New Hampshire 200 Highest and New Hampshire 300 Highest Lists

[TEO]

The herd paths that I spotted on the Hitchcocks were very faint and brief, and were confined to the ridges near the summits, but they seemed to be more than just moose paths. I certainly would not go up there expecting to be able to use them in place of a map & compass. There was nothing established enough to ease the way, or worth trying to really follow, they were just minor signs that others had traveled that way before.

 

[RoySwkr]

The concept of the NH300 started on a hand written piece of paper by a man who has become a bit of a legend in the New England whacking community, John Person, in the early 1990's. His original intent was a NE1000, but the basis of the NH300 came from that first list.... John never himself completed.

I heard that JRP finished his version, which included jigsaw peaks like W Rump

Another independent version of the list appeared at the finishing party for #6 of the New England 3k, who was given a copy of a New England 2k list which at that time included some 15' maps. That guy hasn't been heard from much lately, maybe he is still working on it

 

[skiguy]

You can indeed find the active bushwhackers by looking at the sign-ins... unfortunately, you may also notice a pattern of snarky/inappropriate/rude remarks that correlates to this "secret society". Transparency concerning these lists is a good thing.

Interesting post for #666. Not everyone signs the registers. Therefore maybe they are the ones that hold the keys to the "Illuminati of the whackers". In all seriousness I find the snarky remarks entertaining and donot put much weight on them. In the big picture I have found the hiking community to be very forthcoming with info wether it be a list or just a place to quaff a beer and a burger afterwards. IMO any secret handshakes going on is really more about respecting the folks that just don't want to have the beta blasted all over the Internet. Information was given by word of mouth and acquaintance a long time before the web. Therefore I believe it is important to respect that tradition. So just try asking around without the use of the net or at least use a PM. You never know what you might find out.

 

[rocket21]

Not everyone signs the registers. Therefore maybe they are the ones that hold the keys to the "Illuminati of the whackers". In all seriousness I find the snarky remarks entertaining and donot put much weight on them. In the big picture I have found the hiking community to be very forthcoming with info wether it be a list or just a place to quaff a beer and a burger afterwards. IMO any secret handshakes going on is really more about respecting the folks that just don't want to have the beta blasted all over the Internet.

Some members of the secret 'community' have put death threats and homophobic remarks in the canisters, which I don't think many find entertaining or snarky.

 

[skiguy]

Some members of the secret 'community' have put death threats and homophobic remarks in the canisters, which I don't think many find entertaining or snarky.

Like I said I don't put too much weight on those comments. It's the people that steal ballpoint pens from Cannon Mt. that really concern me.

 

[NewHampshire]

I heard that JRP finished his version, which included jigsaw peaks like W Rump

Another independent version of the list appeared at the finishing party for #6 of the New England 3k, who was given a copy of a New England 2k list which at that time included some 15' maps. That guy hasn't been heard from much lately, maybe he is still working on it

You are correct. I misunderstood Keith when he said JR did not finish the NH300. He said that JR's NE1000 list fell 13 peaks short on what the NH300 would be, so thus while he completed NE1000, he was 13 short of finishing the NH300.

So I stand corrected.

Brian

 

[TEO]

Like I said I don't put too much weight on those comments. It's the people that steal ballpoint pens from Cannon Mt. that really concern me.

I don't have any issues with death threats, per se, but I've seen one of the comments that Rocket21 alludes to, and it seemed to me to be inappropriate. I don't think summit canisters are an appropriate venue for personal attacks. That's what the inter webs are for.

That said, such remarks are infrequent in my experience, but maybe that's just because I need to get out more. My favorite register entry was that of a good friend, who happened to have summitted that peak 20 years and one month, to the day, before I did. One of the old log-books at the Panther Gorge lean-to, on the other side of the sixth Great Lake, had some brilliant entries.

 

[akafuzzjones]

Indeed there is a secret society of peakbaggers, however while it may be signing a death-warrant, I can tell you how to unravel the super-secret membership roster: bushwhack to the summit of a sub-NEHH peak. If there is a canister, its register will contain a partial membership roster. By bushwhacking to more of these peaks, you will eventually accumulate an almost-complete roster.

Hadn't considered this approach to unraveling the mystery, although some subsequent posts in this thread has also shed some light on this subject.

 

[RoySwkr]

Some members of the secret 'community' have put death threats and homophobic remarks in the canisters, which I don't think many find entertaining or snarky.

I can say for sure that there is no secret community, because most serious bushwhackers are quite independent and disdain each other as much as they disdain the rest of the world. From reading various messages I can infer that some don't like me, some don't like r21, some don't like bryan, noway would they get together on anything. Historically, when there were 3 people vying to be first on the NH3k they mostly went alone or with their own friends rather than banding together.

The closest thing to a secret community I know of is the Sent To list for the message in the base note, who were planning a NH300 list without including any finishers or anybody who had one.

