Mt. Passaconaway (4,043') and Mt. Whiteface (4,019'), Backpacking at Camp Rich

We followed white moths into 

the old growth woods, wings

of paper stirring our souls, silently 

moving through the thick, wet air.

It was hot for September and 

the noisemakers had gone home,
returning to bentheads, blueglows;
they couldn’t see us anymore.

We jumped over logs, creeks,
stones, slippery from the seep—
in the dark, just like in my dream,
we arrived at the summit.

The sun still not yet up,
colors muted to shades of grey, 

penciled peaks and the vast beyond

across the valley, fog moved slowly
while everything else stood still.
It’s easy to be quiet when you’re in awe.

Moments later, new daylight lit
needles of pines, then
hairs on moss, now
we could see a few turning

leaves, red and yellow bursts 

pushing up through their 

greenskin uniforms.

Between branches, the white moths,
still with us this whole time,
lifted up and up, fluttering their wings
carrying our hearts to a new day.

The beginning of our backpacking trip, before heading to the trail. From the left, Julia, Me, Sarah and Maura

From the Rollins Trail, overlooking the Bowl Research Natural Area. Established in 1910, this area has no recorded history of logging or fires

 On a lookout just past the summit of Mt. Whiteface. From the left, Sarah, Maura, Me and Julia

The now abandoned Camp Rich site is used as stealth camping and has a small, but reliable water source

 Just before sunrise on the north lookout of Mt. Passaconaway

Hike level: Moderate-Difficult, depending on the trail choice

Location: Wonalancet, NH

Driving distance from Boston: About 2 hour and 20 minutes

Cost: FREE to hike; the abandoned Camp Rich area is a good spot for camping

Description:The most common way to hike Mt. Passaconaway and Mt Whiteface is a loop trail that is 11.5 miles long and includes the Blueberry Ledge Trail, which is on the "terrifying 25 list." Since we had heavy packs and wanted to avoid that trail as well as scout out Camp Rich early, we chose to hike up Dicey's Mill Trail, cross Rollins Trail and continue until we saw the spur trail leading to the abandoned camp site (4.0 miles). Then we dropped some weight and set up tents and doubled back to hike the Rollins Trail (with views of the Bowl Research Natural Area) to Mt. Whiteface and back to our camp (5.4 miles). We decided to save Mt. Passaconaway for a sunrise hike and, in the morning, hiked the .7 miles to the summit and the .3 off the spur trail to the north outlook and back. Then we hiked back down Dicey's Mill trail (6.0). The total mileage for the trip was about 14.4.