SOBO thru-hike of the Cohos Trail in New Hampshire, July 2023

Backpacking the Cohos Trail, a 170 mile hiking route in northern New Hampshire. SOBO thru hike, starting at the Canadian border and ending at the Davis Path trailhead in Crawford Notch. July 19 thru July 31, 2023
Highlights: Connecticut Lakes, Pittsburg NH, Falls in the River, Dixville Notch, Table Rock, Nash Stream Forest, Percy Peaks, Stark Village, Kilkenny Ridge, Pondicherry Wildlife Refuge, Presidential Range, Dry River Wilderness, Davis Path, Mt Cabot, Mt Waumbek, Mt Isolation, Stairs Mt, Mt Crawford.
There was a lot of rain prior to (and during) the hike, so the trails were wet and muddy. But the streams were roaring and the waterfalls were great.

[@tammylee6342]

Great video!

[@judybriancunningham8868]

@@tammylee6342 Thank you!

[@jeffhartlen-oj6no]

Awesome video!! Live in southern NH but born raised in Colebrook. I’ve section hiked the Cohos over the years. I plan to do it in one shot in the fall.

[@judybriancunningham8868]

Thank you! The trail should be beautiful in the fall. Good luck on your hike!

[@Smokeybeesnatural]

Wonderful video! I'm planning for an October Thru-Hike this year. Your stats for each day were very helpful!

[@judybriancunningham8868]

Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed it and found it helpful! October should be a great time to do the trail. It should be drier and the foliage should be beautiful. I hope you have a great hike!

[@stacyan6612]

Great video! Did you cross the summit of Mt Isolation between Eisenhower and Stairs? I was just on Mt Parker looking over that way dreaming of backpacking this section!

[@judybriancunningham8868]

Thank you, Stacy! Yes, I did cross over Mt Isolation's summit. From the saddle below Eisenhower, I went down the Mt Eisenhower Trail to the Dry River, then crossed the river and ascended the Isolation West Trail to the Davis Path. Then I went south on the Davis Path to Stairs Mt, but I climbed the short spur path up to the summit of Mt Isolation along the way. I didn't mention that in the video, but there's a picture of me standing on a summit, with the Southern Presidentials in the background. That picture was taken on the summit of Mt Isolation. (I think I did a timelapse of the clouds from the summit too.) That whole area is really nice for backpacking. There are some campsites along the Davis Path, and there are even a few small sites right near the Mt Isolation summit, and there are great sites along the Dry River. Stairs Mt is my favorite campsite along the Davis Path. There's very little water available on the Davis Path though.

[@SunkistSteps]

Hi Brian--wondering if you could provide more specifics on the campsite you stayed at on the Edmands Path. Looks like a nice place!

[@judybriancunningham8868]

Hi SunkistSteps, thanks for watching the video. Sorry for the delay, I just finished hiking the Colorado Trail. The campsite on the Edmands Path is very nice. I had it to myself, but it's large and can fit several tents. I believe it's about 0.4 mile up the trail, just before a large brook. You'll see a very distinct herd path on your left, probably 100 yards before the brook. It will lead diagonally to the brook, where you'll find the campsite. If you put "Edmands Path Trailhead" in Google Maps, you'll see Abenaki Brook just a little way up the trail. I'm pretty sure that's the brook where the site is (I seem to remember a couple of very small brooks before Abenaki Brook, but Abenaki is large and you'll know it when you see it). Google says it takes about 11 minutes to walk there from the trailhead, which sounds about right.

[@SunkistSteps]

@@judybriancunningham8868 thank you! Hope you enjoyed the Colorado Trail. Its surely a good one!

[@Beertownbill]

I've never heard of this trail. I'm assuming it must cross the AT at some point, although I don't recall seeing any signage to the effect.

[@judybriancunningham8868]

Hi Bill. The Cohos is a relatively new trail, about 20 years old. It's in northern NH, between Crawford Notch and the Canadian border, the length of Coos County. It's about 170 miles, but my hike was a little longer because I did a few side trails too. I live in Massachusetts, so it's relatively easy for me to get to this trail (although it's still a long ride to the Canadian border). The Cohos Trail does cross the AT in the Presidential Range, between Mt Eisenhower and Mt Monroe, but there are no signs to indicate that. North of the White Mountains, there are lots of Cohos Trail signs, but in the Whites, the trail follows pre-existing trails and there are no Cohos Trail signs. Going SOBO, the CT ascends the Edmands Path, crosses the Crawford Path, and descends to the Dry River via the Mt Eisenhower Trail. There's an alternate "high route" that stays above treeline and follows the AT for a short distance. If you watched the whole video, that's that part where I had zero visibility and high winds, so I decided not to do the alternate high route. I see that you've hiked both the AT and the Colorado Trail. I've hiked much of the AT in Mass, NH, and VT, and some of it in Maine. The Colorado Trail is on my list, and I hope I can get to it before I'm too old to do it. Looks like you had some really nice campsites on that trail.

[@caseyowen9447]

This was an absolutely fantastic video, and also congratulations on completing it. I was wondering how you went about resupplies and how long your food carries were

[@judybriancunningham8868]

Hi Casey. Thanks so much for the nice comment! I'm glad you enjoyed the video and I hope it helps you if you decide to hike the Cohos Trail. Resupplying is a little tricky on this trail, because it doesn't pass through or near any towns with real supermarkets. I took 13 days to hike the trail, and I decided to do only one full resupply. My wife and I drove up to NH the day before I started hiking, and we stayed at Stark Village Inn, which is near the halfway point of the trail (though it's a 3 mile road walk west of the trail). I brought a resupply package with me and left it at the inn with Nancy, the proprietor. When I reached that area on day 7, I did the 3-mile road walk to the inn and picked up my resupply, and I also stayed at the inn that night too. It's a fantastic place to stay: beautiful location, very cost effective, and Nancy cooks a great breakfast. So I basically had a 6.5-day carry to the inn, then another 6 day carry to the end of the trail. But I knew that I would be passing three stores along the way: Young's Store in Pittsburg on day 2, Old Corner Store in Jefferson on day 10, and Bretton Woods Market on day 11. Those stores are small, but they all make sandwiches and Old Corner Store has pizza. So I lightened my food carries by planning on buying sandwiches and pizza for lunch and dinner on the days I went by those stores. And I bought breakfast sandwiches too at Old Corner Store and Bretton Woods Market. That worked out well for me. I'm not sure if you could do a full resupply at those stores, but maybe if you're not picky. The stores are not that well spaced for resupplies though. I know that you can also mail a resupply package to Nancy at Stark Village Inn (instead of dropping a package off in person like I did). Percy's Lodge & Campground is in Stark and is another option; I believe you can mail a package to them too, and it's closer to the trail than Stark Village Inn. They also have a small store, but it's not open every day. And the property is for sale, so I don't know if they will still be in operation in future years. Let me know if you have other questions. I enjoyed the trail!

[@michael_budda]

What a beautiful trail! Love the music too! Always good to see another Massachusetts hiker making KZbin videos! Just subbed 👍 if you want to to check out some of my hikes I’d appreciate some support as well! 😊

[@judybriancunningham8868]

Thank you Michael! I'm glad you enjoyed the video. I just finished hiking the Colorado Trail and I plan to make a video about that too (it will take a while because I took a million pictures and videos). I will definitely subscribe to your channel!

[@michael_budda]

@@judybriancunningham8868 hahaha the whole trail!? Yes I could imagine that would take a long time lol. Looking forward to it!! 💯