “Post Restante”. The resupply at the grocery is always entertaining, food is so different here:

The rest of the day drags on, along another roadwalk along paved and then gravel roads.

There are hundreds of cows to keep us entertained along to way! Moo.

We saw several mailboxes that were old microwaves…very strange. Later, we asked some locals and they explained that some people were trying to save money, clever!

As we are approaching the end of the roadwalk, a man walks up to us from his front yard, and offers the 3 of us a place to stay tonight! Rain is in the forecast, and he is very kind in offering, and we decide to stay. Amazing luck!

Day 6: (November 10th) 13.6mi/21.8km Takahue Saddle Rd to camp near Mangamuka

We sleep in till 8am, and lounge around having a late breakfast, hitting the trail at 10 am. We say goodbye to Joe and Koryna, the very generous and hospitable local couple who we stayed with last night.

The roadwalk starts off easy enough, and has no traffic. It climbs up and up to the start of the Raetea forest.

The forest itself is a huge muddy mess, and I spend so much time avoiding the deepest parts, that I completely forget to take any photos. Here is one from our break spot

After our break, the 3 of us started moving faster, realizing that there were only 4 hours of daylight left, but 10 more kilometers, and our average pace in the shin-deep mud was only 1.5 km/hour. We left the forest at 9pm, 30 minutes after sunset, and got to camp soon thereafter. It took so long to wash all the mud off in the creek, I didn’t get to bed until 10pm. Long day!

Day 7: (November 11th) 11.3mi/18.3km Mangamuka camp to Apple Dam camp

I was actually looking forward to the roadwalk today, because it’s not a muddy forest. After an hour or so of walking, the route goes by a dairy. We were talking about milkshakes and ice cream all morning, but unfortunately it was closed! D’oh!

It was an easy rest of the day, on some dirt farm roads. I made some phone calls to family back home; it’s rare that I have service when it’s also a reasonable hour back in the US.

Just before camp, there was a cool huge old stump, of a Kauri tree (NZ’s version of a sequoia, I think?)

This section has limited camps, so this camp was quite crowded, with 15 people. I met some new faces, including a group of French hikers, and another group of German hikers. Cool!

We got into camp quite early, so we played cards, socialized, and went to bed early (8pm) for the long day tomorrow!

Day 8: (November 12th) 20.3mi/32.7km Apple Dam camp to Puketi camp

I started out in the dark, since I knew it would be a long day.

After awhile, the dirt road degraded to a nice trail.

This section was the most fun I’ve had in trail so far, walking in the Mangapukahukahu creek!

After the creek, there is an hour of following a different river on a trail that runs alongside it. It was in the process of being improved, with nice boardwalks to avoid the sidehill sections.

Then, the trail climbs the Puketi ridge, and becomes a very nice trail, the nicest I’ve seen so far here.

Giant Kauri tree.

The final few hours were on an old 4wd road, with no cars, no people, and plenty of views!

Again, camp was busy this night, as it is the only legal camping in the Puketi forest area. The restrictions are to prevent Kauri dieback disease, a fungus which gets into the tree roots and kills the (already endangered) trees.

My favorite day so far!

Day 9: (November 13th) 13.9mi/22.2km Puketi camp to Kerikeri

The walk started at the usual time, just after 7am, and we all were excited to get to town today in Kerikeri. Hot food!

The morning was some fun walking thru sheep and cow fields.

Along the way, a very curious herd of cows was a good diversion. Moo!

Eventually, we entered a short forest, and then joined a path along the Kerikeri river. We had to wash our feet here (this seems common) to prevent the spread of Kauri dieback disease.

Just before getting to town, we passed by 25m high Rainbow falls.

I thought about swimming, but the water was so cold! And I was hungry. So, onward!

The 4 of us got to town at 2pm, it feels great to have the whole afternoon to relax! I grabbed a nice chicken sandwich and chips, and then checked in to the backpacker’s camp down by the river.

We’ve now crossed almost all the way from the west coast to thr east coast…what a week!

-R

The last 36 hours have been a whirlwind of activity here in NZ. I landed Saturday afternoon (never saw Friday!), and had the experience of going thru NZ biosecurity. They ask all sorts of questions about plants, seeds, & food, and even check your hiking shoes and tent! I picked up a couple of 60-day Sim cards for my phone, I went with Vodaphone since I’m told that company will work better in the rural northlands. It’s an easy bus ride to downtown Auckland (public transit is great here), and I finished my errands, checked-in to my hostel, and promptly passed out.

Sunday was mostly a transit day, I rode a bus from Auckland to Kaitaia.

As the driver was loading the luggage on the bus, I saw some hiker packs (gossamer gear, osprey, ULA), so I kept my eye out for other hikers. Partway through the journey, we switched to a smaller bus, and I was seated next to a couple hikers! They were friendly women, doing their first long hike, traveling from the US also.

