Backpacker – September 2019

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2019
70 BACKPACKER.COM

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Trailhead Arethusa Falls (44.1479,

-71.3694) 166 miles north of Boston

Shuttle car Zealand (44.2227,

-71.4784) 16 miles northeast of

Arethusa Falls Permit $5 day use

fee; bit.do/WMNFPass Season

Summer to early fall; foliage peaks

in early to mid-October. Info www

.fs.usda.gov/whitemountain

DAYHIKE

COFFEEHOUSE LOOP

Douglas State Forest, MA

Overlooked by all but locals, the

2.4-mile Coffeehouse Loop nea r the

R hode Isla nd border offers solitude

with a side of woods and wetlands.

The maples bring out their fall

colors in mid-October. Trailhead

Wallum Lake (42.0230, -71.7700) 60

miles southwest of Boston Season

Ye a r - r o u n d Permit $15 parking

pass/day ($9 for residents) Info bit.

do/DouglasSF

MULTIDAY

GRAFTON LOOP

Grafton Notch State Park, ME

No, it’s not super close to Boston—

but it’s worth the trip for three

nights away from the crowds. The

38-mile Grafton Loop Trail crosses

streams and summits and traverses

the hardwood hideaways of the Bear

River Valley. Trailhead Grafton

Notch (44.5902,-70.9470) 194 miles

north of Boston. Season June to

October Permit $4/person per day

use fee Info visitmaine.com

Boston, MA

OVERNIGHT

ETHAN POND

White Mountain National

Forest, NH

A pine-circled pond, waterfalls

cascading over granite, and views

that sweep New Hampshire’s most

famous mountain range—this 13.7-

mile shuttle hike has it all.

Start from the Arethusa Falls

trailhead and get ready for the

White Mountain special: a steep,

700-foot gain in a mile. A few min-

utes later, catch your breath on

the .2-mile spur to Arethusa Falls,

where water cascades nearly 160

feet—New Hampshire’s tallest. Pick

up the Ethan Pond Trail (also the

AT) at mile 4.1 and climb steadily to

the junction with the Willey Range

Trail, where a 1.8-mile out-and-back

leads to the summit of 4,255-foot

Mt. Willey (optiona l).

At mile 6.4, the trees shrink,

revealing Ethan Pond lying like a

mirror among the conifers. Boulder-

hop past the shelter (sleeps eight) to

tent platforms ($10/person per day

from Memorial Day to Columbus

Day; first-come, first-serve).

Nex t day, continue on the AT

along Ethan Pond’s outlet, adding

a n optiona l climb of Zeaclif f (adds

1.2 miles) at mile 9.9. The Zealand

Trail delivers you to the end of the

adventure.

Chaya Harris

DIRECTOR OF INSTRUCTION

AND CURRICULUM, OUTWARD

BOUND

YOU NEVER KNOW where your

local trails will take you. In 2018,

Chaya Harris was already lead-

ing hikes around the Hub when

Outdoor Afro, an advocacy

group that connects African

Americans to nature, assembled

the first all African-American

team to climb Kilimanjaro, the

highest point in Africa.

After six days of hiking, the

11-member group left their

16,000-foot high camp at 11 p.m.

to stomp through snow to the

19,341-foot summit. By the time

they reached it, all but five had

turned back. “We all just fell on

our knees,” she recalls of stand-

ing at the top. “A few of us were

crying—it was unforgettable.”

That trip was an international

extension of Outdoor Afro’s

local mission, which Harris had

been applying as a volunteer in

Boston: to reach people wher-

ever they are and help them take

the next step to achieve some-

thing bold outdoors. “You don’t

need to be a superhero,” she

says. “Just set a goal and come

up with a plan to achieve it.”

An optional

sidetrip up

Zeacliff rewards

hikers with

views into the

Pemigewasset

Wilderness.

YO

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Hike

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