My Trails

8/29/12 – 1865 miles
Tonight we are at Pinkham Notch where the AMC has another lodge for tired hikers. We have only averaged 8 to 10 mile days through the White Mountains, making for some extra planning to arrive where we want to be next. We keep looking at the guide and plan to get someplace only 12 or 14 miles distant, totally reasonable a few weeks ago, but in this environment, not realistic.

Today’s weather was windy but clear. Everyone had on several layers of clothing as we started out. The wind and cold temperature on the mountain made us bundle into jackets and rain gear just to ward off the cold. NTrovert, Kleenex, and I all had socks on our hands. As we eventually reached lower altitude and found protection below treeline, the clothes came gradually off until we were once again in shorts and t-shirts.

Tomorrow we will climb up Wildcat Mountain, said by some to be just as tough as anything we’ve just been through. The weather is supposed to be good for the next few days, thankfully.

8/28/12 – 1857 miles
Early in the evening the clouds rolled in and wind picked up in intensity. By morning there was a storm headed toward Mount Washington and we knew the day would be a challenging hike to our next destination Madison Hut. The trail was almost completely above treeline, leaving little protection from the wind. At times we could only see 20 yards in front of us. We picked our way cautiously along a rock boulded ridge, climbing higher into the void of mist, hanging onto anything we could grab, while the wind tried with all its might to blow us off the mountain.

After many hours of climbing, a brief rain and sleet shower soaked our clothes and made the rocks even harder to negotiate. Finally, the buildings on the summit of Washington came into view and we scurried inside to dry out and warm up. In all we spent about an hour eating, looking at exhibits, and warming our tired bodies.

The hike down from Mt. Washington was even worse, if you can believe it. The wind blew so hard it would rip the pack covers from our packs and several times we lost our balance and fell against some boulders when the wind would catch us without a brace. We found out later that the gusts were clocked up to 70 mph.

At about 6:00 pm we finally reached Madison Hut and booked bunks for the night. Because of the weather there were many cancellations and plenty of room for us. It was expensive but we were too tired to work for our stay. We enjoyed a good meal and slept safe.

8/27/12 – 1850 miles
The White Mountains have been quite a challenge. The terrain is so rugged that our mileage has dropped considerably. Each day we have several mountains to climb and the trail can be straight up on the assent or drop down a shear cliff on the descent. It takes all your energy and concentration to negotiate some places.

Tonight we are at Lake Of The Clouds Hut just below Mount Washington. It is spectacularly beautiful here. The hut is the largest of all huts in the Whites, holding something like 65 paying guests. Thruhikers have the option of buying a bed for $120 if there is room or working for stay if they will take you. We arrived too early to work so they offered us a place in the basement – called the dungeon – for $10 apiece. It really looks like a dungeon with dark, smelly bunks, a steal door, and odors of heating fuel and toilet. But at least we will be dry – it is supposed to rain tonight and tomorrow.

Tomorrow we will go over Mount Washington come rain or shine. I’m still hiking with the Troverts and Kleenex, even though I have slowed down some, it’s alright. I enjoy their company and it feels safer to have others with me.

8/24/12 – 1824 miles
The White Mountains are very rugged and strenuous but beautiful. Tonight we are camped at Garfield Ridge Shelter/Campsite, only 10 miles from Franconia Notch the starting place today. We have three tents set up on a wooden platform. Unfortunately, we are right beside a group of section hikers on the first day of their trip, excited to be in the mountains, ready to stay up late into the night talking and joking. But we are ready to go to sleep. When the sun goes down, it’s time for thruhikers to go to bed.

There were several mountains we crossed today: Haystack, Lincoln, Garfield, and Lafayette. They are not as high as the mountains out west, but the trail is very steep and rocky up and down each and every one. Our forward progress dropped to one mile per hour through much of the hike today.

We are pretty lucky – the weather has been perfect. There is no rain in the forecast for the next several days so we are reveling in the idea of getting through the Whites without dealing with slippery rocks, wet gear, and no views. Lets hope the weatherman is right.

8/22/12 – 1795 miles
Today was my first slack pack. I always told myself that I wanted to carry my pack the whole way, remain pure by not accepting help from anyone, but like a lot of things that have happened along the way, I changed my mind – the White Mountains changed my mind.

Last night, Dead Eye had a bout of diarrhea just after dinner that kept him up for part of the night. He thought it best to bow out of today’s hike instead of fighting the trail and running behind a tree every few minutes. It worked out that Kleenex’s sister, Allison was coming to spend a couple of days slack packing a few of us through the first two notches and mountain ranges, leaving her free during the day. Dead Eye went with Allison to secure motel rooms and store all our gear until we climbed Mount Moosilauke and descended a tortoise rock scramble at Kinsman Notch. Tomorrow, Allison will take five of us to the trail at Kinsman and then take Daryl (Dead Eye will be off the trail) to Lebanon for his flight home the next day.

Of has been wonderful to spend some time with Daryl on my hike. He moved along the trail like thruhikers that have been out here for months.I asked him if he felt cheated spending time with me because of the other hikers I hang out with. He said, “No, and in fact it has been fun meeting some of your friends.” I know he understands the type of hiker-family that develops on the trail. Just now that I’m getting to the mountains, I need some people to go through with me.