Rain creates converts. Several NOBOs came in to the Outdoor Center for the night: Thorn (from StL), OG, Sweet Tea, Captain BG (who’s just trying to “stay alive, stay alive”) all got bunks for the night and took advantage of the AYCE buffets. The one thing that I didn’t get was that they all got up early, packed up, and left right after breakfast while it was still raining. The forecast called for clearing conditions in the afternoon. The furthest anyone was going was Lake of the Clouds—even I hiked that in a bit more than half a day.
One of the volunteers, Gail, showed me LL Bean equipment room. This is a great deal that the AMC and LL Bean have put together. Anyone that stays at an AMC hut, campsite, lodge, etc. can borrow any of the equipment they need for their outing—free of charge! This includes: tents, rain gear, sleeping bags, boots, snowshoes, etc. They have sizes ranging from toddlers to full grown adults. Talk about a great way to test out the waters before diving in and buying all your gear.
LL Bean initially gave the AMC $400K worth of gear and keeps checking in yearly and offering up to $50K more. I’ve always heard Bean was generous, but this is amazing. Remember, the AMC is just one organization that Bean helps out.
Before I headed out in the afternoon, I took advantage of another AMC thru-hiker special…beer, soup, and bread for $6. Show your card to get the special. A beer is $6, so they give hikers soup and bread for free. I didn’t want to have a beer knowing how much climbing I was going to be doing so I asked for a Coke instead. They told me to take 2.
While I was downing my lunch, I heard a man having a conference call in the back of the dining room. When he got finished, I went over to talk to him. This was the executive director of AMC Outdoor Center. I introduced myself as a thru-hiker. He braved himself for some complaints and was caught a bit off balance when I thanked him for what the AMC is doing for thru-hikers. I fessed up about being Angry Andy in the past, but now that I see all the AMC is doing, I’m impressed. He thanked me and wished me a safe and successful hike.
I had to make a few final adjustments to my pack which I was doing in the lounge area while waiting for the AMC shuttle to take me to the trailhead. While I was in line for supper last night, I had started talking to a woman named Cassandra who was part of a family group wanting to climb Mt Washington. She recognized me and introduced me to her husband, Chris, and his father, Jersey Jerry. This was an entire family trip for Jerry’s sons and grandkids to introduce one of the younger grandkids to hiking in the Whites, but with the weather being what it was, they decided to ride the cog rail to the summit rather than ruin any chances for his granddaughter liking hiking. On their way out, Jerry gave me a beautiful peach from their orchard in New Jersey. He claimed that it was just a #2 peach, but it was beautiful, unblemished, and delicious.
Stitch, who had magic at Pinkham Notch, was also in the lounge. I was able to talk to her one on one once everyone else was gone. She thru-hiked in 1999. She’s also hiked a lot of the international trails that I’ve hiked. She’s up in NH for the month to enjoy the outdoors when she’s able (she suffers from CFS) and give magic to hikers on days where her energy levels are too low to do anything else.
Day 1 (49), Zealand Falls Hut, 7.7
I caught 12:55 shuttle back to trailhead. It’s a 0.3 mile walk from the road to the trailhead. As I was walking up the lane, I saw a man with some writing on his shirt. From my quick glance, I picked up “understand women.” This must be an old wise man worth listening to. When I stopped to read the shirt entirely it said “Let’s go have a beer, discuss things, and try to understand women”—his wife told me he was still just an apprentice.
Just at the trailhead, I found more magic. Some angel had left a bunch of bananas, snickers, and oranges. I grabbed a snickers and a banana for a snack in a few miles. I’ve still got almost all the food I started with when I left Pinkham Notch 6 days ago…I’ve gotten magic at the huts, I’ve had a work for stay, the AMC gives us a free soup and 2 free baked goods with our pass, and I’ve stayed at the Highland Canter. If I keep going at this rate, I may not even need to resupply in Lincoln.
When “Notch” is in a place name, this is not good. In NH, this means you have at least 2500’ climb in and out of the Notch. Today, after 2 good night’s sleep, 4 AYCE meals, and 2 soup and beer deals, I was feeling in top form.
My knees aren’t hurting, the weather is pleasant, and I’ve gotten magic. I was flying uphill. I was even passing people (I should clarify, I was passing people heading in the same direction I was headed. Granted, one group was 3 men older than me, and another pair included an 8 year old with a pack, but I smoked their asses!).