Once in Kaitaia, I did my food shopping and started hitching to Cape Reinga. The first two rides only took me 10km each, and the third offered to bring me to “Utea”, a camp for TA hikers. It was almost 5pm, so I accepted, and camped at a nice facility with showers, smoothies, and a full kitchen!

Day 1: (November 5th) 7.6mi/12.2km Cape Reinga to Twilight Camp

I woke up late, since I knew the ride to the Cape wasn’t leaving until 0930. Tania was a fun driver, pointing out local landmarks on the way. Then, almost at the end, we got stuck behind a herd of sheep on the road!

We arrived at Cape Reinga just before 11am, took our photos, and started walking south at 11am.

We passed many tourists the first 2-3km, then…no one. The trail drops down 50m to sea level, then re-climbs a bit to a sea bluff. Great weather and amazing scenery!

Paul & Amanda (USA) heading down the trail.

We stopped at Twilight camp at 2pm, so it was a very short day. But the next camp isn’t for another 28km, and it’s the first day, so it makes sense to stop. And it’s always fun to have a nice nap 🙂

I stayed awake until 8pm to watch the sunset over the Tasman Sea.

Day 2: (November 6th) 17.3mi/27.9km Twilight Camp to Bluff Camp

This was a fun day! An early start meant we could roll into the next camp in early afternoon. I love morning miles, they go by so much quicker than afternoon miles!

After an hour, the trail has many staircases, and it drops down to 90mile beach.

Amanda, Alon (Israel) and I stop for lunch on the beach. It’s not hot, but the sun is very intense.

Later that afternoon (“arvo” in kiwi), we walked by a dead….animal? Not sure what this was.

We get to camp early again at 3pm. The beach miles are very hard on the feet, and we are glad to be done. It’s like walking on concrete.

Day 3: (November 7th) 18.2mi/29.3km Bluff Camp to Utea

I had camped in a nice grove of pine trees, and woke up with a dry tent and feeling refreshed. I started out hiking alone, and covered 9k in the first two hours, before stopping for a break.

My usual dress in this sunny climate…

Hiking the beach is generally boring, but high tide makes it much more exciting… sometimes you get pinched between an incoming wave and the dunes!

We arrive to Utea (Maori for “journey to heaven”?), where I had camped 3 nights prior, just before I started the hike. It was another long day of hiking on a flat beach, and all our feet are unhappy.

I feel bad for some of the other hikers, this is their first long hike, and they are carrying way too much weight. Plus, the trail starts off in a brutal way, forcing people to walk on injurious terrain with widely-spaced camp spots. There are 15 TA walkers staying here tonight, I hope they are all able to continue!

Day 4: (November 8th) 18.2mi/29.3km Utea to Ahipara

The last day on 90mile beach! It’s a long day, and our feet all hurt, but it’s motivating to be done!

Paul & I wait for Amanda (Panda), and we are all done with 90 mile beach!!

Then we headed to the YHA hostel to camp, shower, and get off our feet. A quick dose of vitamin I, and we are able to walk to the fish&chips stand. I order wayy too much food, but it will be just as good for breakfast!

I’m writing this in the hostel/campground lounge, which has free WiFi. (Note: most WiFi in NZ isn’t free, and this place limits you to 500MB).

Tomorrow, we walk to Kaitaia & into the Raetea forest!

//Recon

Well, it’s been a hectic few weeks, but I managed to get everything done in preparation for this hike. The gear is mostly the same (added an umbrella and better rainshell — see gear list page), but it was mostly all the small tasks associated with international travel that added a lot of work. Oh well, it’s all done now, and I’m relaxing in the airport!

Here I am, all packed, along with a *few* extra pairs of shoes & insoles, which will be used for other hikes in 2019 – more details later! 🙂

After 22 hours of flying and 2 stops, I’ll arrive in Auckland on Saturday afternoon, which should give plenty of time to do shopping errands (food, fuel, Sim card, hut pass, etc). Then it’s a 6 hour bus ride on Sunday morning to Kaitaia, and a hitch to Cape Reinga, which is the northernmost point of NZ, and the start of the TA. If all goes well, I’ll be on the trail Sunday night, hiking south!

Wheeeeee!

//Recon

Day 11: (Saturday November 11th) 17.5mi/28.2km

NH Border (208.0) to Richardson-Zlogar Cabin (190.5)

I was feeling good about today – it was sunny weather, this was my last section, and I was hiking with my friend Michele! We got started early, staging each of our cars at a terminus trailhead, and then heading into the woods at 7:30am. We hiked the 3/4 mile trail to the NH border, tagged the sign marking the northern terminus, and then retraced our steps back to the car.

It was a cold morning, but very sunny!

