New Hampshire

Welcome to New Hampshire, The White’s Introduction, and other Observations – The Trek

Published

2 years ago

September 9, 2024

Welcome to New Hampshire, The White’s Introduction, and other Observations – The Trek

As we take our first steps in Maine, we look back on our journey through New Hampshire. This portion of the trail was easily the most challenging. Our last days in Vermont included three 20 mile days. Soon after entry into New Hampshire these big mile days all but ceased and continued to drop until we were regularly in the single digits.

Just as rocky as Pennsylvania sometimes – Yes, this is the trail.

Just as muddy as anything in Vermont and I never did find the bottom – Yes, this is the trail.

The trail is steep – Yes, this is the trail.

New Hampshire describes their trails as rugged. I tend to use more colorful terms, which are best left out of print. The views were often spectacular though, easily some of the best we have seen on the entire AT.

Mount Madison

Franconia Notch

Welcome to New Hampshire

Weather Welcome

Within a couple of days of entry, we found ourselves on Smart Mountain on some rock ledges near the ridge. We knew there was a small chance for rain, so were unsurprised when the shower started. The lightning, however, was most unwelcome. We began to move quickly to get off the ridge, what we thought was our safest bet. This process was slow as the rocks were very slick. Things started to get ridiculous though when the winds and the hail started. Pea sized hail is awful but once it got to quarter sized, it was time to run.

Moving to the tree line, we found shelter under a large tree with a low branch near the trail. Within a few minutes, it was over, but we were soaked. We headed to the summit and found an old fire warden’s cabin, completely enclosed. This allowed us to dry out and plan our immediate future. Ma Wampus found that we could have a hostel pick us up nearby or we could go an additional 25 miles. I voted hostel.

Meeting a Legend

We arranged to meet the hostel’s driver at the trailhead. On our arrival, we found the driver to be none other than “Miss Janet”, probably the most famous trail angel on the Appalachian Trail. Miss Janet has helped thousands of hikers with everything from providing actual resources or services, like a ride or a stay, to advice on safely completing the trail.

Miss Janet agreed with our plan to “slackpack” Mt. Moosilauke to get an idea of the challenges the White Mountains presented. Generally used in combination with a multi-day stay, slackpacking allows the hiker to carry less on their actual hike. In my case, my pack goes from 35lbs to somewhere around 8lbs because I can discard my tent and a bear can filled with several days worth of food.

Introduction to the Whites

Mt. Moosilauke

Our “slack pack” began on the South side of Mt. Moosilauke in the rain. Immediately, we noticed that the trail is rugged and steep, but beautiful. Much of the trail up sided a waterway full of cascading waterfalls.

Once we reached the summit, at 4795ft, we noticed a general lack of trees, major decrease in temperature and increase in wind, and many stone cairns. The stone cairns replaced the white blazes as the physical direction for those attempting to follow the AT. We walked 9 miles in approximately 8 hours.

Advice Not Taken

Miss Janet advised us to carry 4-5 days of food and provided an itinerary to get through the White Mountains in approximately 11 days. She also advised to avoid a slack pack plan offered by other hostels that involved a 16 mile hike in one day.

We moved on and found, as Miss Janet stated, a plan to hike 16 miles in one day. On review, it looked doable. In weighing our options, carrying a 35-40lb pack for the next 5 days at 9-10 miles per day or carrying a lighter pack again, we decided to go with the lighter pack. The 16 mile plan would be difficult but, barring any difficulties, entirely possible. The AT is funny though. There are always difficulties.

The Kinsmans

Our hike up the Kinsmans began without issue. Soon after our arrival to the trailhead, it began to rain. It never stopped. The trail turned into a creek.

On the crest, the rocks were slick and wet and the going was slow. By the time we reached the bottom again, we had been hiking 11 hours. The entire plan called for a 10 hour day. We were almost home though and a nice hot chocolate and a warm shower awaited. A little brook with a rock hop and a paved section of state park was all that stood in our way.

Difficulties

11 hours of fairly heavy rain had turned the babbling brook into a roaring cascade. Ma Wampus and I had to yell to each other over the noise of the rushing water. Fortunately, there were five of us, one of which was a Southbounder. The Southbounder had completed Maine, which involved multiple river crossings. “I’ll find the way”, he said, as he stepped into the roaring cascade.