Around 3 miles in is Nathan Pond. It’s about a quarter mile off trail but I was feeling so good, I decided to head to the shelter to take a break. Shelters are generally good places for breaks because you can sit down, there’s usually water close by, you can read the log book, and, just in case, there’s always some sort of privy near. Sometimes, in the morning, in a crowded campsite, I can feel a bit rushed in my routines—same goes for bunkhouses with limited porcelain access.
I’m hiking more blue blazes this trip. Not alternate routes, but out and backs to scenic views or special features. Today, I hiked out to Thoreau Falls where I met Nico. We hiked together the final 2 miles to Zealand Falls Hut. Nico is a great kid, only 47 (in my new playbook, anyone under 50 is a kid). Nico is also an EE but more programming oriented. He’s originally from France but has been in US since he was 24.
We arrived at Zealand Falls Hut right at 6. Not too far from the hut, we passed a couple of NOBOs who told us they still had work for stay open. I was going to go a little further, but a free hot meal did sound appealing. I checked and got a spot. Nico went on (he was just out for a few days). We said our goodbyes and he took off.
All totaled, today I hiked 7.7 miles in 4.5 hrs which still included a couple of breaks and several conversations—promising. That’s about 1.5 mph. I might be able to get bigger miles some day.
Day 2 (50), Garfield Ridge Campsite, 9.8
The good thing (and bad thing) about work for stay is that you get up early. I was hiking before 6:30. I took the blue blaze to Zeacliff—this was where I was going to stay last night if I hadn’t gotten the work for stay. There were gorgeous stealth sites up there and water near the trail junction. I’ll remember this for my return trip.
It’s only 7 miles from hut to hut today. I stopped at Galehead Hut for a snack, hoping they’d still have some baked goods available, but they were out. They told me they had been busy all morning. I could tell by the number of NOBOs I passed on the way here. I’ve lost count, but it was well over 20. The second bubble has arrived. I imagine everything will be crowded for the next week or two.
I was delaying heading up to Garfield Campsite because this is the section of trail that finished off my knees in 2018. I’ve got visions of the climb down the waterfall from then and I’m not looking forward to the climb, now. On paper, it’s only 500’ in 0.3 miles, but in memory, it’s much worse.
As I was passing everyone, I was asking how the waterfall/trail ahead was. Several people told me it was beyond their abilities, but I pointed out they were unharmed and still walking. They must have underestimated their abilities. I started telling myself the same. It turns out, I believe there has been work done on this section of falls. I didn’t remember steps being present before. It really wasn’t that bad. It took me less than 1/2 hour to climb up to the side trail to the campsite.
While I was getting water (from the trail) I met a NOBO that was originally from Southern Illinois and now lives in St Louis. That makes a total of 4 of us out here. This was “15 Cent”, the less prosperous cousin of 50 Cent.
A lot of people were heading in at the same time. I quickly talked to the camp attendant and got a spot on the platform. As soon as I set my tent up and got inside, it started raining. I followed the rules by cooking and eating in dining tent with 10 other NOBOs. They were somewhat cliquish, but that’s understandable after 1800 miles.
There must have been well over 30 people here last night. I tried to follow the rules, but I hate leaving my food in bear boxes that are so far from my tent. I slept with my food in my tent (as I usually do). I’m a bad boy.
Day 3 (51), Garfield Ridge Campsite, ZERO
It stormed last night. This is the highest I’ve camped at during a thunderstorm. I’m at 4300’. When the lightening started, I got woke up by the thunder. I timed the noise delay—it was almost 4 seconds, so I went back to sleep and had the best night’s sleep I’ve had in a long time.
When my sister, brother, and I were little, we all had our own rooms. My dad was scared to death of storms—even worse than Bunny is. He would pace from bedroom to bedroom quietly opening the door to make sure each of us was ok. Each of us knew we were safe because our dad was watching over us. I love storms to this day because I have such secure memories attached to them.
I told Peter, the camp attendant, that I wanted to head over Franconia Ridge today. He started trying to talk me out of it right when I mentioned it. He was pointing out alternative trails and/or suggesting I stay here an extra day. I had already planned for an extra day here so I agreed without issue. It surprised him that an AT thru-hiker didn’t insist on pushing on. I’m headed south. I’ve got no deadline to be finished. I’m out here for 15 months. I’m dry. I’m comfortable. I can always sleep (I’ve still got a few Benadryl left).
