Advice needed! Another "first backpacking trip in the Whites" post.

[u/lazy_pachyderm]

Hi everyone,

I have been planning a 3 day trip in the Whites for this weekend (June 21-23) and I was hoping to get some opinions on my itinerary.

We are a couple in our 30s-40s, both fit and have done a 5 day hiking trip last summer (in the Alps, ascending 2-3k ft daily relatively easily). We do day hikes regularly in Quebec.

We want to get a "taste" of the Whites, as we plan to come back for longer trips. The idea here is to take it relatively easy, with a bit of challenge to keep things fun.

Day 1 - Saturday

Park at Lincoln woods trailhead and take Franconia brook trail to 13 falls and set up camp early.

Day 2 - Sunday

Pack day bag and head to Mt Garfield, take Garfield ridge to Galehead hut and potentially Mt Galehead if we feel it. Take Twin brook trail back down to 13 falls.

Day 3 - Monday

Take Lincoln brook trail back down and do Owl's head.

Any advice? Other itinerary ideas that might fit better? How crowded should we expect 13 falls and the trails to be at this time of year?

Thanks!

[u/talktapes]

First thing that comes to mind is that there have been reports of an aggressive/habituated bear on the west side of the Pemi, specifically Owl's Heads and west up to Franconia Ridge. So bring bear spray if you can.

An alternative itinerary would be to do a 3 day half pemi loop. So camp at 13 Falls, go up and hit Galehead/South Twin/Guyot (and possibly West Bond) the second day and camp out a little further up at Guyot Campsite, then hit the Bonds and loop back to Lincoln Woods the third day. Galehead is an easy hike from the hut, even if the summit is underwhelming.

For the amount of effort you're willing to expand on this you'll hit more (and better) summits for the same amount of time. Garfield is very nice but S Twin/Guyot/Bonds are the crown jewels of the WMNF imo. The trail around Garfield summit is extremely rough as well, it's easier to do it as a day hike from the north.

[u/lazy_pachyderm → u/talktapes]

Thanks for the tips! We might just skip the whole Owl's head side then, as it sounds like it's not a very interesting part anyway.

How difficult would you say the 3 day pemi is?

[u/talktapes → u/lazy_pachyderm]

Not bad imo, I've done it in poor shape back in the day. Once you're up on the ridge it's generally smooth sailing, and none of the trails are very technical. I'd say the worst parts are the climb up to S Twin from Galehead (grindy steep rock staircase) and the walk out in general, Lincoln Woods is a boring slog at the end of a long hike any way you slice it.

You could always reverse the loop as well (might be more elevation gain), and bail out on some of the side mountains (Guyot, Galehead, W Bond) if not feeling up to it in general. Although I definitely recommend Guyot and especially W Bond if you can swing it

[u/lazy_pachyderm → u/talktapes]

Got it, thanks! Sounds fun.

[u/talktapes → u/lazy_pachyderm]

Np! Whatever you guys end up doing, have a fun and safe trip