Camping in the White Mountains

Chad and I had a great time camping in the White Mountains. We got up very early Friday morning and drove 2 hours and 45 minutes to our campground. It was a great drive. At one point we were driving and a huge smiley face hot air balloon surprised us as it creeped over the trees and was right above us, flying very low. It was hilarious, and caught us both off guard! I didn't take the photo below, but looked up the balloon online and found it! It's called Smile High


Wide angle view from the side of the Kancamagus Highway. (Chad is on the right.) We couldn't ask for better weather. It was in the seventies most of the time. Then it got down to the fifties (or lower) at night.

We went hiking on Saturday. I loved how we could hear the river through more than half of our hike. We stopped to eat the burgers that we had cooked that morning, and decided to sit on big rocks in the middle of the river to eat.

^Here is a 360 degree panorama of the forest. This is the view all around me. Chad is in the bottom right corner.

Some parts of the trail were a bit of a challenge! I won't lie- both of us had close calls while crossing the river or streams, and detouring the muddy spots. It was nice to have a challenge though, we both enjoyed the work-out.

One of mine and Chad's favorite parts of hiking Hancock Notch Trail was the Christmas smell around us in certain areas. The smell was from the most gorgeous pines- and every once in a while Chad would ask if we could stop just to take in the intoxicating smell.

We were fascinated by the way the roots intertwined along the trail. I'm glad I got some pretty cool shots of it.

I collected a few really vibrant leaves on the trail. I can only imagine how awesome it will look in the White Mountains in the fall! The water was crystal clear, and cold cold.
You can see how secluded our site felt! We loved feeling like we were alone in the forest. We camped at Jigger Johnson Campground, and can't wait to go back. The sites were plenty far apart, with woods separating each site. Our campsite was big, and a whole edge of it was backed up to woods, with trail leading from our site to the river. #51 was the bomb.
I was exhausted after the 4-5 mile hike. We played Scrabble- I won...
Here's a nice wide angle view of what I like to call our "mansion tent". It is glorious. I love waking up to a perfect view of the forest. We lied in bed watching the stars both nights. We were lucky on Friday because it was a meteor shower. It was so beautiful to see such a clear view of the night sky.











Meet Alvin. He's our little chipmunk friend that shared his home with us for a few days! At first, he was a little skeptical, then he got over it and snuck right up to us, inspecting for food we may have dropped. After a little searching, he found a big chunk of biscuit dough which I dropped at breakfast. Instead of stuffing some into his chubby cheeks, to my surprise he picked the whole thing up and ran off with it! We had a good time watching our funny friend.

Our fire pit was wonderful for cooking! We just heated our coals on one level, and cooked on the upper rack or right on the coals. In the photos you see Chad smoothing out the coals, then cooking the corn in a skillet right on the coals. Worked great! Here is the camp recipe for this Hobo pack. It was delicious!

Hobo Pack

Prepare before camping, then freeze mixture. This will not only keep the food from getting crushed in the ice-chest, but it will keep other items cold. I froze ours on Thursday night, and by the time Saturday's supper came around- it was perfectly thawed, still cold though.

1 lb. ground beef
1 russet potato, cubed
1 10-12 oz. can mixed vegetables
1-2 c. broccoli
1/2 c. shredded or diced cheese
1 8-10 oz. can of corn
Salt, pepper, and garlic powder to taste
Tony's

Season and brown ground beef on a skillet. I cooked it all the way to make sure we wouldn't be eating raw meat for supper. Boil cubed potatoes so they're softish (it's okay if they're not fully cooked). Combine beef, potatoes, can of vegetables, broccoli, cheese, and seasonings. We added corn later because Chad thought it would make it better (it did) and I happened to have a can of corn with us. You can do that, or add it ahead of time and freeze it with everything else. Freeze mixture in a large freezer bag.

At the campsite, light coals or fire. We used a foil pan to cook ours so that we could stir it (because we had coals). If you cook over fire, you'll pack it in foil, triple layering to make sure the food stays ash-free. When the coals/embers are ready, get to cookin'! It was very fun!

We spent our evenings sitting by the fire talking. In the photo above, you can see Chad's movement while he tended the fire (I'm sitting on the left).
We had a blast in the White Mountains- It was the most relaxing, romantic, and beautiful weekend I've had in a long time. An unforgettable vacation!