[at-l] BSH part 8-b of 10

[Arthur Gaudet]

(This is part 8-B of 10, with an estimate of the boys' schedule while travelling
in Maine.)

Weather Issues & the Start of the Hike
There are several aspects of the story that bear on the date for the start of
the hike. One is the early dismissal from school, another the weather conditions
experienced in Maine and New Hampshire. And this analysis has to include the
information disclosed above that indicates no trail at all from Sugarloaf --
Saddleback, and only a rough trail from South Arm Rd. - Grafton Notch. Whatever
theory is developed should also include a reasonable estimate of hiking time
from the start of the trip to when the boys arrive in Gorham, NH.

Springtime in Maine can be the most difficult time of the year for backcountry
travel. If the snow is no longer strong enough to support a hiker he post-holes,
making a day of hiking a slow and painful ordeal. If the snow depth is shallow
enough then a hiker slips & slides if he's not using crampons or older-style
hob--nailed boots. As an experienced hiker in all of these conditions I would
equate a summertime backpack of 10 miles with a wintertime backpack of 5 miles.
The shorter distance is due to carrying much more gear and using snowshoes for
the hike. In springtime my gear is essentially summer-weight, or nearly so, but
the lack of good footing only allows me a 7 1/2 miles backpack for the same
amount of energy expended. These numbers might be an average for my hikes in
most of the White Mountains, but are really the upper limits for my hikes in the
Mahoosucs, the region from Grafton Notch, ME - Gorham, NH.

In general the Whites from mid-April to late May are dismal for hiking.
Conditions along a trail vary according to where the sun is melting the snow and
a hiker can be faced with stretches of snow, ice or mud in the course of a day's
hike. Deep notches, especially north-facing area hold their snow quite late in
the season. This year (2003) Huntington ravine, on Mt. Washington, still had
snow visible from the highway near Pinkham as of July 1. During May bare ground
is heavily saturated with water, making camping more of an ordeal, with
everything getting wet in only a few days on the trail.

Max Gordon states that the Maine section took 2 weeks to travel, and my research
indicates they may have traveled only 78 miles in that time. With what I know
about the area here is my best guess for how the boys traveled:

Table 1

Days/Start/Finish/Mileage 
1, 2/Maine 4, Rangeley/Maine 17, Oquossoc/13 miles 
3, 4/Maine 17/South Arm Road/13.5 miles 
5, 6/South Arm Road/East B Hill Road/10 miles (rough) 
7, 8/East B Hill Road/Grafton Notch, Maine 26/10.5 miles (rough) 
9 - 13/Grafton Notch, Maine 26/Gorham, NH/31 miles 

The boys could easily have used up one additional hiking day in either of the
rough-blazed sections or in the long section from Grafton Notch -- Gorham. A
rest day would be well deserved in order to dry out their gear and clothing,
perhaps at Andover.

Traveling in springtime, with snow-packed trail, this rate of travel is more
believable than doing the 283 miles from Katahdin to Gorham. I'm sure these 78
miles felt like a significant challenge and perhaps gave them the idea that they
had hiked the entire state! It's easy to imagine the veterans used Andover as a
base of operations, meeting the boys as all 3 road crossings and possibly
camping with them near the road. 

The weather description and trail conditions mentioned seem typical to me for
late spring hiking conditions. Max states that "There was snow most of the way
through Maine, and the older boys had a harder time because they were breaking
trail. I just followed along on their snow-packed tracks." And, "It took two
weeks for the boys to reach New Hampshire, and, after changing clothes and some
gear, they started out again."

I take these two statements together to mean they arrived in Gorham, NH around
June 1, 1936. The snow wasn't so deep in Maine that the boys couldn't make any
progress at all, and we can infer they didn't need snowshoes to hike in Maine
from the description of the trail. After June 1, but not before, it would make
sense to change from the heavier, warmer gear to something more lightweight for
the high peaks of the Whites.

