Sunset and Sunrise

I made it to Lincoln NH! And I'm almost finished with all the White Mountains! Just two more mountains left to go, then it's mostly flat and shouldn't be too hard (fingers crossed).

Mt. Washington summit

In other news, I decided that I'd focus my blog more on the interesting stories and less on the physical walking (which I'm putting more in the Stats section). Y'all have read enough of me explaining my pain I think. I'll focus on things you guys probably find more interesting. Also, there are far too many people in the Whites. I miss Maine.

Also, I'm sorry about the formatting issues. I ran out of time.

Day 29 (July 12): 5 Mountain Day

I rode the shuttle to Pinkham's notch with a few NoBos, and one other SoBo who I had met a long time ago named Brightside. Brightside planned and trained for this hike for a year and a half with his granddaughter, and sold his business to hike the AT with her. After the 100 mile wilderness, she decided "she was more of a section hiker" and took a bus home. He now has twice the budget he started with, and is hiking a fair bit faster with fewer breaks. He's a great guy.

Five Mountains to go (Madison, Adams, JJefferson, Clay, and Washington)

A few miles into the trail, after Brightside and I got split up, I saw Daddyo. He had been at the White Mountain Lodge when I left for the wedding! Turns out he took it kind of slow, and then got lost for a day (there were a lot of intersecting trails and the AMC does an awful job of blazing the AT). So, he decided to wait for a thru hiker he knew, and greeted me with "I've been waiting for you. Let's go."

Random suspension bridge in the trail

Daddyo and I eventually met up with Brightside at the first mountain we had to climb (Mt. Madison), a 2.6 mile 2800 foot climb which is said to be the hardest incline on the AT.

Four mountains to go

Daddyo, Brightside, and I eventually got split up (uphills tend to do that, because everyine has their own crusing pace on them), and we all passed tons of day and weekend hikers with much smaller packs. I'm probably a bad person for it, but I get a kick out of jogging past them on the uphills. I figure it's also just kind of polite because it lets them get back to hiking sooner, and I know I don't like stopping (especially long) for other hikers.

Three mountains remaining

As I was climbing, I occasionally checked behind me to see the view and admire all the day hikers (so many people), when I saw a yellow shirt in the group. I hadn't passed anyone in a yellow shirt. So I walked faster. I checked later, and he was gaining on me. Eventually, near the summit he passed me, but he was a thru hiker, so I'm OK with that. He's also probably the most intense SoBo I've met. He's starting his Triple Triple Crown. For those of you who don't follow hiker lingo, a "triple crown" is given (It's really more of a title) to a person who has thru hiked the Appalachian Trail  (2100 miles on the east coast), the Pacific Crest Trail (2600 miles on the west coast) and the Continental Divide Trail (3 miles in the middle). Wrong Way (the yellow shirted thru hiker) has done each of them twice, so has a double triple crown. He's now starting the AT for the third time, then will do the CDT and PCT a third time so he can get his Triple Triple Crown. I think he's in his sixties. He says he's been homeless and hiking and wandering all over the U.S. for 10 years now, ever since he retired (he goes south in the winter).

Two mountains remaining

Eventually, I got to Madison Hut, a beacon of civilization and day and weekend hikers and free water. I arrived around 1 PM, and chatted with Wrong Way, a couple NoBos, and Brightside before heading out from the hut at 2:30 or so, to hike the remaining 4 mountains I had planned for the day.

Just one... more... mountain

The crowded observation deck

While hiking along the presidential ridgeline (after Madison) I passed a ton of casual hikers going from hut to hut, but no SoBos. One guy told me I should skip Mt. Washington because it's a zoo with a ton of people who just drove up or rode the train up there and that I couldn't see anything anyways, so should just skip it. I responded, "but it's on the AT..." and he kinda looked at me funny then we both left. Normal people: so weird.

A view of the first four mountains I climbed

I guess my legs were kinda tired and I ran out of water, so the climb to Washington took me longer than expected. I got there at 7:30, searching for water and maybe snacks and ice cream. Apparently, the mountain closes at 6 PM though, so everything was closed and locked. There was no water. Some good views though, and no line for a picture by the summit sign (other thru hikers had to wait in a 5 minute line to get their summit picture).

Sunset as I walked to the hut

Finally, I descended from Mt. Washington to the Lakes of the Clouds hut, and got to do work for stay. I made beds the next day and got to set up my hammock in their dining hall and eat their leftover pancakes and bacon and eggs in the morning. Worth.

In Lakes of the Clouds, I saw Double Dip and Camp Shoes,  who had come from Madison hut today. We caught up, apparently Moose was stealth camping a few miles ahead because she was uncomfortable with all the people  (there were maybe 100 people there), and Peaches was sick with some form of diarrhea. He'd also drunk some unfiltered water the day before.