The temperature was near freezing when we started.

We picked up some more snacks from the car, and continued past the parking lot headed South.

Since it was now mid-November, the foliage is almost gone, and the scenery was opening up again!

This section traversed some marshy lowlands, which had nice long views across the small valleys.

We stopped for a late lunch at the Mt. Grace fire tower. Mt. Grace is the highest point on the entire NET, at 1617ft/493m. I walked up and down the stairs a couple of times during lunch to stay warm.

Michele demonstrating how cold it was, and it’s 1pm!

The rest of the afternoon we hiked in a Westerly direction, into the setting sun.

The evergreen trees were nice for blocking the wind, but it was nice to have an opening once in awhile. We could see so far on this cold, clear day!

The sign at this road crossing was a gentle reminder that we still had about 5 miles to go before dark, and it was 2pm. I wish New England would adopt the proper time zone, so the sun didn’t set at 4:15pm in winter.

The marshes were eerily quiet, and a thin skin of ice had formed around the edges. Winter is coming!

There were shenanigans on this bridge, beer was involved, and a fuzzy photo resulted, ha!

We arrived to the Richardson-Zlogar (RZ) Cabin at 4:30pm and began setting up our tents on the provided tent platforms. The group of guys who had reserved the cabin were very nice, and invited us to stay in the warm cabin. Yay! We had dinner and a campfire with them.

Eventually we all migrated indoors, and drifted to sleep from the tiredness of a long hike in cold weather, campfires, and warm drinks.

 

Day 12: (Sunday November 12th) 18.4mi/29.6km

Richardson-Zlogar Cabin (190.5) to Lake Wyola (172.1)

We packed up inside the nice warm-ish cabin, and made out way outside into the cold. My zipper thermometer said 25F/-4C, so we started walking right away.

We had arrived to the cabin in the dark yesterday, so I was surprised to see this amazing view right outside the front door!

It was much cloudier today, and more wind too. Brrr.

We hiked for 15 minutes, and then found ourselves right back at the cabin and the firepit. Oops. The web of social trails on this mountain was very confusing. Finally, we found the correct path and resumed hiking south on the NET.

After a couple miles, there was a short roadwalk. Of course, hikers can’t simply walk by a “free stuff” shed, so we had to investigate. The bricks were tempting, haha!

We strolled along for 30 minutes of paved roadwalking, enjoying the farm fields and open space, while the sun warmed my cold hands and feet.

To the left, to the left…

After another short 10 minute of roadwalk, we entered the Erving State Forest.

The trail skirted a cliff system for awhile, and we had amazing views down to the Miller River, far below.

The Miller river flows west into the Connecticut River, and we would soon have to descend all the way down there to cross it.

After a 600ft descent, we crossed the Miller River on a tiny one-lane wooden bridge. It was a very remote area, so there were few options for crossing the river.

We stopped for a late lunch in the warmest spot I could think of, in a sunny area near train tracks. Much to our surprise, it was an active rail line.

We had a nice lunch, talking about all our different hikes, and plans for other adventures. Soon after we started hiking again, I was warmed up from the re-climb of the 600ft out of the valley. I was surprised to see so much ice on the trail, and I almost slipped on a flat trail.

For the rest of the afternoon we traveled along a low ridge in the trees. There were many side trails in the Wendell State Forest, but none sounded as delicious as the Moose Trax trail. Mmm….ice cream.

We took another break at Ruggles Pond, it was a neat area formed by a low dam that the trail passed over.

On the outlet side of the dam, these huge “frost feathers” had formed, they were quite impressive to look at.

The final hour of the day was in a forest on private land. It was nice, but the signs were weird. “Respectful visits welcome” and “Managing forests since 1741” were posted frequently. I’m pretty sure forests know how to manage themselves…

We arrived to our finishing trailhead at Lake Wyola at 4:15pm, just a few minutes before sunset. This was the same spot I had finished my previous section, which means I had completed the NET! We celebrated with snacks and drinks at the car, and then drove the 45 minutes north to retrieve the other car. It was great to have a hiking partner, especially for the final section of an otherwise solitary trail. I’ll see Michele again in January, where we both teach cold-weather hiking and camping skills at Winter Mountaineering School.

I’ll have a short summary of this trail posted in the future, for anyone following along who might want to plan their own hike.

-Recon

Day 9: (Saturday October 14th) 17.3mi/27.8km

McLean Reservoir / US202 (126.2) to Mt Norwottock summit (143.5)

I had devised an elaborate plan to make the logistics for this section work out. There were two issues to contend with – the Connecticut River, which requires a driving detour; and the long distance between trailheads. I parked my car on the West side of the river, so I could drive the 10 road-miles to the East side trailhead. To get to my starting point today, I biked the 11 miles from my car to the trailhead, and then hid the bike in the woods.  It was a nice hourlong ride along an old rail-trail.

