Most of the backpacking trips I take are 1-3 nights in length in the mountainous terrain of New Hampshire and Maine. This includes sections of the Appalachian Trail and the 1440 mile trail system in the White Mountain National Forest. I still do longer trips when I'm section hiking the AT down south or backpacking in Scotland, but most of the time I stay local to New England because the backpacking is so fabulous and I can drive from my house to the backcountry in two hours. There aren't any grizzly bears or rattlesnakes to worry about in New England and it's easy to find solitude.
There are basically two seasons in New Hampshire and Maine: summer and winter. Summer lasts from June until the end of October, and winter lasts from November through May although snow can linger into July at higher elevations. What about spring and autumn? They go by so quickly up north, that they just merge into summer and winter.
This gear list of for the summer months (June-October), but I also a have winter gear list that's up to date.
When nighttime temperatures get above 40 degrees at night, I usually switch from a tent to a hammock when I'm not testing and reviewing gear. I got hooked on hammocks for backpacking in New England about 2 years ago because I finally found a hammock (Warbonnet Blackbird) that I really enjoy using. But when it gets cold again at night, I head back to ground for the duration of the year.
If you look though this gear list, my base weight with a hammock is 12 pounds. I could easy chop a pound off that weight if I was willing to spend some money to do it, but I'm kind of frugal when it comes to buying new gear. I actually care more about gear volume than weight because I'd rather carry a lighter, smaller volume pack than a larger one. And with this gear list, I can still fit three days of food into my Hyperlite Mountain Gear 2400 Southwest backpack.
If you're not familiar with New England terrain or weather, I've included an environmental conditions assessment below this gear list that explains the rationale behind many of the gear selections on this list. I always find it useful to write up a plan like this, if only to document my assumptions.
If you have any questions, about my gear or our New England weather, leave a comment and I'll respond.
Environmental Conditions Assessment
- Locale: New Hampshire and Maine, mostly on the White Mountain Trail System or Appalachian Trail, some off-trail bushwhacking
- Date: June – October, when nighttime temperates are over 40 degrees fahrenheit
- Daily Mileage: Usually 15 miles per day with 3000-5000 feet of elevation gain
- Terrain: Mountains and dense forest, some exposed above-timberline terrain
- Duration: 1-3 nights
- Climate/Weather forecast
- June – October
- 40 degrees up to 70 degrees at night, 50-100 degrees during the day
- High humidity from June-August, with frequent thunderstorms
- Colder at higher elevations; snow possible year-round
- Gear
- 40 degree quilt
- 40 degree underquilt
- Hammock tarp with doors for increased weather protection
- Source
- Previous experience
- Weather Underground: Seasonal averages
- June – October
- Water availability
- Expected
- Generally abundant, possibly some dry stretches
- Gear
- 2 x 1 liter water bottles
- 2+L platypus for camp and dry stretches
- Source:
- Caltopo maps
- Local waterproof maps
- Guthook's New England Hiker app
- Gaia GPS App
- Expected
- Water purity
- Expected
- Purification/filter advised
- Beavers are prolific, but there's no livestock, urban or industrial pollution to worry about
- Gear
- Aqua Mira purification drops for bulk purification
- Sawyer Point One filter
- Source
- Previous experience
- Expected
- Wildlife Issues
- Expected
- Bears
- Moose, during September/October rutting season
- Gear
- Ursack Bear Proof Food Sack
- Whistle
- Source
- Previous experience
- Expected
- Insects
- Expected
- Ticks: April through October is prime Deer Tick season.
- Mosquitos and Black Flies, terrible from June – August
- Gear
- Insect Shield treated clothing, including socks, long sleeve shirt and long pants
- Heat net
- Picaridan Insect Repellent as needed.
- Source
- Previous experience
- Expected
- Daylight
- June
- Sunrise: 5:05 am
- Sunset: 8:21 pm
- July
- Sunrise: 5:06 am
- Sunset: 8:32 pm
- August
- Sunrise: 5:33 am
- Sunset: 8:10 pm
- September
- Sunrise: 6:08 am
- Sunset: 7:22 pm
- October
- Sunrise: 6:43 am
- Sunset: 6:27 pm
- Gear
- Nitecore NU 20 headlamp
- Source
- June
- Trail conditions
- Expected
- Muddy at times, but mostly rocky and full of roots
- Gear
- Trail runners w/ wool socks – they dry pretty fast
- Source
- Previous experience in region
- Expected
- Sun/Snow Glare protection
- Expected
- Not significant.
- Gear
- Insect Shield wide brim hat
- Sunglasses, above treeline
- Source
- Previous experience
- Expected
- Navigation
- Expected
- Sporadic blazing
- Remote and less maintained trails can be difficult to follow
- Gear
- Guthook's New England Hiker App on iPhone
- Delorme Gazetteers in car
- Photographed pages from the White Mountain guide
- Gaia GPS
- Source:
- Previous experience
- Intel from friends
- Trip reports
- Expected
- Remoteness
- Expected
- Some small towns
- Cell phone access is very spotty
- Gear
- SPOT Gen 3 Satellite Communicator to msg home daily
- Cell phone
- Source
- Previous experience in the area.
- Expected
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