Rattle River Trail

Well, we had a break in the rain today, but very little sunshine.  The clouds were persistent in hanging around most of the day and now, as I’m writing this, it is raining again.  However, we have a fine forecast for tomorrow and on through the weekend with great temperatures and lots of sunny skies.  Looking forward to that.

Even though it was cloudy, we went for a short hike up Rattle River Trail to the first shelter.  We discovered this trail several days ago when we were waiting for Herb and Dwight to hike down from Imp Shelter.  The Appalachian Trail goes by several different names as it meanders through the White Mountains.  Rattle River Trail is our beloved AT.  This trail exits the woods at a large parking lot just one mile west of our campground.  Over the time we’ve been here,  we’ve driven by several times, but had not stopped to investigate the trail.  We did that the other day when we were waiting for Herb and Dwight.

With most of the trials in the Whites being very steep and covered in rocks (some the size of small cars) we were just shocked to see an almost flat, dirt trail.  Dwight and Herb reported that it was a very nice trail for a couple miles south from the parking lot.  That sounded great, so today we went to check it out.

We hiked the very gradual uphill climb on a mostly dirt trail for a little over a mile and a half to the first shelter.  The Rattle River Shelter is located on the Rattle River.  “River” is a stretch as a description of what we found.  It was much more like a mountain stream.  We found a rock for me and a log for Gene that looked like they would work for lunch.

We’ve gotten into a habit of having something hot with our lunch.  Today, Gene made a cup of chicken noodle soup for me and coffee for himself.  This spot might work well for coffee and danish some morning.

After a leisurely lunch, we went back to the shelter to read the entries in the shelter register.  This shelter is no different from dozens of other shelters along the AT--dark and damp.  There is a large fire ring out front and several tent pads located nearby.

No big views today, no high elevation ponds, but a splendid hike, nevertheless.

We don’t have definite plans, yet, but will probably go back to the greenway (perhaps I should say rail trail) tomorrow.  Gotta take it easy tomorrow and not tire ourselves out.  We have a big day planned for Saturday.

That’s all, folks.