Do you remember when......?

[jn316]

The weather looks a little cold and windy to venture above treeline tomorrow, so maybe some of us more "seasoned" hikers will stay by the fire and remember when we first started to know the mountains. Things have stayed pretty much the same over the years, thank God, but there have been some changes.
Do you remember when....

There were 360 views from Carter Dome and Hale (as others have mentioned here recently)...
The Flume Slide and Liberty Spring Trails stated at the head of the Flume (hikers didn't need to pay the entrance fee)...
The Air Line and Gale River Trail were longer...
The Falling Waters Trail ran beneath Shining Rock Cliff..
The TipTop House offered hikers a bunk bed and dinner in the summit hotel for about $6...
The Gulfside ended on the Auto Rd...
The Kanc was a work in progress..
Gorge Brook was steep..
Mizpah was a shelter..
there was talk of Sphinx Hut
And then there are trails we've lost, among them: Adams Slide, Asquamchamauke, N. Percy.

I'm sure others can remember more of the good old days, which continue until now...

 

[audrey]

I started hiking in 1981 and Gorge Brook was still steep then.

The trail along Gulf Hagas still ran along the rim;
The Osseo Trail still started at the Kancamagus;
Air pollution was less in the Whites and you could still get a clear haze-free view many days, though I do recall a frequent yellow fog hanging over Concord NH, that's hardly ever there any more.
We now have the wonderful Kilkenny Ridge Trail over the Weeks peaks and Terrace Mt.
And you could still legally climb the Marston (South Brother) slide.

 

[Pete_Hickey]

Do you remember when... everyone drank straight from the streams.

 

[sierra]

I remember having lunch in the Edmonds Col shelter and when most of the hikers in the backcountry where seasoned vets.

 

[Snowflea]

Winter hiking

I remember when breaking trail on a winter hike was the rule rather than the exception...



.

 

[post'r boy]

when there were no computers to give you all the latest trail conditions, grey knob was a baseball bat style shelter along with the log cabin,the old crabs camp with the red coutertops,old man lowe manned the rocking chair at the gas station, no highway through the notch, rte 115 was a one big frost heave, snowshoes made a second comeback, sleeping "inside" the firetower on carrigain, black mtn and doublehead cabins were unlocked and free to use, the crawford notch hotel,wool was worn along with nylon, all the buildings on top of washington were made of wood, n.conway was a one horse town with an airpstrip, lincoln woods parking lot was dirt,lincoln was a 1/2 horse town, everyone had an a-frame winter tent, snow banks towered over your car
hi stinky!!

 

[dug]

There was a big debate to run I-93 through the notch, or through Easton. Saving the Old Man was one of the reasons.

 

[MikePS]

Piper Trailhead free parking, no reservations for camping on the Kanc (Friday night rush to get a spot), no swimming/parking restrictions on Lake Chocorua, starting trails at 10:00 LT #1 at Roaring Brook with the great fire seat and knees that woke up feeling good

 

[prino]

I remember when you could arrive at 9-00am on a Saturday or Sunday at the ADK Loj and have no trouble finding a parking spot!
That's a loooooooong time ago.

 

[RoySwkr]

There were staffed fire towers in the White Mountains, Maine, and Vermont, and lookouts who would give a kid a ride down in their jeep

 

[jn316]

remembering old fragrances

when the lodge at Pinkham Notch Camp (not Visitor Center) smelled like pine tar...

in June, when you knew a quarter-mile before you passed him that the hiker ahead of you was wearing Woodsman's Fly Dope...

When on top of Madison or even Monroe you could get a good whiff of Berlin..

 

[Mike]

When Route 3 or 16 was the only North/South route and route 4 was the East/West route, early morning starts had a different meaning.

 

[bruno]

Do you remember when... everyone drank straight from the streams.

i still do up high. never ever gotten sick. not once.

(hi stinky and ospreyaboya!!)

 

[funkyfreddy]

Do you remember when.....

there were no strip malls in N. Conway, NH?

when the stars were really bright in the night sky above the WMNF, before there were strip malls in N. Conway, NH?

gas was less than .99 cents?

when it was cheap to stay at AMC facilities?

the backcountry was backcountry and hardly anyone went there?

when you went into the woods and climbed mountains before knowing about lists?

they played good music on AM and FM radio? (OK - now I'm really dating myself!)

 

[dms]

There were no conga lines on Lincoln-Lafayette, you didn't have cell phone yackers loudly talking on every popular summit.

 

[Kevin Rooney]

I remember -

when I89 hadn't been built, and the drive to Fenway involved going down US4 and winding around Mascoma Lake and the Lady of Lasellete (sp?) shine

when the Kancamangus Hwy was mostly gravel and closed in winter

when AMC membership required an existing member to “sponsor” an applicant

when the Long Trail Lodge was on the South side of Sherburne Pass

when getting 2 TV channels was considered good service, and 3 was unheard of

when 4 wheel drive existed only on military vehicles

when the only tires available were bias-ply

when attending a 2-room schoolhouse wasn't out of the ordinary

when 'duck & cover' was still rehearsed

when word came that JFK had been shot (in English class in HS)

when the huge electrical blackout hit the Northeast (maybe in '65?) - was in the dentist's chair

when the telephone service was switched manually by the lady who lived across the street, and you could listen to your neighbor's party line?

when schools never closed due to weather (OK, grades 1-8 were within walking distance for most, but HS was 13 miles away. Only time HS was closed was once for 3 days when the heating system froze and the pipes broke)

 

[Dugan]

Kanc's been there as long as I've been going to the Whites (early 80's) but Franconia notch sure has changed...

How 'bout, when AT/LT ran west of Stratton Mt instead of over the summit...
and even west of Stratton Pond

when my very first overnight in the Whites was to bag Carrigain... and Desolation Shelter was still there

and Lincoln Woods parking was a LOT smaller...

 

[Amicus]

Nov. 22. 1963

Anyone attending a parochial school then (Holy Family - Sisters of St Joseph - in my case) isn't likely to forget that date. I think it was early on a Friday afternoon. A head nun gathered us for the solemn announcement, following which we crossed Union St., Rockland, MA, to the church, where we prayed rather desperately for about two hours, then walked home (two minutes for me). My folks were glued to the TV - at that time unusual. JFK was a secular saint to many then.

In the late '50's, we went up to No. Conway for a few family winter weekends (staying in what I remember as a Swiss chalet). In my memory, the snow was about 12' deep. Global warming, no doubt.

Also, until I was about 18, hiking meant Boy Scouts or summer camp, period. (A flatlander thing?)

 

[jn316]

lest we get too nostalgic, it wasn't perfect way back then:

cold feet at minus ten in leather boots and 12 pt eckenstien (cast iron?)crampons..

the monstrous air force buildings near ball crag....



but it was nice to hike with a full supply of cartilage

 

[Grumpy]

. . . In the Adirondacks:

* There was a leanto situated nearly at the brink of Indian Falls. Another one at The Plateau (with a great view of Marcy’s summit dome). Leantos at Four Corners and Lake Tear of the Clouds, and at Lake Arnold.

* The Upper Twin Brook Trail was officially open.

* Flowed Lands before the dam was breached.

* Marcy Dam as a log crib structure.

* Hitch-Up-Matilda as a rustic, sometimes wobbly and tricky log bridge.

* When caretaker Charlie Nolan reigned as the Prince of Lake Colden.

G.