Bunny got me up too early. Yes, it was the agreed upon time, but still too early. She insisted I shower again after only a day and a half. I think she’s getting soft. We met everyone (Peter, Marcia, Bear, and Sassy) outside at 7:15 so we could walk to White Mountain Cafe for breakfast. Sassy checked their website last night to verify they were able to support her chosen lifestyle of gluten-free.
When we got back to the hotel, Peter and Marcia shuttled us back to Pinkham Notch. Bear and Sassy were on the first shuttle which gave us time to pack. I hadn’t done anything to prepare last night, but I knew we’d have enough time while Peter and Marcia made the 7 mile round trip. When it was our turn, I was almost ready. I had been slightly delayed while enjoying the coolness of porcelain for the last time for at least 3 days. Hiker needs are basic. We think of 3 things only: 1) what to eat, 2) where to walk to, and 3) where to poop. Everything else in life is fluff.
We said our goodbyes in the Pinkham Notch AMC parking lot. It was tough for us because we haven’t seen Marcia and Peter for almost 3 years. We are seeing places along the trail they took us when we visited them. If things had worked out to plan, they would be hiking the hundred mile wilderness with us, but sometimes life gets in the way. We have taken too much time to get up here and they have had some turbulence to deal with the last month. To top it off, Peter’s mom has just gotten out of the hospital and he’s going to have to make it down to CT to check up on her. It was great that we got to spend some time with them.
Peter and Marcia picked up another hiker, Boy Scout, to take him into Gorham. As he was leaving, he gave us some confusing directions telling us that there was a trail reroute. In a way, this was true, but it wasn’t the AT. We ended up retracing our steps (so I could tag up) and get on the right path. Peter had told us the right way to go. Peter and Marcia also told us they had to get off trail here for a week in 1983 to attend Dan and Jannette’s wedding. We had all met 6 years ago on the West Highland Way.
The first mile was great. We’re right next to the Pinkham Notch Visitor Center which is an AMC money maker. This means the trail is well maintained in order to extract maximum dollars from their preferred visitors. Once we turned away from the ponds, the trail took a turn for the worse. The trail condition of the AT away from AMC Revenue Protection Areas (aka Forest Protection Areas) is not entirely AMC’s fault. When NH built their section of the AT, they wanted it to be the toughest section of the trail. Rumor has it that ME and NH both wanted rugged and difficult sections. We’re smack dab in the middle of 200 of the toughest miles on the trail. The old guard do not want to change or improve the trails.
We climbed 1000’ in 0.6 miles. That may not sound particularly bad, but it was a real kick in the balls for me. It’s no secret that I’m the slowest in our group, but today was terrible for me. There were sections so steep and I was feeling so weak, that I actually lost my vision for short periods of time while climbing. I forced us to stop a few times so I could fuel up. This section wasn’t nearly as bad as Kinsman had been, but I think we are dealing with an adrenaline let down after the Presidential Range.
Sassy didn’t fare much better. Someone slipped her a Mickey at breakfast…or maybe gave her some non-gluten-free bread on her sandwich. Whichever happened, the results were the same. She was running for the woods to take care of basic hiker need #3. She was a trooper and defended her gluten-free lifestyle choice. If a sandwich does this much damage to her, I think she’s made the right choice.
We did catch up with a couple other nobos climbing up the mountain. One we have met a few times before—Thumper who is 60. Chip we haven’t met until today, but he started about a week after we did. He was happy to see other people out here as long as he has been. Thumper said that when he started, he thought 60 was the new 20 until all the young pups started blowing by him. I gave him my opinion that 55 is the new 80 and that we’ll probably be the last ones on the trail.
There were views along the way today, but we’ve seen enough of the Whites. We just want to get out of NH now that we’ve been over Mt Washington. Alas, we still have about another 30 miles to go before we get to Maine. We’ve decided that this is why Wildcat Mountain has the reputation it does of hitting thru-hikers hard. We’ve done the worst of the Whites and we just want to see Maine (especially before the snow starts—we saw trees starting to change color).
All four of us were dragging today. Even Bear was getting the Whites blues. Ultimately, it took us almost 8 hours to cover less than 6 miles today. Keep in mind, I forced a few snack stops, we had a few bathroom breaks, we took a long lunch break on top of Wildcat D, and we had to stop and filter water before we could camp. It was a tougher day than we were mentally prepared for.
Guthook saved the day and gave us info about a great stealth site just outside of Carter Notch Hut’s revenue protection area. We got to camp at 6:30 even after our “let down” day. We had plenty of time to set up tents and cook before the sun went down. We’re only about a quarter mile from the hut, so we’ll stop in the last AMC hut in the morning to see what new kind of let down we can encounter. Maybe since Labor Day is over, they might be nice to us. Right now, I’m only happy with Lake of the Clouds. “Forgive and forget,” Hell no! “Remember and bash” is my motto. Don’t worry, Big Agnes, I haven’t completely forgotten you.
EFG