SheldonTimes

The view from near the summit

With three days between a family reunion in southern Maine and another family get together at the Connecticut shore, we had just enough time to fit in some backpacking. What better place than the White Mountains to really get away from civilization? We found a quiet area on the Maine-New Hampshire border, a few miles north of Freyburg, Maine, and chose Basin Campground as a base camp from which to launch our two-night excursion.

We decided on a loop from Basin Campground to West Royce Mountain via Royce Trail and from West Royce via Basin Rim Trail and Basin Trail. Although during the day we would occasionally hear an airplane, the nights were very quiet, with no sounds of human activity, exactly as we had wished.

The hiking with packs was tiring, but we returned safe and happy and thinking ahead to our next adventure. See the photos.