Taking a first-timer backpacking? Don’t do what I did

We found ourselves peering into a foggy abyss, completely unsure where the cliff we were standing on ended. After climbing nearly 4,000 feet in about four miles, Mount Flume was the essence of disappointing.

This was the beginning to our first day; from there, a lack of views, one false peak after another and our inability to find ourselves on the map without any waypoints made this backpacking trip notable, to say the least.

***

Only about a month prior had we—my girlfriend, her brother and I—finalized what had previously seemed like a pipedream of a trip out to Montreal, and then down through Vermont, New Hampshire and upstate New York.

My girlfriend, Miranda, and I had backpacked in areas across the country, both together and separately, prior to our trip. I won’t say that this gave us undue confidence, but it may have contributed to our (my) wanting to push on in the face of all possible opposition on this overnight backpacking trip.

We figured on our ten or so day jaunt—completely subject to change due to the nature of a road trip—would allow for two, two-night backpacking trips.

The original plan was to first backpack in the White Mountains after driving down from Montreal and then make our way to upstate New York and do the same there. It would be the perfect way to get my girlfriend’s brother, Max, to backpack.

Granted, he had hiked plenty prior to our trip and really wanted to try at least an overnight trip. We weren’t force feeding him backpacking in the least, and with the conditions we faced, thank god that was the case.

***

In the words of Jack Kerouac, “The white line in the middle of the highway unrolled and hugged our left front tire as if glued to groove.” Yes, it’s corny as hell in today’s context, but I guess I like to envision ourselves as some sort of contemporary-Kerouac’s, travelling wherever our souls desired.

That was how our trip went for the most part – sometimes we paid for it, but most other times we found ourselves amid incredible memories.

Nonetheless, we did pay for it a couple of times, especially in the White Mountains. A PSA to anyone travelling to the New England area during Memorial Day weekend: you won’t find somewhere to sleep, in a campground nor a hotel, on short notice. We discovered this after arriving in the area around eight at night, as it was getting dark.

After hunting for a couple of hours for a place to stay for the night, we finally found a hotel (a story for another time) but the lateness of our night forced us to reconsider starting our backpacking trip around the Pemigewasset Wilderness the next morning.

So we got a day of driving through the White Mountains and seeing everything we possibly could before embarking on what we thought would be the best way to see this treasure of New England. The weather this day was as close to perfect as it gets in the White Mountains in late-May.  

The trail, otherwise known as the Semi-Pemi, follows a ridge around the Pemigewasset Wilderness, and is a 30-mile trail that climbs about 4,000 right off the bat. The rest of the trail, as you go from peak to peak, climbs and descends in the same sudden, rugged manner.

From the beginning, I admit, we should’ve taken more warning at the number of people coming off the ridge early in the morning as we were going up.

The trail first brought us up to Mount Flume, the first of seven peaks in our first day. The photos online promised an incredible reward for our climbing, but the clouds had a different plan for us.

Upon reaching the first peak, we were engulfed in a cloud and all the wind and moisture that swirls around in those white beasts.

Not only was this startling for Miranda and me, but Max was a little floored by the conditions we found ourselves in. As we pushed on, things only got worse, with wind gusts topping out around 50 mph, temperatures dropping to around 35 degrees and visibility around 50 feet – the three of which combined to keep morale very low.

***

As we pushed on along the ridge, the three of us became quieter and quieter, all secretly wishing to be off the ridge and out of that god forsaken cloud. We did contemplate turning around. The cloud had soaked our clothes before we realized we should put on rain gear and the threat of hypothermia lurked beyond the next false peak.

But we pushed on. And thankfully Max wanted to too (not that he had much of a choice at this point).

After about 13 hours of hiking, we reached our campsite, which was in the clouds. Nevertheless, we were blessed with a spot in the trail hut, so we luckily didn’t have to pitch our tent. We learned from the one backpacker in the hut that he hadn’t left the campsite all day because of the weather forecast for the ridge posted by the park supervisor earlier that day.

The day prior, the guy in the hut explained, he had seen around a hundred people on the ridge, which was the clear day we enjoyed from the road. The day we were up on the ridge, we had solely seen trail maintenance crew members.

***

The following day, we took advantage of the trail that cuts through the Pemigewasset Wilderness, saving us from another day and night on the ridge and in a cloud.

Max, well, he survived. He claims he enjoyed it overall – and whether or not that’s the truth, that remains to be confirmed pending a second overnight trip. Our second planned overnighter in New York fell through, due to the exhaustion we were all dealing with following our escape from the Semi-Pemi.

Anyone in their right mind wouldn’t want to even attempt something that could remotely put themselves in the same position if they had an experience like Max’s.

Don’t worry, I learned my lesson; later in the summer I took two other first-timers on a trip, but this time we stayed in our home state of Michigan (a just as beautiful state but has rightfully earned a reputation of having much less rugged terrain) and did the Manistee River Trail.

Honestly, first-timers can be fragile; as a leader of a high school backpacking program, I get the opportunity to lead five to seven students into the backcountry for seven nights, who typically have little to no outdoor experience. And each year, there are some students who want nothing but to stay out and others who would do anything to never step foot in the backcountry again.

So when you convince a friend to try out backpacking, don’t do what I did. Not all first-timers are like Max.