Backpacking in the White Mountains of New Hampshire

Our latest adventure was a backpacking trip to the White Mountains of New Hampshire! Our group was made up of 3 families, 13 children and 5 adults (my poor hubby had to work :( )

We were a little apprehensive about the weather that had been forecast for the area, but decided we were going to stick it out.Temps during the day were in the lower 40's, and at night 30's. We had several rain showers, and even some snow in the middle of the second night. We were blessed to be able to stay at the Jeffers Brook Shelter, on the Appalachian Trail.

Here are some pictures from our trip :)

 
 The shelter we stayed in was 10 X 20, and had an open front with several small leaks. We squeezed all 18 of us into that shelter! Very cozy :)

Day two, we walked up part of the Beaver Brook Trail. After hearing from some other folks that the trail became very slippery and unsafe, a friend of mine and I opted to take some of the kiddos and head back down. Some of the older kids went farther up with a few of the other adults.

 The beginning of the falls...

 Adam eating his lunch about 16 inches from the edge of a huge drop off, right next to the cascades.

 Karina, walking across one of the bridges on the trail...

Some beautiful wild flowers Karina and her buddies picked..

 One of the magnificent views up in the White Mountains...we had to stop for pictures :)

 My beautiful kiddos...

 Several of us in the group are barefooters...we managed to do the weekend primarily barefoot (one of my friends made it the whole weekend barefoot I believe!) The hardest was first thing in the morning. when the temps were still quite low. The ground was wet from all of the rain, and the combo made it pretty rough on the feet :)

We had such a wonderful time in the White Mountains and can't wait until next year to do it again!