Stats:
Milage: 15.0 miles
Elevation change: 6500 feet up, 3500 feet down
Start-stop time: 8 AM - 8:30 PM
Pokémon caught: 0. Had no data on Washington, didn't check the other peaks
Knees: confused and willing to trade back for the airplane seats
Back bending speed: 30 degrees per second seems about right
Water drunk: 8.5 liters, still dehydrated
Slept with: 100s of people, 10s of thru hikers (including Camp Shoes, Double Dip,  and Wrong Way)

Day 30 (July 13): Walking is hard yo

Camp Shoes, Double Dip, and I got on the trail late (10:30) because of work for stay and patching Camp Shoes' inflatable sleeping pad. Also, Camp Shoes betrayed his name and got camp shoes "because they were free." (His name came because he insisted Camp Shoes "weren't worth the weight" to carry)

Once we hit the trail, while I could keep up with Camp Shoes and Double Dip on the uphills, they sped past me on the downhills (my knees are rebelling). So they left me behind.

Eventually, I came across Snacks, a SoBo I had heard about, but not met. She had just split from her normal hiking partner  (Scruffy) because her roommate who was coming up to hike with he missed her bus (so she had a day and a half to travel 6 miles). We were walking along a gorgeous ridgeline, and she wanted to see a sunset. There wasn't a water source, but she offered me a liter of water to stay with her. I agreed.

We called it a night at a stealth spot on the ridgeline and watched the sunset, though I forgot to bring my phone and my knees wanted me to not stand up more than necessary, and I'd taken a ton of sunset pictures the day before. Snacks took one and sent it to me, but I don't think I'll get it until she has wifi and hits the resend button.

Stats:
Milage: 9 miles
Elevation change: 500 feet up, 2500 feet down
Start-stop time: 10:30 AM - 4:30 PM
Pokémon caught: 0. Too many people on all the peaks, so didn't take pictures or catch Pokémon.
Knees: STOP NOW. DON'T CATCH YOUR FRIENDS. THE RIDGELINE IS NICE.
Back bending speed: 25 degrees per second seems a little fast. Maybe ease off the bending?
Water drunk: 5.5 liters
Slept with: Snacks and 3 NoBos

Day 31 (July 14): Rescue for Stay

Determined to catch up with Double Dip and Camp Shoes and Moose, I left at 6:30 AM and promptly got lost. Fortunately, I knew I needed to go downhill, so I just bushwacked down for about an hour until I saw a person and asked if they were on a trail, which they gave a confused yes to, and kept walking.

After finding the trail, I eventually found water, which was good because I'd only had a liter. Determined to get the best part of the water, I accidentally jumped into the river with my boots on. Feeling kinda dumb, I changed into my Chacos for the rest of the day. Several people commented on how intense I was for hiking in sandals. I just felt kinda dumb.

8 miles in, I met Moose. She, Camp Shoes, and Double Dip had been playing cards in the middle of the trail waiting for me. We caught up to Double Dip and Camp Shoes at the next hut, where they were helping the caretakers by eating the "bad" batch of sourdough bread (it hadn't risen: still had calories though). Moose and I ate too, and told Camp Shoes and Double Dip we'd catch them about 5 miles down the trail.

Pugs, Baby Bear, and Baby Bear's dad got to the hut and we chatted with them. One thing led to another and we started playing in the waterfall by the hut. Pugs and Baby Bear are both engineers, so we decided to do some hydroengineering by using our bodies to redirect river flow. Then it was 4:30 and ominous clouds were rolling in. They also offered Moose a free bunk at the Cabin, since Baby Bear's brother couldn't make it. She accepted and I got work for stay from the hut.

Sunset from Zealand Falls Hut

An hour later, a torrential downpour started. The small waterfalls we had been playing in expanded from a flow a single person could stop by lying down to more water than a small house.

Around 7 PM, a hiker came by. Their mother and father were stuck on the other side of the waterfall. So the hut crew members went on a rescue mission.  Remembering how late I got out last time I did work for stay, I pestered the hut crew members about helping, and they asked me to help get the hikers across. So I did.

We wound up taking a 10 foot ladder and a few 40 foot ropes up the waterfall, bushwacking 50 yards up to an easier crossing, figuring out how to use a 10 foot ladder to ford a 20 foot wide stream, lashing the ladder to rocks and holding down both ends, then grabbing people across the ladder. It was a lot of fun. They told me it counted as my work for stay, but I still wound up making beds and sweeping floora the next morning.

Stats:
Milage: 10 miles
Elevation change: 1500 feet up, 2500 feet down
Start-stop time: 6:30 AM - 12:30 PM
Pokémon caught: 0. Too busy slacking and playing in the falls
Knees: you may do this again
Back bending speed: 25 degrees per second seems ok. Maybe I'm getting better?
Water drunk: many liters
Slept with: Brightside, Moose, Baby Bear, Pugs, and 40 others. I slept under the table in the common dinning area on the route to the bathroom right next to the open windows with the mosquitoes.