I arrived to my starting trailhead pretty quickly, and stashed the bike in the woods, to be retrieved Sunday night. This pond was a memorable landmark, and I also marked it on GPS.

There was lots of nice ridgewalking today, and the temperatures were perfect.

I’m not sure what the smokestacks in the distance are, and I was surprised how green the foliage was.

After two miles, I came upon a tower which was easily climbed. It wasn’t signed, and it doesn’t seem to show up on any maps, so I don’t know its name.

The trail was very exposed in this section, usually skirting the western edge of the ridge. I captured a short video for the full experience too.

As I approched the more popular tourist area, I saw some grafitti on the rocks. Stupid egotistical people.

Yes, this part of the trail was just as exposed as it looks. I wouldn’t want to hike this part in the dark!

I think this was communications or weather equipment, it looked bizarre!

After a brief descent to cross a road, the trail re-climbed so steeply up into the Mt. Tom State Reservation. I was only hiking at 1mph, but making good vertical progress.

These information kiosks were scattered throughout the Reservation (park).

You can tell the local trails were named by college kids, ha!

A rare eastern view, looking over the Connecticut River valley, and a huge bend in the river.

It was a hot, sweaty climb up to Mt. Tom!

A little sssnake! They were getting harder to see with more autumn leaves on the ground.

The last mile to the trailhead was on a beautiful smooth trail, and the crunchy leaves made it a perfect fall day hike.

The trail just ends at the Connecticut River, under a set of high-voltage power lines. I’m guessing there aren’t any plans to build a footbridge over such a large river.

The official route of the NET has a half-mile gap, with the trail picking up again on the opposite bank of the river. But, to get across the river, I drove 5 miles up the west side, crossed a bridge, and then drove 5 mile back down the east side. I was driving thru either Holyoke, and I noticed the car in front of me was a triple-crown hiker (AT, PCT, CDT). That’s a pretty rare person, and quite a coincidence!

I parked my car at the trailhead right next to this sign, and then started hiking. I had 7 more miles to go today.

It was a tough, steep climb up to Mt Holyoke, and I wasn’t making the progress I had hoped. But the setting sun was amazing from up there!

There was a huge white building on top of the summit, appropriately named Summit House, where tourists can drive up and visit in the summer. It looked like it was closed up for the winter, though.

With three miles to go, darkness forced me to get out my headlamp. This sign wasn’t exactly encouraging, either. Darkness, AND “confusing unmarked trails”…how can I lose?!

I passed this sign near Devils Garden trailhead, which meant I only had a half-mile to get to my campsite.

Finally at 9pm, I stopped walking and setup my tent on the summit of Mt. Norwottock. Since I had made dinner an hour earlier at a picnic table, I simply crawled into my tent and fell asleep.

 

Day 10: (Sunday October 15th) 28.6mi/46.0km

Mt Norwottock summit (143.5) to Lake Wyola (172.1)

I woke up at 6:30am to a dense fog on the summit, and it felt colder than yesterday.

I had planned to cover about 28 miles today, so I packed up quickly and departed the summit by 7am. Plus, the sooner I descended into the proection of the trees, the warmer it would be!

The first two miles were quite slow going and technical, with lots of rocks to squeeze though, around, and over. This specific spot was named Horse Caves.

At a trail junction near Long Mountain, I found a trail register! These are so rare on this trail compared to other long-distance trails.

For most of this section, the NET and the Robert Frost Trail share the same path.

In order to get down to a road crossing, there was rope to use as a handrail. It was the steepest grade that I’ve ever seen on an established trail, good thing it was only 30ft long. It should have steps or a switchback, but I think the private property owner prevented that improvement.

Most of the rest of the day was in dense hardwood forests, with the occasional roadwalk. The miles went by quickly and easily, which was good because I had a long way to go!

That log didn’t stand a chance.

There were many nice and overbuilt bridges in this section, usually donated by local hiking clubs or boy scout troops.

I have no idea why there was a chair here, at least 3 miles from the nearest road, but I took it as a sign to sit down and eat. Nutella always tastes better in a proper chair!

The Quabbin Reservior is the public drinking supply for Boston and suburbs, almost 70 miles to the east. Four towns were evacuated and flooded in the 1940s to make the reservoir.

Just a nice autumn day, perfect for hiking.

At 5pm, I realized that I still had four miles to go, so I picked up the pace. Sunset was just after 6pm for this time of year. The dense forest was already starting to darken in the low angle of the sun.

Just before sunset, I hiked by an unnamed pond, and then emerged from the woods onto a small country road. I only had a mile to go, and it was on an easy to follow road.

