We had first breakfast at our campsite then moved on for second breakfast at Carter Notch Hut. I’ll admit, I had somewhat low expectations for the last hut run by the AMC so I was pleasantly surprised when the staff was very friendly and generous—it really caught me off guard. The hut manager joked with us and offered us some free food: pancakes, scrambled eggs, and coffee. I also bought a brownie. Carter Notch Hut is the least visited of the AMC huts. I’m thinking it is kind of a starter hut for new employees which is why the staff is friendly and untainted. Even with this great experience with an AMC Hut, the final rating is 2.5 good huts (Zealand Hut got a half good rating for great soup and friendly-ish staff but half bad for turning us away with an approaching storm—we later heard that they did let Mule stay when he arrived at the height of the storm) which leaves 4.5 bad huts out of 7. Overall, I will leave the Whites with an unfavorable impression of the Appalachian Money Club. Maybe, over time, my bad memories will fade and I’ll think highly of the AMC—after-all, I am now willing to hike, again, any trail we hiked last year.
We did run into a few people at the hut when we walked up. Chip had passed us on the way up Wildcat yesterday and today he was headed to Imp Campsite which is the same targeted destination we have for the day. We talked with Chip for a bit and he was very happy to finally meet someone who started before him this year. It took him to almost leaving New Hampshire before actually passing some fellow thru-hikers. I was glad our snail like pace could bring joy to another hiker. Chip says his knees are hurting him, rubbing bone on bone, but he has had this problem before hiking the AT. This does wonder for our egos, a man in constant pain for six and a half months is still faster than we are. I remind myself that we CHOOSE to hike slowly. This is a choice. We are doing this on purpose…slowly.
We had yet another tough climb up to Carter Dome with a few view points along the way. Nearing the top of the Dome, we became surrounded by a storm. We caught up with Chip squatting in the woods off to the side of the trail. I thought he needed a little privacy, but his pants were up. He was just trying to make himself small and wait out the storm. Bear checked his weather app and it showed us in an system shaped like an alligator’s mouth about to chomp us. Carter Dome was actually splitting the storm up around us. We waited for the storm to pass to keep Bunny calm and to give Chip some company.
5 mountains seems to be the new daily quota: Carter Dome, Mt Height, South, Middle, and North Carter or as I prefer, Billy, Rosalyn, and Jimmy. The morning had started out so promising with blue skies and few clouds to being completely clouded over in just a few minutes. Mt. Washington is just behind us (less than 15 miles) and it’s recognized as the most volatile weather location in the world and it’s effect is spilling over on to us today.
Mt Height was exposed, cold, and rainy—just the type of summit experience Sassy promised us when we all started hiking together. They promised and they have delivered. Going over the bald, exposed, windy summit turned my umbrella inside out. We noticed lots of moose tracks and poop, but they were smarter than us and remained under cover today. We did stop in Zeta Gap for a snack before continuing on to the Carter family.
My legs were getting tired but nothing serious. The trail had a lot of steep climbing up and down today. It was an ideal hiking day with the steady rain and fog, descending slick, wet rocks with big drops. My left leg was feeling really strange just above my knee, but not my knee. Coming down North Carter, my left leg lost all strength. It was after a tough downhill scramble. We kept leapfrogging Chip. I used the excuse of waiting for Claudia and Chip to get down to get in a break.
After the last big downhill, the ache turned into all-out pain. With my painful limp into the Imp Campsite, I was falling way behind and could barely walk. Sassy had told me that the muscle in question is an “all or nothing” one. When it gets fatigued, it no longer works. I just needed to get a good night of sleep to recover. I sure hope she’s right because it is the worst pain I’ve ever experienced while hiking.
We couldn’t find a platform big enough for our two tents. Since Sassy hates staying in shelters, Bunny and I agreed to head to the shelter. Chip is a hammocker so he found a couple of trees and was all set. It was a full campsite and shelter tonight. The caretaker had lost her tent today so she was forced to stay in the shelter with all of the “peasants” and was NOT a happy camper. Everyone that was already in the shelter had spread out all of their wet crap taking up every hook and all the floor space. I was a little ticked that no one offered to move any of their crap to make some room for us. Bunny and I just started moving people’s crap so we could have some room. There were only 6 people in there taking up all the space in what is designated as a 12 person shelter.
We caught up with Bear and Sassy in the cooking area. There were several people hanging around on a outcropping below us. Bunny went down to have a look and discovered the most beautiful sunset we have seen on this trek. If the old adage is right, we are going to have a delightful day tomorrow (if we’re sailors).
EFG