Day 32 (July 15) Mountain Top Stealth Camping

Brightside and I hit the trail around 9:30 after doing the bed making chores. We immediately regretted the 6+ pancakes we ate for breakfast. 2 hours later, we wished we had eaten more of them.

Some views I guess? 

We met up with Moose, Baby Bear, and Pugs and made it to the next hut, where Pugs and I introduced the others to the wonderful game of ERS. We also had soup, which was delicious.

Top of South Twin Mountain, before the hut

Later, we came to Garfield Ridgeline campsite, which is another pay for stay campsite. Brightside decided to stay, Moose, Baby Bear, Pugs, and I decided to stealth camp on the top of the mountain for the free price, lack of day and weekend hikers, easy access to sunrise and sunset, and thrill of knowing the storm might break your hammock tree and kill you. Even the caretaker serenading us with her "Garfield Ridgeline" song (with guitar) didn't convince us to pay to stay (though it came close).

There was a minor water fall in the trail. See Brightside for scale. At least the individual rocks weren't as large as many parts on the trail.

Top of Mt. Garfield. There was an old building foundation we hung out in at the peak.

Sunset atop Mt. Garfield. A rain storm got minorly in the way (it hit us in a couple hours).

Stats:

Milage: 10 miles
Elevation change: 4500 feet up, 3000 feet down
Start-stop time: 9:30 AM - 6:30 PM
Pokémon caught: 3. Two Weedles and a Nidoran were found at Garfield peak. Only took 40% of my phone battery to do. Totally worth.
Knees: Just maybe take it easy on the downhills ok? Maybe we can get a truce
Back bending speed: 25 degrees per second? Yeah no. Just... try not to move your back.
Water drunk: many liters... huts with free water are great.
Slept with: Baby Bear, Pugs, Moose, and the dead tree I was sure would fail to support my hammock in the storm as I swayed all night long.

Day 33 (July 16): Skyplay

We got up at 4:30 and ran to the top of Garfield mountain (technically we were about 100 feet below it) to see the sunrise. It was cold and pretty. There were also 10-15 day and weekend hikers who came from Garfield ridgeline to see the sunrise.

Myself, Pugs, and Moose awaiting the sunrise in the Lee of the building foundation. Also, a boyscout I think.

Sunrise

Sunrise with Beard filter

Sunrise with In The Cloud filter

Later, Moose let us use her hot chocolate (it was cold) to start the day. She and I left while Baby Bear and Pugs were packing up (we were planning on stopping in Lincoln, they were not).

We ascended Lafayette ridgeline into a cloud. We loved the cloud because it kept us cool as we hiked. The ~200 day hikers we passed hated the cloud because it wrecked their view.

Climbing Mt. Lafayette in a cloud. See Moose for scale.

A brief break in the clouds

We caught up with Brightside (who had left before us) to welcome news: he'd had the best trail magic. He was eating on top of Lafayette and chatting with a couple of weekend hikers when they offered him the use of their car and gave him their keys. So we wouldn't have to hitch. Moose and I decided to hike the rest of the way out with Brightside in view at all times.

We got to the parking lot, found the car, got our stuff in, and discovered none of us had any idea how to turn the car on. 15 minutes later, we figured it out (keep the break pedal pushed down as you hold the button) and went to McDonald's. I ordered numbers 1-9. They were very confused and asked if I wanted a McWrap. Eventually they got it sorted out and I got an absurd amount of food.

We saw Double Dip and Camp Shoes  (who had gotten into town early and seen Finding Dory) and Baby Bear and Pugs (who stopped in because Baby Bear broke another poll).

The hostels in town are all full, so Brightside and I split a Day's Inn cottage, while the others made plans to get back out to the trail... after playing mini golf and watching another movie (which I think they're still at).

Dinner. Aka numbers 1-9 at McDonald's.

Stats:

Milage: 10 miles
Elevation change: 1500 feet up, 4500 feet down
Start-stop time: 7:30 AM - 2:00 PM
Pokémon caught: Some sparrows at the Day's Inn.
Knees: This is acceptable. Not good, but acceptable
Back bending speed: 15 degrees and don't you try any funny business punk.
Water drunk: 4 liters, hot chocolate, and a smoothie.
Slept with: Brightside, sheets, and the disconcerting fact that no matter how many times I fill the sink with water and rinse my clothes in it, it always turns muddy.

Moving forwards, I expect to make a brief stop in Glenclif for a resupply (It's 0.3 miles from the trail), and begin to hit some high milage days, as the trail is beginning to get substantially nicer (less roots, rocks, and mud, more dirt) and have less elevation gain (only two real mountains left, then every individual mountain is under 1000 feet above it's surrounding, which really isn't a mountain)

Blessings,
Grizzly