The double zero was just what I needed except for one thing—sleeping late. Paul has an “everybody up by 6:30” rule that is enforced with the turning off of the fans. I tried going back to sleep, but after a half a pot of coffee that just doesn’t seem to work out.
Gorham has a McDonalds. That may not be impressive to the average person at home, but when you’ve been hiking through the wilderness of Maine for the past month, fast food sounds so inviting. The only problem was a hiker bubble passed through town yesterday. I went in last night with Buck to get a Quarter Pounder and they were all sold out…reminiscent of the time I went to a Pizza Hut in Puerto Rico and they were out of Pizza. Sometimes a Big Mac, 2 hamburgers, a large fries, and 3 quarts of iced tea will have to do.
Day 1 (41), 08/01, Imp Campsite, 8.1
This hurts. Not my knee—that only aches. This really sucks that I have to do this, but I’ve got to say it. The trail today. Fuck! The trail today was… I hate this. The trail today was really great. There, I said it.
The AMC really put it to me today and provided a top quality trail. A bit over 8 miles of A- quality trail. There were a few downed trees than need to be cleared and some muddy areas that are getting wide, but this is pretty normal use on a trail. Don’t get me wrong, I still hate them, but I’m softening up. We’ll see what happens over the Presidentials.
Maybe this section of trail was good 5 years ago and I just didn’t remember. The only thing I recall from hiking this section then was that my knee was killing me from the Franconia Ridge section coming down Garfield where the trail was running in a waterfall.
I saw several NOBOs pass me with their heads down, unwilling to talk. They’ve forgotten they’re doing this for fun. No doubt, they were calculating how many days they had left if they can kick their mileage back up to 25 per day. They won’t even notice how beautiful Maine is at that rate.
Cardio is still a problem for me. I just can’t climb without stopping every 50-100’ of elevation gain. On flat sections of trail, I can travel well over 2.5 mph so maybe I’ll be able to put in more than 10 miles per day…eventually. Today, with the great trail and the 3000’ elevation gain, I got my 8 in by 2:15. That included 2 sit down breaks.
Not too many times, but more than my last thru-hike, I am exploring blue-blaze side trips. Today, I went up Mt Moriah. It’s only 0.1 miles off trail but with my knee last time, that was way too much extra effort. To be fair, it was almost 200’ of climbing, and, as I recall, none of my hiking companions in 2018 were eager to hike any extra miles. For NOBOs, this wouldn’t be a worthwhile side trip, but for SOBOs, it provides the first unhindered 360 panorama of the Whites.
I was the first person in camp. Eventually 2 people I know showed up—Lost and Found and Ultra but this will be the last time I see either of them. Lost and Found is SOBO sectioning but he’s really 6 days in front of me. Ultra is NOBO and will be gone. The section I’m hiking fits well with visiting Gorham twice which is how I’m getting to know so many NOBOs.
Day 2 (42), 08/02, Carter Notch Hut, 7.1
The trail today continued to be of “A” quality—fuckers. The only way it could be better would be allowing volunteers to come in and cut out the winter downfall.
With the great trails (steep, though they may be) I was feeling pretty lighthearted. That is until the intimidation began. I thought I was out of the bunny/opossum/gnat syndicate area until I got to the top of the first Carter Mountain. I was greeted at the summit by a bunny sitting in the middle of the trail with his ears fully extended. He bent his ears to his eyes and then pointed them at me. It is clear intimidation. If I go missing, please, for the love of god, exterminate this network.
My original goal for today was to make it to a stealth campsite near the gondola above Wildcat Bluff. I remember the hike up Wildcat as steep and frightening as a NOBO and I’m concerned about going down it. I want to have fresh legs when I do head down.
Even though the trail was good today, I still climbed over 3500’. I could continue on, but it would entail another 3000’ of climbing and an equal amount of downhill—I’d prefer not to stress my knees that much since I’m just starting the Whites. I decided to try my luck at “work for stay” at Carter Notch Hut—an AMC hut where the elites spend $180/night to stay. Yes, I’m heading into the heart of the beast.
It early enough (only 3p) that if they said “no” I could still make my original goal of the gondola. I knew better than to ask so early but I thought I’d give it a try. The hut leader told me he couldn’t give out the slots until 4 and that since I was so early that if any other AT hikers came in between now and then, they’d have priority (the idea being that the later a hiker shows up, the further they had to walk to get there). It was a definite “maybe”.
I hadn’t had “second lunch” yet so I went outside to eat and talk with any hut guests and passersby. If I saw any thru-hikers come up, I’d just accept my fate and move on.
By 4, I hadn’t seen any obvious thru-hikers so I went back inside. The crew leader gave me a thumbs up—I was in. He told me there wasn’t anything they needed done right now, so just hang out until 7:30 when they would feed me and then have me do some work.
