We broke camp at a pretty good pace today. We were motivated to get going knowing that we had showers and beds waiting at the end of the day. Before we even got to the road, we found magic. Some kind person had made fresh chocolate chip cookies and left them out for thru-hikers. Since Sassy chooses to lead a gluten free life, we discovered how generous she can be. She gave each of us her cookie. This way, we all ended up with two cookies instead of one.
Another strange coincidence happened when we started our road walk. We met a man getting out of his car. I noticed he had Illinois plates. It turns out that he is from Springfield which is the city next to where I’m originally from. He had just retired and wanted to finish up section hiking the AT. Last year he had fallen and cut his leg pretty bad on Smarts Mountain. This year, his wife is supporting him while he finishes up the trail.
Turning onto the trail, we encountered a herd daddy long leg spiders. I imagined that I was a giant chasing a bunch of Lilliputians. As they turned off the trail to hide under plants, I would lift the plants, tilt my head back to laugh as I raised my foot above them, and stomp my foot down on the trail leaving them unharmed. I’m a benevolent giant which is why I should be elected as the next dictator of the USA. I promise not to tweet nasty things about pissants that slander me.
Our primary target destination was Ore Hill Campsite just a couple miles uphill from where we camped. There used to be a shelter here, but it got burned down. All that’s left is a privy (stay on target). We dropped our packs at the side trail and took turns visiting the facilities. Since this used to be a shelter, there was still a log book that was kept in the privy. And, this one was actually shaped like a throne. The irony of sitting on my throne reading a log book while dropping a log, was not lost on me.
We had two milestones today. The first was that we officially entered the White Mountains when we climbed Mt Mist. This climb was less challenging than our previous climbs up Smarts and Cube so we were feeling pretty confident. Met Mist wasn’t even 2000’ tall so it’s not a good indicator of the Whites. Our first real test will be climbing Mt Moosilauke in a couple of days. Moosilauke is almost 5000’ tall.
On the way down from Mt Mist to the road, we encountered our second, more important milestone of the day. We passed the 400 miles to go mark. True, we still have 4 of the most difficult parts of the trail left to conquer: the Whites, Southern Maine, the Bigelows, and Katahdin. Nonetheless, we are still out here hiking the trail when so many others have had to stop.
Hikers Welcome Hostel has been our target since we began hiking with Sassy and Bear. They have their car here which means we have trail freedom for a few days. They are thinking about being caretakers here next year but haven’t seen the place yet. We got our bunks and took showers before we jumped in the car to head to Greenhouse Restaurant for a meal. When we drove up, it was closed. The unanimous decision (since my vote doesn’t count) was to just go to the roadside stand and get a burger so we could get to bed early. After burgers, we went to Moose Scoops Ice Cream Stand where I had a banana split. I’ve found that these provide the best value at ice cream shops. If I’m forced to eat ice cream, I at least want a deal.
In the center of town is a Redstone Missile. Moose Scoops had a write up about the missile and how it got there. When the program was discontinued, people could but surplus missiles. A local man bought one and drove it all the way across the country to deliver it to his hometown. When people found out what he was up to, they decided to greet him with a band. The townspeople saw the truck coming down the highway and started the celebration only to discover it was the wrong truck. The truck held a skeptic tank. For a moment in time, this skeptic tank driver was the most celebrated “Shitman” on the planet. And everyone wonders why I talk about privies so much—they celebrate sceptic tanks here in New Hampshire. My kind of crowd.
EFG