I arrived to my finishing trailhead at Lake Wyola at 6:15pm, perfect timing! But, I had no phone service to call a taxi. So, I spent an hour exploring the town’s local highpoints in hopes of gaining a usable signal. That didn’t work, and it was getting cold. So, I started walking south on the main road, knowing that eventually I would get a signal. After 20 minutes of walking uphill, it worked! The driver was a little wary about picking up a passenger in the middle of nowhere in the dark, but after some explanation it was fine. She dropped me back at my car 30 minutes later, and then I drove back across the river to retrieve my bike. I returned home quite late, but it was worth it!

Day 7: (Saturday September 30th) 17.4mi/28.0km

Hartford Reservoir / US44 (90.2) to Windsor Locks Tentsite (107.6)

It rained in the morning, so I opted to start hiking right after lunch. The vegetation was still wet, but it was a well-marked and wide trail, so I had no problem staying dry.

It was like a wilderness highway!

After a couple miles of easy, flat hiking, the trail climbed back up to another ridge. I’m always amazed at how the rock here forms in such orthagonal shapes. In this section, it made a vertical cliff to the west!

After an captivating mile of ridge-walking, I came upon a tiny pavililion next to the trail, which contained quite a surprise…a Snapple machine! Wtf??

Of course, I put in $1 to have a nice cold drink (it was a warm 70F/21C). After I had hiked another minute, I came around a corner to find a giant tower. Well, that explains why there was a snapple machine way up here!

It was called Heublein Tower, and it stands 165ft/50m tall. It was built by a wealthy industrialist in 1914, who the owner of A1 steak sauce, and Smirnoff vodka. Fascinating.

I took a nice long break at the tower, and then hiked back into the woods. The trail kept undulating up and down the rock formations, and they were so geometrically fascinating. It kinda reminded me of Devil’s Postpile NM in California.

A mile later, I came upon a trail junction, which was probably the most well-marked spot on this entire trail. I counted at least 70 cairns!

Cairns had even sprouted in the surrounding trees, so strange.

I will admit, some of them were very creative.

This ridge was full of historic artifacts! This was the remains of Mr. Veeder’s family cabin, another wealthy industrialist from the early 1900’s.

I stopped for a break on a nice open rocky spot, and I could still see the Heublein tower, about 5 miles to the south.

This was another historic structure, but it didn’t have any information or plaques to describe it.

I was aiming for an established campsite tonight, which the map described as having tent platforms, picnic tables, and even a privy.  Even though the sun set at 6:30pm, I kept hiking for another hour, and I ended up hiking the last 20 minutes by headlamp.

Finally, home for the night! It was almost 8pm by the time I arrived at the Windsor Locks tentsite, and I almost missed this sign in the dark.

I setup away from the main area, as I could see a couple other tents here. After a well-earned dinner of spicy ramen with chicken, I decided to catch up some old favorites…

My tent ceiling has a mesh pocket, which perfectly fits my phone, and I laid in my sleeping bag and watched shows on Hulu! After a couple episodes, I checked the weather, tomorrow looks warm and sunny!

 

Day 8: (Sunday October 1st) 18.6mi/29.9km

Windsor Locks Tentsite (107.6) to McLean Reservoir / US202 (126.2)

Today was the first day of October, and the sunrise isn’t occuring until almost 7am. I was in no hurry to get moving, since it was also pretty cold (below 50F/10C). I was finally making northward progress by 8am, and it was a beautiful sunny morning!

The ridgeline had faded away, and for most of the morning, the trail traversed a warm, green valley. It must’ve been migration season, there were butterflies everywhere too!

A random trail marker in a sea of ferns.

Around 11:30am, I had officially crossed into Massachusetts! 115 miles down, 90 to go. From here, the blazes suddenly changed from blue to white.

About a mile later, I crossed a road, and came to a beautiful new trail bridge, along with a dedication stone.

It was close enough to lunchtime, and the rock provided a flat spot to sit, so I stopped and enjoyed my leftover thai-chicken pizza. Yum.

After a nice long break, I continued across the bridge. The marsh was enjoyable to look at from the dry safety of the bridge. I was glad I didn’t hike this part in the spring, I imagine the bugs would be terrible.

I hiked along a ridge for an hour, and it was perfect weather. As the trail neared the next road crossing, it took some confusing turns through private property, which also happened to be the Agawam archery club. So, it was probably not the best place to be wandering through the woods! After I crossed the road, I hiked through an old abandoned quarry, and then steeply up to Provin Mountain. It had a firetower! I was able to walk up the stairs, but the hatch to the top was locked.

I hiked along for a couple of miles on the ridge, then dropped steeply down to the Westfield River. Much to my surprise, it was a large river, and it was unbridged. I investigated the layout for a couple minutes, determined it was only knee-deep, and then easily crossed. I wouldn’t want to have to do this crossing in springtime, or in cold weather!

