Pemi Loop Gear List: What 31 Miles of the Whites Demands

The Pemigewasset Loop is about 31 miles with roughly 9,000 feet of elevation gain. Close to two miles of it runs above treeline on Franconia Ridge, with more open ground on the Bonds, and there is little shelter when weather moves in. Gear that is fine for a sheltered valley walk of the same distance is not always enough here. The same thinking applies to other exposed ridgeline routes.

Three conditions drive the choices below. Exposure: the Little Haystack–Lincoln–Lafayette stretch has no tree cover. Fast weather: summits that are clear at 9 a.m. can be in cloud with strong wind by noon, in any month. Dry ridges: once you leave the drainages, the dependable water is at the Liberty Spring, Garfield Ridge and Guyot campsite springs, plus Galehead Hut in season. So carry a shelter and layers that handle real wind, keep the pack light enough to move steadily through the exposed sections, and plan water carefully.

The list is built around wind, cold and dry ridges. The four main items, all from our catalogue: a Durston X-Mid 2 shelter (975 g in Durston's typical setup, MSRP $319.00), which pitches fly-first on trekking poles; an Osprey Exos 48 pack (1,255 g, MSRP $265.00) with a ventilated mesh back; the Kelty Cosmic Down 20 bag (1,106 g, MSRP $189.95), because campsite nights here run colder than the valley; and a Sea to Summit Ultralight XR pad (415 g, MSRP $149.00, R 3.6 as Sea to Summit publishes it).

Plan water for the dry stretches: capacity for about four liters — two 32 oz bottles plus a CNOC VectoX 2L container — so you can leave Liberty Spring, Garfield Ridge and Guyot with three or more, and a Sawyer Squeeze (85 g, MSRP $45.99) to treat it. Carry the shell, the puffy and a headlamp even on a clear forecast. Skip the trip if the Mount Washington Observatory's Higher Summits Forecast calls for stronger wind than you have hiked in.

Shelter: camping above treeline is prohibited in the White Mountain National Forest outside deep-snow conditions, so in practice you sleep at Liberty Spring, Garfield Ridge, Guyot or 13 Falls — wooded sites, several with tent platforms. The Durston X-Mid 2 (975 g with its stuff sacks and stakes, MSRP $319.00) pitches on the poles you already carry; bring extra guyline for platforms, where stake loops rarely line up with the attachment points. Skip it if you do not hike with poles: the Sea to Summit Alto TR2 (1,340 g packed) is a semi-freestanding alternative.

Pack: the Osprey Exos 48 (1,255 g, MSRP $265.00, rated by Osprey for 25 to 30 lb loads) suits the loop because you carry extra water through dry sections, and its mesh back ventilates on long climbs. The Gossamer Gear Gorilla 50 (885 g, MSRP $275.00) is lighter, for a compact kit. Sleep: nights at Guyot are colder than in the Lincoln Woods valley. The Cosmic Down 20 with warm layers covers three-season trips, and the Ultralight XR insulates you from the platform boards.

The clothing plan is built for one situation: halfway across Franconia Ridge, wind rising, temperature falling, and a long way to tree cover. Hypothermia happens here in summer too, especially to hikers who are wet with sweat and exposed to wind above treeline. Base layer: merino or synthetic, such as the Smartwool Classic Thermal 1/4 Zip (MSRP $130.00) in the shoulder seasons, lighter in July. Insulation: synthetic keeps more warmth when damp, which matters after two days of ridge humidity, so the Arc'teryx Atom Hoody (355 g) suits this trip better than down.

Do not go minimal on the shell. The Marmot PreCip Eco is a hooded waterproof jacket that doubles as the wind layer on the ridge; an emergency poncho is not enough where tree cover is far away. Add a Buff EcoStretch and light gloves in any month, and in shoulder season Kahtoola MICROspikes (338 g, MSRP $89.95), because north-facing sections hold ice after the trailhead is bare.

Going clockwise from Lincoln Woods, the dependable sources are the brooks low on the Osseo Trail, the Liberty Spring Tentsite spring, the Garfield Ridge Campsite spring, Galehead Hut in season, the Guyot Campsite spring, and the Franconia Brook drainage on the way out. Between them, Franconia Ridge from Liberty to Lafayette is dry, and so are the Bonds until well down toward the Wilderness Trail. In summer heat, leave Liberty Spring with three liters.

Gear: two 32 oz bottles, such as the Nalgene Wide Mouth 32 oz (178 g, MSRP $16.99), plus a CNOC VectoX 2L for camp and the dry stretches, and a Sawyer Squeeze (85 g, MSRP $45.99). Check the threads before you go: the Sawyer Squeeze screws onto 28 mm bottle threads, and neither this VectoX (42 mm opening) nor a wide-mouth Nalgene fits it, so filter from the pouch that comes with the Sawyer or a 28 mm bottle. Backflush the filter before the trip; a clogged filter at Guyot with a dry ridge ahead is a real problem. In late-summer dry spells, ask hikers coming the other way about the Garfield spring.

Navigation here is less about getting lost than about decisions in poor visibility. Above treeline in cloud, the cairns mark the route, and the bail-out trails — Falling Waters off Little Haystack, Old Bridle Path off Lafayette — should be planned before you need them. Carry a paper map in a zip bag and the loop downloaded offline, and check the Higher Summits Forecast the morning you start.

Cell coverage is patchy to absent, especially on the east side, so a Garmin inReach Mini 2 (MSRP $349.99) is worth carrying; skip it only if someone in your group already has one, and leave an itinerary either way. Also carry a charged Nitecore NU25 UL headlamp, because hikers who underestimate this loop's pace end up on Garfield Ridge in the dark; the AMK Ultralight/Watertight .5 kit (MSRP $31.99) with Leukotape P for blisters; a Victorinox Classic SD (21 g); and repair tape for pad and shelter, since platforms and roots are hard on inflatable pads.

Most people plan two nights, often Liberty Spring or Garfield Ridge first and Guyot second. That means two days of food at 1.5 to 2 lb per day, and it lets you cross the exposed sections in the morning, before summer afternoon thunderstorms tend to build.

The one-day version is common, and it goes wrong for people caught by weather or darkness with no insulation and no shelter. If you try it in a day, carry the puffy, the shell, the headlamp and the first-aid kit anyway. If you stay overnight, the designated-site rules and the 200-foot camping rule in the Pemigewasset Wilderness still apply.