Hammocking in the whites

[CTGuy]

Hi, I have one week long AT trip left to go on before I go back to school and was trying to choose between the Green Mountains, the Southwestern Whites, or the Presidentials. I am thinking the Southwestern Whites map 3&4 starting with Mt. Moosilauke. However I have heard mixed things about hanging in the Whites since much of it is above treeline, and im only looking to do maybe 10 to 12 miles tops per day, if that, since it looks pretty rugged. Would it be realistic for me and my friend to hang here?

[amac]

The majority of "above-tree-line" area is in the Presidentials. Regardless of whether you hammock or tent, you'll need to get back down out of the alpine zone to set up camp (1. its the rules, and 2. safety). Finding a hammock site will be much easier than a tent site. There's tons of trees, not many flat spots. I did the southern Presidentials (Mt Wash. and south) last Sept with a hammock. Had no problem finding a pair of trees. Part of your plan has to take into account the time to hike down out of the alpine zone, and that can take a good hour to get low enough for strong trees.

[lazy river road]

I personally love the green mt's. Plenty of trees to hang from. On the other hand I havent been to the other places you mentioned so I cant speak about them. But the green mt's are a beatiful place to hike and in the GM National Forest and in the wilderness areas you can pretty much camp where you want. Outside those areas it depends on which section of the GM'ts you are in and like most places camping above tree line is not allowed (and generally not safe). Have fun where ever you go and dont forget to post a trip report

[tjm]

The main reason I bought my hammock was to make it easier to find stealth camp sites in the Whites.

Search Phil's site - sectionhiker.com - for his section hikes in the Whites. I know he used a hammmock for the Wildcat / Carter Range. He has sectioned hiked all of those areas and will be happy to reply.

As amac said, the Presidential range is all above tree line hiking and you will need to drop some elevation to find trees with a 4" diameter.

Mt. Moosilauke and Kinsman ridge were made for hammocks.

From the parts I have done, never a problem hammocking on the LT.