After crossing the river, the trail climbed the opposite embankment, and I was instantly in a large parking lot. I managed to figure out where the trail went, and I sloshed across the parking lot and road with heavy shoes. After an hour, my shoes had mostly dried, and I took a break at a tunnel under the I-90 (masspike). Immediately after the tunnel was a super steep climb, up and up, until finally I was on this beautiful ridge.

I’ve noticed that the rock formations here always drop off steeply to the west, never to the east. So again, here is a nice view of the valley to the west, and I think the Barnes airstrip.

About a mile before my finish spot, I came to this mysterious junction. I was ahead of schedule, and tempted to investigate, but….the name wasn’t selling it. Moving on…

I arrived at the US202 highway trailhead, and I decided to end here for this segment. It was another 4.7miles/7.5km to the next road crossing, and it was already 5:30pm.

I summoned another Uber, and was dropped back at my car 30 minutes later. I’m planning to come back to the trail in two weeks for the next section, and then hike the final section in late October before it gets too cold!

Day 5: (Saturday August 5th) 4.8mi/7.7km

Hallmere Reservoir/Edgewood Rd (63.4) to Ragged Mountain (68.2)

I parked at the trailhead where I left off in June, and packed up as I ate the last of my leftover dinner burrito. The first 30 minutes were an uninspiring walk along a country road, but at least the weather was nice.

The trail left the road at a rather obscure point, and after 10 minutes of poking around the road shoulder, I found the overgrown trail junction. The next mile appeared to be seldom used, and rather narrow.

Then, the trail got really interesting. It appeared to aim straight for a cliff, as if to climb directly up it. Well, hmm.

After another 5 minutes of poking around the cliff base, I found the blue-blazed route, leading up through a steep gully in the cliff. Interesting.

This sign at the top of the gully was reassurance that yes, I was indeed on the NET. I’m sure the cliff section causes most hikers to have their doubts!

The next half-mile was a beautiful walk along the top of a completely exposed west-facing escarpment. The sunset was pretty awesome!

As soon as I re-entered the forest, the tree canopy blocked out most of the dwindling daylight. I was able to avoid headlamp hiking, since I only had to hike another half mile to get to a camping spot.

 

Day 6: (Sunday August 6th) 22.0mi/35.4km

Ragged Mountain (68.2) to Hartford Reservoir / US44 (90.2)

The early daylight meant that I was awake at 6:00am again, and hiking on the trail by 6:30am.  The trail stayed high on a ridge for an hour, and I had good views of the Wassel Reservoir.

The rock in this area was very interesting, filled with all these little raised lines. I think it’s called traprock.

As soon as I descended off the ridge, the damp valley was filled with these massive fungi!

A couple hours later, I had a small climb up and over Bradley Mountain (607ft/207m). The trail turned rocky again, and the snakes were loving the sunny warm boulders!

Hello, danger-noodle friend!

I saw probably 8-10 more snakes in the next hour, but I didn’t bother getting photos after I saw how common they were. The trail crossed under Interstate 84 along some old train tracks. At first I was worried about train traffic, but then I saw how OLD the tracks were!

I had lunch on the nice warm train tracks, and then made the hour-long climb up to Rattlesnake Cliffs.

There was a random trail register in the middle of the woods, miles from my previous road crossing. Weird. I signed it, and saw that it was mostly used by rock climbers for a nearby cliff.

A few minutes later, I did see several groups who were carrying ropes and helmets, so it must be a popular climbing area. I’ll have to come back to investigate!  After dropping down off Rattlesnake mountain, the trail traversed an extensive boggy area. The boardwalks were nice, thank you trail crews!

After a 22-mile day, I arrived at a road crossing at 4pm. I considered hiking to the next road crossing 4 miles away, but it was getting late on a Sunday, and I still had a 2 hour drive home. Plus, I was still tired from my trip to the Winds last week. So, I summoned an Uber, returned to my car by 5pm, and stopped for a nice Dibella’s sub on the drive back.

I have 90 miles down, 120 miles to go! I’m hoping that I can do it in three more sections of 40 miles each, we’ll see.

 

Monday 7/31/2017, 0mi/0km

We slept in late, and then walked around town, it felt so easy to walk without a pack on! A breakfast cafe caught my eye, and we went in and get some huge egg & chorizo burritos.

While we were walking around town, Quickham noticed that many of the shops were selling clothing and gear specifically for the upcoming total eclipse. How bizarre!

It’s a 5-hour drive back to the Salt Lake airport, so I said goodbye to Quickham, and hit the road after lunch. After an hour, I was at South Pass City, where the CDT crosses the highway. I decided to make a stop and stretch my legs. The hiker logbook was still there at South Pass City, and I was beyond fascinated to see who came thru behind me…

I grabbed an ice cream from the general store, and got back on the road. Soon enough, I’m crossing back into Utah.