To the AMC’s credit, I think they realized how demeaning the signs were that they hung in all the privies when we hiked through in 2018. Those signs were all about how great the AMC was for handling all the hiker poop. This year, they’ve taken a new approach.
They have created a new series of cartoons featuring “Angry Andy” who is a thru-hiker that hates the AMC. Now, they lightheartedly give statistics about what the AMC is doing and try to explain the fees that they-hikers pay. One thing they don’t mention in the cartoons is that thru-hikers pay 1/3 of what non thru-hikers pay. I’m slowly realizing that I was an “Angry Andy” both last time I hiked through AND this year when I entered the Whites.
The “work for stay” at the huts where the AMC allows two hikers to perform a small task in exchange for an AYCE (All You Can Eat) supper and a place to sleep inside for the night is just a bonus program for thru-hikers. Statistically, the odds are against a thru-hiker getting a slot, but it’s a great gig if you get one.
At 7:30, Coop came out to get us and took us into the kitchen. They laid out a spread 10 thru-hikers couldn’t eat in a week of meals and told us to eat whatever we wanted and as much as we wanted.
When I was full, I went up to Coop, thanked him, and said I was ready to work. “Right, I almost forgot. We don’t really have anything that needs done. How about sweep the kitchen floor and maybe wipe down the tables when everyone leaves.” In other words, the work was minimal. While I was sweeping, a couple of the crew started talking to me. When I told them my name, they said they’d heard of me. Wasn’t I the guy doing a yo-yo?
Holy shit. I felt like the Grinch did when Cindy Loo Hoo woke up just as he was finishing stealing Christmas. My heart grew 10 times larger than the average thru-hikers heart. Everyone knows what that means…I’m going to have a stroke and die in the trail (obviously) but I’m going to do it loving the AMC. The fuckers got me. I realized I had become last hike (and this one) what I criticize NOBOs for being. I’ll be an Angry Andy no more (but I still won’t get an AMC membership).
Day 3 (43), 08/03, Pinkham Notch, 6.1
You’ve all witnessed the improbable—Easily Forgotten has experienced personal growth while being almost 60. An old dog can learn new tricks, but can he poop in the woods without throwing up? We’ll leave that question for another day because the AMC has a wonderful composting system at this hut which is completely automated and runs off of solar.
My goals for this trip are to learn to tolerate myself, remind myself during bad times that this crap is only temporary, to stay in the moment as much as possible (this includes NOT listening to music or podcasts while hiking—which I haven’t done even once), to recognize my faults & correct them, realize how lucky I am to be out here, and to embrace the wonder that is around me. The climb out of Carter Notch gave me the opportunity to test multiple of these goals.
One thing I’ve noticed is that I’m talking to the trees—a lot. Scary amounts. Crazy man walking in the woods level. I’m calling them “brothers,” and “friends.” I thank them for helping me up and down steep sections of trail. When the trail is overgrown, I imagine they are giving me “Hi 5s” as they slap me. I ask for safe passage. When my hiking pole gets stuck in roots, I imagine they are telling me to slow down and pay attention to them. As I’m pulling out my pole, I acknowledge them—I even try to figure out which tree’s roots I got stuck in and to personally thank him (or her—I haven’t figured out the whole tree sex thing). I’ve got to say, I may be crazy, but I feel I’m among friends in the forest and I’m happy. They keep me grounded.
Even climbing 3000’ and descending 4000’ today in roughly 6 miles (an average grade of 800’/mile—trust me, that’s steep), I stayed happy and had fun. I was worried about the descent down Wildcat Bluff and shared my concerns with the trees. I felt them telling me it will be alright and they’ll be with me and keep me safe. They were, and they did.
Like Mahoosuc Arm, all my worrying was for nothing. If I felt scared, I touched a tree and immediately became calm. I had exaggerated my memories from 2018 and made them into monsters. I’m not going to waste my energy worrying about future descents that scared me in 2018. I’m staying in the moment from here on out.
I walked into Pinkham Notch visitor center all smiles. Easily a half dozen people walked up to me and started conversations. The most amazing was with a hiker named Cheswick who started asking me about my hike. He even offered me a ride into town. Few, if any of you, may recognize the name Nick “Cheswick” Gagnon, I know I didn’t until I started talking to him about his hiking experience.
Cheswick is the fastest, most durable hiker out there—better than Skurka. Skurka “invented” the Great Western Loop (PCT, PNT, CDT, GET, and AZT) in 2007. This is the ultimate long distance trail incorporating 2 of the 3 triple crown trails and stretching 6,875 miles. Cheswick did this loop in 197 days and holds the FKT by 12 days.
Cheswick is everything I’m not—young, good looking, durable, fast, athletic (world class if not better), humble, and generous. I’d hate him if I could, but he’s too damn charismatic. He gave me a ride right to my hostel. The fucker is nice, too. Check out his journey on cheswicktreks.com. It’s an amazing account.
EFG