The Southbounder yelled instructions as he tapped his way forward to the middle of the brook, the water reaching almost to his chest. It was like watching a DIY Youtube video. “Here, we can cross here”, he yelled. The water was a good four feet high where he stood. I looked at my 5’2” wife and thought “No @&($@&$ way”. Shaking my head no, I pointed over to Ma Wampus. I walked upstream. The cascades were stronger but I could see the rock bottom and it looked to be a little higher than my knee.

I tapped my way toward the cascade, surprised of the force of the water. I braced against a rock to stabilize myself. Once secure, I motioned for Ma Wampus to cross. While it did get to thigh level for her, she managed to cross without incident. As she touched the shore on the other side, I turned and saw that the Southbounder had stayed in place the entire time. I waived but he had already started walking as well. Ma Wampus and I agreed we would avoid climbing these mountains in heavy rain.

Our journey through the Whites had just begun.

Other Observations

With a state whose motto is “Live Free or Die”, one could expect a few stories. We were not disappointed. Here are but a couple that provide some flavor of this magical place.

Sarah and the Bear

1783 Warren NH – about 3 miles from the AT. Four year old Sarah begs her parents to let her go with them to visit her uncle on the mountain. Sarah’s father declines. The parents visit the uncle and then return a day or so later. On their return, Sarah’s siblings ask the parents why they left Sarah at her uncle’s place.

The parents freak out, as one would do, and get together a search party from Warren. Eventually, a famous tracker comes down from the mountain some four days later and helps with the search. He is the one that finds Sarah’s bloody footprints some distance from the house and that of the large bear that was clearly following her. The search turned into a somber recovery mission.

The next day men of the search party heard firing – Sarah had been found. The rest of the story was relayed by…..Sarah. The bear had indeed found her. She had cut her feet on the rocks and was crying. The temperature had dropped and she was cold – freezing, probably. The bear licked her and then layed down, affording her a very warm place to lay as well, which she did. The bear watched over her, only leaving when the search party got close.

This story is famous in New Hampshire and has been featured in several regional books. Sarah went on to marry and have children of her own but was often asked to retell the story, which apparently she happily did.

Going Ballistic

1971 Warren NH – 3 Miles from the AT. The United States used the Redstone Missiles as nuclear weapons, space launch rockets, and sounding missiles in the late 50’s and early 60’s. As with all weapon systems, they have a shelf life and by the early 1970s the missiles were mainly in a field with their engines, guiding systems, and weapon capability removed, slowly rusting away. Enter Army Sergeant Ted Assalin.

Assalin loved the history of the rocket, and thought it would be a swell idea to put one up in a public park in the metropolis of Warren NH, population 900. The rocket would be an educational memorial to the Cold War and the early US Space Program. He gave his plan to the Army. He told his plan to the town of Warren. Nobody said no. He got a 60ft trailer and put the 8 ton rocket up in the park, where it sits today.

Next Chapter

The next days would be the most challenging we had seen on the trail. Fortunately, several unexpected allies helped us through. More on them and these challenges in the next issue.

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New Hampshire

Senate panel endorses reporting exemption for players on New Hampshire Fisher Cats

Published

2 hours ago

March 10, 2026

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Senate panel endorses reporting exemption for players on New Hampshire Fisher Cats

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New Hampshire

Possible 2028 Democratic White House contenders weigh in on Iran with New Hampshire voters

Published

14 hours ago

March 10, 2026

Press Room

Possible 2028 Democratic White House contenders weigh in on Iran with New Hampshire voters

As the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran overtakes the foreign policy debate in Washington, two Democratic governors with potential 2028 presidential aspirations — Gavin Newsom and Andy Beshear — recently traveled to New Hampshire, introducing themselves to the state’s famously engaged voters. The two weighed in on the war and both criticized and questioned President Trump’s strategy and endgame.

“If a president is going to take a country into war, and risk the lives of American troops and Americans in the region, he has to have a real justification and not one that seems to change every five to 10 hours,” Beshear told CBS News after a Democratic fundraiser in Keene.

“This President seems to use force before ever trying diplomacy, and he has a duty to sell it to the American people and to address Congress with it,” Beshear continued. “He hasn’t done any of that. In fact, it appears there isn’t even a plan for what success looks like. He’s gone from regime change to strategic objectives and now is talking about unconditional surrender, which isn’t realistic where he is.”

Beshear also said he thought that Congress should have reined in Mr. Trump’s war powers.

“He is trying to ignore Congress. He’s trying to even ignore the American people,” Beshear said.