I arrived to the airport an hour early, and grabbed another burrito before I headed to the TSA security lines. I fell asleep on the plane before the wheels were off the ground, and woke up back in Boston.

 

As for my thoughts on the Wind River High Route, I found it to be every bit as challenging as promised. I definitely recommend it to anyone who has long-distance hiking experience, and I’ll outline my planning process here.

Route choice

I followed Andrew Skurka’s version of the WRHR, as opposed to the original Dixon/Wilson route, which is shorter. The Dixon/Wilson route makes different route choices at the beginning and end, and I had already visited those spots, ie. Green River Lakes. The logistics for the Skurka route are potentially more complex, but we had two cars, so we just parked one at each trailhead. I thought the Skurka route followed a natural line through the mountains, it hit many of the area’s highlights (Wind River Peak, Cirque of the Towers, Europe Peak, Golden Lakes, Downs Mountain, Goat flats) without feeling contrived.

Purchases

After Quickham and I had decided on a route, we purchased Skurka’s mapset and databook ($25, well worth it), and a pair of Earthwalk press plastic maps. I also purchased a set of sneaker-compatible (flexible) crampons. I chose the Kahtoola KTS crampons, as they had a full 1inch spike. They are a perfect compromise between a traditional crampon (too rigid), and microspikes (not enough traction). I didn’t have to make any other purchases, as the rest of my gear was re-used from my 2016 CDT thru-hike, and there aren’t any permits required for the Winds.

Travel

I flew to Salt Lake City, rented a car, and drove the 4.5 hours to Lander, WY. Some people choose to fly into Denver, but the drive is an hour longer. I met up with Quickham, who also had a car locally, so we simply had to shuttle cars to the trailheads. Hitchhiking would be a reliable, but slow, option; both trailheads had a couple dozen cars when we were there. The city of Lander allows free camping for up to three days in the city park, and there are flush toilets and drinking water. We camped there the night after our hike, it was an ideal spot to relax and unpack all of our gear.

Resupply

We planned the WRHR as a 9-day trip, and neither of us wanted to carry 9 days worth of food. We hired a horse-packer to bring in food (and some extra gear) to Hay Pass, which we crossed on day 5…this was expensive. In hindsight, I would’ve detoured to Big Sandy Lodge on day 3, leaving us only 6 days of food to carry out from the Lodge. Alternatively, faster hikers would be able to complete the route in less than 9 days, or be willing to carry heavy food loads. We saw very few other hikers along the route, so the JMT strategy of yogi-ing food likely wouldn’t work.

Hiking

We covered an average of 12 miles per day. When hiking on a trail, our pace was similar to the CDT, about 2.5 miles per hour. The off-trail travel was generally much slower, and traversing a pass usually required stopping to add/remove crampons several times. We hiked in late July in a high snow year; hiking in August or in a lower snow year would likely be faster.

Safety

The Winds are home to glaciers, grizzly bears, rushing streams, and almost-daily afternoon thunderstorms. We traveled away from glacial crevasses, properly stored our food from bears, and planned to cross larger streams in the morning. Quickham carried an InReach device, which was handy for weather/communicating text messages, and would’ve been essential if we experienced a non-ambulatory injury. There was no phone signal (verizon), and we saw other people less than daily.

Overall

After hiking several established National Scenic Trails, the WRHR seemed like my logical next step. The route is very remote, and requires high self-sufficiency, wilderness judgement, and complex route planning and logistics. There are no white blazes, phone apps, trail angels, or cell service. And it was perfect! Aside from a scary sliding fall and some fractured ribs, I had a great time!

See you on a trail

-Recon

Sunday 7/30/2017, 13.0mi/20.9km

Tarn below Downs Mountain (83.8/12,220ft) – Trail Lakes Trailhead (96.8/7,610ft) (WY)

We slept in and woke up at 6:30am instead. There were no storms last night! I slept really well. We packed up, and our fellow camper is already gone – we saw him in the distance climbing Downs Mountain. We left camp, and attempted to contour over to No Mans’ Pass, but some cliffs prevented that. So after a tiny climb, we dropped down into the pass. It was a nice looking camp area, but no water…our spot was better.

We climbed a little up to Goat Flats. Quickham went left of a small ridge, and when it ended, he was a few hundred yards away! I stayed higher to avoid making a PUD. Then, the terrain flattened out, and I saw why it’s named Goat Flats.

Eventually, our paths diverged enough to make communication almost impossible, and I stopped and refilled my water.

Quickham and I re-merged, and then aimed for the left side of Goat Flats, while we slowly descended towards a trail in the distance. On the way down, we saw goats! Yup, aptly named.

Goats in action!