There are 3) things I’ve never seen in AMC territory: 1) a moose, 2) a bear, and 3) a trail work crew. I feel safe violating an AMC rule of not sleeping with your food in your tent, especially on cold rainy nights with a full campsite. There had to be 30 hikers here last night.
Once everyone else was gone, I broke out my food bag and made me some hot tea to have with my breakfast. I’m sure I’ll probably follow the rules for supper and go cook and eat in the dining area if it’s not raining AND the Benadryl has worn off by then.
Day 4 (52), Liberty Springs Campsite, 7.6
The zero day paid off big time. I knew as soon as I made it to the summit of Garfield Peak that I had made the right decision. I could see clouds heading towards Franconia Ridge, but I knew they were much higher than the ridge judging by the airplane pulling a glider behind it.
Garfield lived up to my memories, almost. Peter, the caretaker told me he didn’t think that any work has been done on the trail in the last 5 years, but it definitely wasn’t as bad as my memory has it. I swear there are more steps in the cascade.
The bog and climb up Mt Lafayette were as I remembered. Once I got above tree line, the walk was quite nice. I really didn’t notice the 1000’ of climbing because the views were so incredible.
I did talk to one NOBO worth mentioning…Patriarch. Patriarch is retired from the Mayo Institute in Rochester, Minnesota. He’s 69 and had a goal to complete the AT before he turned 70–he’ll make that without any problem. However, he’ll be finishing it on Mt Greylock in Massachusetts so I might get to see him again before he finishes. What I found most amazing about Patriarch is that he’s even here. Before he retired, he went to have his ears cleaned. The nurse noticed a murmur and suggested he get an EKG. A few weeks later when he had it, the cardiologist told him “we need to talk. Now!” His aorta was swollen up to almost 9 cm. He had to have surgery immediately or risk a rupture. Moral of the story: get your ears cleaned.
The only other section of trail similar to Franconia Ridge is the Sadflebacks in Maine. It’s about the same length above tree line, but has views of lakes to one side where Franconia is mountains every direction.
I talked to one Forest Service Ranger up top. He told me that he was behind on his clicks but he had counted 433 people, but he was guessing it was over 500 people up there today. I could believe a lot more. It wasn’t unusual for me to have to wait for 25 people to pass before I could get moving again. This has to be the most popular hiking loop in the Whites.
Once I dropped off of Little Haystack Mountain to just the AT, the trail maintenance proved to be lacking. I still ran into some small groups heading up, but this section of trail is longer and steeper than the more popular Franconia Loop.
I was in camp and set up before 4. I could easily have made it to town today, but I have reservations for 2 nights at Snowchasers Ski Club starting tomorrow. I can survive one more night of rain.
All I have left above 4000’ is the Kinsmans and Moosilauke and then I’ll be out of the Whites. Only 25 miles to go and so far, my knees are still functional.
Day 5 (53),Liberty Springs Trailhead, 2.5
I’ve got to be more careful in my diet selection, especially in the Whites where you sleep on shared platforms. I’ve had suppers based on beans two nights in a row. The woman in the tent next to me had her dog with her. I tried a slow release; the dog growled. I’m in trouble.
If I hold it in all night, I’ll end up floating to the top of my tent. I don’t know if the cup hooks I screwed into the platform are strong enough to hold the tent down with me floating up. Who knows where I might end up.
Providence was looking out for me once again. Storms started rolling in about 11 with lots of lightning and thunder. All I had to do was pretend I was Andy Dufresne (Shawshank Redemption) and time my releases after lightening—I was saved.
Susanna and Pepper were up before 6, packed up, and left quiet as church mice. I guess my lightening cover didn’t work as well as I had hoped. I started packing up as well. I had told my hostel that I would be at the trailhead by 10. I only remember that the trail is rocky and that we are at Franconia Notch (meaning at least a 2500’ decline).
Except for the trail being partially stream-like (it did rain last night), I had no problems getting down by 9. I guess I can still move quickly on town days. I was in my hostel well before 10. I’ve managed to turn my Nero and Zero into a double Zero.
EFG