He went on to note that the president’s State of the Union address took place “three — four days before he launched this attack,” and Mr. Trump “didn’t even have the respect to tell the American people the threat that he thought Iran posed to us.”

Last week, both the House and the Senate failed to pass resolutions to limit Mr. Trump’s war powers and stop him from taking further military action against Iran without congressional support.

Democratic Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear speaks with voters in Keene, New Hampshire, on March 7, 2026.

Anne Bryson

For Newsom, the war with Iran constitutes part of a broader criticism of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

At an event last Tuesday in Los Angeles, Newsom had compared Israel to an “apartheid state.” Later, in New Hampshire, he sought to clarify his comment.

“I was specifically referring to a Tom Friedman [New York Times] column last week, where Tom used that word of apartheid as it relates to the direction Bibi is going, particularly on the annexation of the West Bank,” Newsom explained during a book tour event Thursday night in Portsmouth. “I’m very angry, with what he is doing and why he’s doing it, what he’s going to ultimately try to do to the Supreme Court there, what he’s trying to do to save his own political career.”

Friedman wrote that at the same time that the U.S. and Israel are prosecuting a war in Iran, within Israel, Netanyahu’s government has undertaken efforts to annex the West Bank, driving Palestinians from their homes; fire the attorney general who is leading the prosecution against Netanyahu for corruption; and block the government’s attempt to establish a commission to examine the failures that led up to the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre of Jews by Hamas.

CBS News has reached out to the Israeli Embassy in Washington, D.C., for comment.

On Iran, Newsom said, “I’m very angry about this war, with all due respect, you know, not because I’m angry the supreme leader is dead. Quite the contrary. I’m not naive about the last 37 years of his reign. Forty-seven years since ’79 — the revolution,” Newsom said. “But I’m also mindful that you have a president who still is inarticulate and incapable of giving us the rationale of why? Why now? What’s the endgame?”

California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks with political commentator Jack Cocchiarella at an event in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, on March 5, 2026.

Anne Bryson

Many attendees at Newsom’s book event said that the situation in Iran is a top-of-mind issue for them, too. Some said they’re “horrified” by what is happening.

29-year-old Alicia Marr told CBS News she decided to attend Newsom’s event because of his social media response to the war with Iran.

“There was one spot left, and I decided to pick it up, and it was due to his response to the war, that it is just unacceptable, and I would agree with that,” Marr said.

While some voters like Marr are eager to hear about where potential candidates stand on foreign policy, many at Newsom’s event said they care most about how potential candidates plan to address domestic issues.

“I’m more focused on getting the middle class back on track and fighting the oligarchy, and I’m less invested in international issues,” said Anita Alden, who also attended Newsom’s event,

“I wouldn’t call myself America first, but we have so many problems at home that are my priority,” she told CBS News.

Former Vice President Kamala Harris, who may also be weighing another White House bid, told Fox 2 Detroit last week that she “unequivocally opposes” the Trump administration’s military action in Iran and urged Congress to take action.

“If we want to stop Donald Trump with this random decision that he has arrived at, then Congress must act, and Congress must act immediately. The American people do not want our sons and daughters to go into this unauthorized war of choice,” Harris said.

Mr. Trump has lashed out against Democrats who have pushed back on his Iran strategy, calling them “losers” last week and arguing that they would criticize any decision he made on Iran.

“If I did it, it’s no good. If I didn’t do it, they would have said the opposite, that you should have done this,” the president said.

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New Hampshire

Mass. man nabbed after allegedly driving over 100 mph in N.H.

Published

1 day ago

March 9, 2026

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Mass. man nabbed after allegedly driving over 100 mph in N.H.

Local News

Police say the Attleboro man was driving 104 mph in a 55 mph zone on Route 202 near in Rindge, New Hampshire.

A Massachusetts man was arrested late Wednesday night after police say he was driving more than 100 mph on a New Hampshire roadway.

Officers with the Rindge Police Department stopped a vehicle shortly after 11 p.m. on Route 202 near Sears Drive in Rindge following a report of a car traveling at excessive speed, according to a statement from Chief Rachel Malynowski.

The vehicle, a 2020 Kia Stinger, was spotted traveling at 104 mph in a posted 55 mph zone, Malynowski said.

The driver, a 21-year-old man from Attleboro, was arrested and charged with reckless operation of a motor vehicle, according to police.

He is scheduled to be arraigned April 5. If convicted, the man faces a fine of at least $750, in addition to the court’s penalty assessment, and a 90-day license suspension, Malynowski said.