The rocks diminished as we descended, and we contoured over to the trail/saddle. We reached trail around 10:30am, after only 3 hours of cross-country on easy flat terrain.

The trail cruised downhill, and the newly-built trail to Bomber Falls was nice and maintained.

We kept descending, and the greenery and flowers came back!

After the first switchback, we crossed a creek and had an early lunch, and dried our bags/tents one last time (condensation). When the clouds increased, we hit the trail again.

It was such a nice trail, with many new switchbacks, all the way down to the East Torrey Creek.

After the trail merged with the river trail, we saw a few dayhikers. It was weird seeing, and smelling, clean humans.

We pound out the last hour to the trailhead under threatening clouds, passing a small waterfall along the way.

As we left the forest, I took some photos of the signs for the hikers entering. I like collecting pictures of the Wilderness signs!

We arrived back to my car at 2:30pm.  First order of business: bathroom. Then we piled all our gear into my car, changed into some non-offensive clothes, and drove to nearby Dubois for a celebratory beer and meal.

We grabbed a Coors at the Rustic Tavern, and then went next door for food at Cowboy Cafe. It was delicious, and more filling than last year! Afterward, we drove the 90 minutes back to Lander and retrieved Quickham’s car, and then showered at the local gym for $4.

We picked up some groceries, and made dinner at the city park, where they also allow you to camp for free! We reminisced over some photos, and I was asleep by 10pm.

The Wind River High Route was amazing! It beat me up quite a bit, but I thought it had the perfect level of challenge, difficult but still attainable. And the solitude was unparalleled! Now I’m more comfortable in planning another “high route” that is on my list – the Sierra High Route, which is twice as long (195 miles). Watch for updates on this page for my other planned adventures.

-Recon

Saturday 7/29/2017, 12.0mi/19.3km

Glacier Trail Jct (71.8/10,730ft) – Tarn below Downs Mountain (83.8/12,220ft) (WY)

As usual, we woke up at 6am. I didn’t sleep well last night, with all the thunderstorms. The first one came thru at 11pm, then another at 2am, and then again at 4:30am. We packed up wet tents, and started our way toward West Sentinel Pass. The trail disappeared quickly, and we had to pick our way thru medium- and large-sized talus. Annoying. The climb up to West Sentinel Pass was easy, small scree and a herd path.

The terrain soon became snow-covered, and we put on crampons. I traversed too high around a melt pond, and with the steep terrain and frozen snow, it was slow going kicking steps. Quickham lead the last part of the ascent, which was very steep on snow.

We plunge-stepped for the descent the other side, staying near the rocks (snow is usually softer near the edge). We came out into the sun, and onto the enormous Gannett Glacier. Whoa.

Gannett Glacier panorama looking uphill.

It was getting hot, and I didn’t want to get (even more) sunburned, so we quickly crossed almost a mile of mushy glacier.

After crossing some rock fields, we re-climbed up to 12,000ft on a snowfield. It was a nice steady climb across the slope.

At the top, it transitioned back to rocks, and we removed our crampons for the first time today.

The walk was flat and easy for awhile, then we skirted a glacial lake, and climbed up the Grasshopper Glacier. (the lake is covered by ice, center of photo).

It was hot and sunny, and the glacially reflected sun made it feel even warmer. We stopped for lunch (early) in a rockfield, got water, and dried our tents. We tried not to wait too long, as it tends to get very cloudy by 1pm. This was presumably our last lunch on trail, so I ate all my cheese and salami. The clouds were gathering, so we packed up, and hiked along the ridge for awhile.

The descent into Iceberg Lakes Pass was quite steep, and we tried to stick to snowfields to use our crampons (better than wet slabs). I ended up switchbacking twice to lessen the steepness. We got down to the pass and took a break, which was ended prematurely by light rain.

The ascent back up to the ridge felt harder than it should – but it had been a long day. We skirted Yukon Peak to the east, and crossed paths with two other hikers. They were older guys, and they were moving fast. We chatted for 5 minutes, then we split off.

The sun came back out briefly, as we traversed the “moonscape” on the ridge. We could see Downs Mountain right ahead, and it didn’t look too bad. It was our last big climb of the hike!

It proved to be slow going though, as the talus became huge and required some 5^th class moves.

We got to the summit at 5:30pm, and sat down for a well-deserved a break.

View from the summit of Downs Mountain, elevation 13,355ft/4071m.

Our break was cut short by the approaching thunder clouds are in the distance. So, we rallied and cruised down the east side of Downs Mountain, mostly on snowfields. 

We dropped 1000ft in 30 minutes, and arrived to our camp spot at 6:15pm. Incredibly, there was another person camped here! We set up our tents thoroughly for the expected wind/rain, ate our last dinner, and watched the last half of the movie. What a tiring day!