Depending on what criteria you use for a peak, there are maybe 2200 peaks in NH and I know two guys who have each hiked over 1500 of them. These guys know each other but have probably hiked together less than a dozen times because each has his own style of doing things. They don't belong to this or other Internet groups because nobody else wants info on the places they do and vice versa.

 

[rocket21]

I can say for sure that there is no secret community, because most serious bushwhackers are quite independent and disdain each other as much as they disdain the rest of the world.

I take it you're not a member of the private "New England Bushwhackers" ("NEBW") Google group referred to by various bushwhackers in various canisters across New England?

 

[Snowflea]

Secret societies?
Homophobic slurs?
Death threats??

Sad. Who knew bushwhacking could sound like a bad B movie?
Think I'm happier having quit after the NH 100 Highest 20+ years ago.

 

[Motabobo]

I take it you're not a member of the private "New England Bushwhackers" ("NEBW") Google group referred to by various bushwhackers in various canisters across New England?

I heard that part of their initiation process is to make you bushwhack all 5 Hitchcocks in a day, barefoot and naked.

 

[bikehikeskifish]

The closest thing to a secret community I know of is the Sent To list for the message in the base note, who were planning a NH300 list without including any finishers or anybody who had one.

I was in the sent to list and was not part of planning. Presumably you meant the senders?

Do you know they did not publish this message through other means? They clearly stated this version was meant to be shared which doesn't sound all that secretive to me. Further the list is publicly available on their website not unlike the AMC lists being on the AMC web site.

Do you know they didn't contact the current keepers of the interior lists? Maybe they did and were denied thus leading to the position the interior lists are secret.

Some pretty weighty assertions there Roy with not a lot of backing.

I happen to know of the existence of the NEBW list and their occasional pastime of poking fun at vftt.org. But it's only hearsay.

Tim

 

[skiguy]

I heard that part of their initiation process is to make you bushwhack all 5 Hitchcocks in a day, barefoot and naked.

Are those peaks and criteria included on some secret list we don't know about?

 

[Raven]

This thread is great.

My opinion of the info is that it seems secretive because very few people care to have it. I can't speak to NH300 or the 3,000 footers, etc, but I finished the NEHH 10 years ago. Other than the TW72, my bush whacking really stopped there. My experience was to send a request letter to the committee. I was given an envelope with some pointers and details on approaches for each mountain as well as photocopied sections of maps. In many cases I bought the large USGS quad for the area and looked over possible ways and routes to summit. It was an awesome adventure and fun way to do it. It was not pre-internet days when I was hiking them, but I was not using the internet for research at the time and did not really even know if it was out there.

I really enjoyed the experience of having very little information on routes and finding my own way to the summits solo with a map and compass. That's not to disparage other means of locating the summit (GPS, following a group, etc.), just to point out that I enjoyed NOT knowing the exact routes others had taken and enjoyed having to rely on a combination of map and compass and terrain features.

The part that made the NEHH feel different was the logging slash, the impenetrable spruce whose trunks were sometimes too close together to squeeze between, and the lack of herd paths. Sometimes I found a herd path, but just as often there was no sign of one. I only ran into one other person ever while doing the BW peaks, a man coming up from another direction (Moose Mountain I think but would have to look at notes) We were able to hike out together.

My experience (limited) was that when asking for the information I wanted on the NEHH, I was given it. I also asked for very little information...but enough.

As far as the summit registers were concerned, all I recall seeing was sporadic names, an occasional comment related to peak number on a list, and an occasional drawing. I often draw a raven outline. I never saw a derogatory comment in a register on these summits, but again, I was limited to NEHH BW peaks and other than a handful of TW peaks, most were over 10 years ago. Apparently, things may have changed. Too bad if so.

I am of the opinion that it should take asking for the information personally, but not that it should be a secret. I can see why some of this info is not posted online which might encourage overuse. Maybe it shouldn't be that easy. I can also understand why people who have slaved over maps into the wee hours may not want to give that info up to anyone who asks. We all have the means to calculate these lists ourselves if necessary. The reality is I think most people who had this info would choose not to use it after finding out the reality of bush whacking. It's not the champagne and caviar it's often cracked up to be.

 

[RoySwkr]

I take it you're not a member of the private "New England Bushwhackers" ("NEBW") Google group referred to by various bushwhackers in various canisters across New England?

I would say nobody is a member since it was archived awhile ago, as EdH was a member I'm not sure how he can consider it secret

And while it existed the members argued with each other about as much as the members here do, so it wasn't a unified cabal

If somebody mentions VFTT in a peak register, does that make VFTT a secret society?

I hear rumors that there is a VFTT Facebook group, is that a secret council?

Do you know they didn't contact the current keepers of the interior lists? Maybe they did and were denied thus leading to the position the interior lists are secret.