Two more items need to be discussed: the extreme cold temperature at Franconia
Notch, and the warm weather in all of Maine for Spring 1936. Saunterer, an AT-L
lister, examined archives for Portland, ME temperatures and found March, May and
June were all above average for temperature and that the winter snowfall was
78.5 inches, above average. He was also able to find that the June 6, 1986
temperature at Franconia Notch was a record low of 28 degrees.

We should be careful about characterizing the conditions of the AT based on
temperatures observed on the coast, one or two hundred miles away, in a
different climate zone. The idea that the heavy winter snows would normally make
for deep snows in the spring is usually the case. But in '36 the unusual warming
(and flooding) that occurred effectively removed the deep snow base throughout
New England. I don't see anything in the archived weather data to dissuade me
from my estimate of the starting time and place for the hike -- Maine Rt. 4,
Rangeley, ME, on May 13, 1936.

Max Gordon is likely wrong about his memory of a very cold night in Franconia
Notch. He claims 9 degrees, but the record (according to Saunterer) is a low of
28 degrees. With summer clothing and primitive gear a temp of 9 degrees would've
been dangerous for the boys, at least forcing them to lie awake in a huddle to
survive the night. Max states the temperature that morning, with some note of
the danger and urgency: "We about froze to death. It was nine degrees that
morning..." But I might also say the same on returning from a hike if it was 29
degrees and I had only my summer gear. In October 1997, on my thru-hike, I
became hypothermic on two occasions in Maine, once while sleeping in a dry
shelter when the temps reached down to the high 20s, and another time when I got
rained on with the temps in the mid 40s. In both cases my dry, down sleeping bag
seemed inadequate though rated to +20 F.

The Mount Washington Observatory does not archive data for the valleys of the
Whites although it does have data for the summits in 1936. The same problem
exists however in trying to translate temps at the top of Washington to valley
temperatures about 30 miles, and two notches, away. It's possible that local
weather information for 1936 could be gathered from two sources that I uncovered
while reading newspapers in Littleton, NH, the town closest to Franconia Notch.
At the time of the Flood of '36 the articles in the Littleton Courier mention
two people that are commenting on the unusual weather. One is a meteorologist in
Boston and the other is a local engineer from Littleton, NH.
***********Notes***********
White Mountain Guide 1936 p. 515. The section titled "New England Trail
Conference" also details the problems with completing the Maine section.
"Because the route (in Maine) leads through an utter wilderness, and lacked
support from outing or mountaineering clubs, such as have sponsored the
construction of other sections of the trail, it was once thought that it would
be necessary to abandon the original project and establish the northern terminus
at Mt. Washington. . At the suggestion of CCC Forester James W. Sewall and with
the cooperation of the USFS, the AT in Maine was officially adopted, in 1935, as
a project in the CCC program. During the year (1935) all the existing trail,
with the exception of sections from the Kennebec River to Blanchard and Pleasant
River East Branch to Nahmakanta Lake, was materially improved, blazes repainted,
much additional work done and new trail constructed. In addition, a very exact
location of the route between Maine highway 4 and Grafton Notch was made. The
Flagstaff CCC Camp also partly completed an alternative route, from Pierce Pond
to Mt. Bigelow via the Carry Ponds, known as the Arnold Trail. New trail from
Saddleback Mtn. to the Andover-South Arm Road was opened by the Rangeley CCC
Camp. Several lean-tos were built. The Flagstaff and Greenville Camps were
discontinued in 1935, but it is hoped that the remaining, unfinished trail in
Maine will be completed by the Greenville and Rangeley CCC Camps during 1936."

G. Harold Noyes is mentioned in the Littleton Courier articles as a Sr.
Meteorologist from Boston, and Ray T. Gile is mentioned as a Littleton Engineer
and local weather authority. Gile is likely a railroad engineer. Articles are
from March 19, 1936. 
(end of part 8)
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