Some pretty weighty assertions there Roy with not a lot of backing.

I wasn't asked, and I have a list that has been checked with 2 other independently-derived lists, and I don't know anybody else who was

I'll let r21 name those who were allegedly checked with if they exist

 

[rocket21]

If somebody mentions VFTT in a peak register, does that make VFTT a secret society?

I hear rumors that there is a VFTT Facebook group, is that a secret council?

The bulk of VFTT can be viewed by the public, regardless of whether they have a user account. That was not the case for NEBW. In fact, certain individuals took to canisters to taunt other individuals about not being allowed to join, which was pretty humourous to say the least.

I'll let r21 name those who were allegedly checked with if they exist

I can only answer for the Ossipee 10. I did not compile the NH 200 or NH 300.

 

[elhefe007a]

I remember when the NE3k list was impossible to get ones hands on. I thought I had struck gold when I got a copy.

Anyway, awesome lists, thanks for compiling and making public for all! I've added them to the peak bagging app (see signature) for those who are using it.

 

[J&J]

In the interest of transparency…

The NH300 lists aren’t considered super secret, however they aren’t passed out indiscriminately either, but passed out to those considered to be good stewards of the bushwhacking community. Usually one of the caveats to receiving a list is that they were not to be published on the Internet.

The original developer of the list back in the ‘90’s spent a lot of time studying topo’s coming up with his list. The most current updated lists received the same type of scrutiny. When someone spends a lot of time developing lists, hiking the peaks, reviewing, comparing with other people working on the same list, they become very protective of their lists and don’t want to be handing their lists to just anyone.

In fact, Ed himself received a copy of an updated NH300 list last year so he’s had the list for a while. Ed has also passed this same list along to many of his web site insiders, and also several members of VFTT. Bryan himself received a copy of an older list. An additional NH300 list was recently posted elsewhere on the net a few weeks before Ed and Bryan went public with their list. All the lists vary by a handful or less of peaks. I’m sure the 48x12 version of the NH300 list will be reviewed thoroughly, compared to the current existing versions, and republished with a more accurate list based upon the most current versions.

What I don’t understand is the ill feeling towards the list keepers who spent a lot of time and effort developing their own lists and are wary of passing them out to everyone who asks for them. There is no law that says all lists shall be shared. Especially if the public posting of said lists is the end result. There is also no law that says someone without the list can’t develop their own lists by studying the topo’s as it was done in the old days, but then again, everyone likes a shortcut.

I also don’t like the fact the NEBW is being painted with a very broad brush because a very small number of members make stupid remarks in registers. I agree those types of entries are totally inappropriate. Those people represent themselves, not NEBW. Most members of NEBW are well known in the hiking community and are considered exceptional stewards of bushwhacking and hiking in general.

As Roy states, NEBW is now a defunct group. They were a like-minded group of bushwhackers sharing the joy and travails that the sport entails. There is no secret society of bushwhackers, never has been, but that may change. The Internet has changed things and not necessarily for the better. Roy also describes perfectly the mindset of most bushwhackers, independent to a T. That’s why they bushwhack.

Another thing that does bother me is the subjugation of the lists. Nothing is being said of the original list makers. They should be honored with some sort of statement as the original creators of whatever lists. List makers such as John Person, Gene Daniell, Iris Baird and Chris Haartz for the fire tower list, and other list makers, current and past. It seems like the wrong people are getting credit for others works.

As far as I’m concerned, this whole NH200-NH300 list issue is much ado about nothing with the exception of the posting the list on the Internet when being asked not too. Even then, does it really matter? Over 10,000 known people have completed the NH4k’s. There could be another 1,000-10,000 unknown people who completed the 48. Each advanced list (NE67, NE100) drops considerably in member numbers, as the lists get tougher. Less than 130 known people have completed the NH100. Less than 30 known people have completed the NH200 list. A list in the single digits comprises the finishers of the NH300 list currently.

Discounting anyone currently working on the NH300 list, I don’t see the finisher list doubling in the next five years. However, it’s now on the ‘net, there are even patches (for once I like the patches as they are a carbon copy of Bill Bowden’s NH100 patch) for the NH200-300 lists finishers (if they apply), and the glory shall rain down on them for all time when they complete their last 2,400’ peak. I’ve finished my NH200 and I’ll be a NH300 finisher but I won’t be applying. I shall remain an independent bushwhacker.

John

 

[TEO]

For sale!

PEAKBAGGING LISTS FOR SALE (NOTE: DOES NOT INCLUDE SHIPPING COSTS)

1 Fair condition, mostly-filled NHHH List: $50 OBO

1 Good condition, partially-filled NH200 List: $75

1 Good condition, slightly-filled NE770: $185 FIRM

FREE (shipping cost only): 1 Poor condition, completely filled NEHH list & 1 poor condition, completely filled NE116 list