The tramily had decided to get up and go out for breakfast at 7. We were scheduled for an 8:30 shuttle back to the trailhead in Grafton Notch, so we had plenty of time to eat and get our day’s gear ready. When we got down into the kitchen, we saw a board listing room assignments. Bear, Sassy, Bunny, and I were listed in the upstairs room, but Ilene had modified the listing for the outside bunk room as a compromise that the women could tolerate. The sole inhabitant was “Good Chip.”
We have worked out a plan to slack pack a little over 46 miles in the next 4 days. This very reasonable hiking schedule is 10 miles today and tomorrow with 2 days of 13 miles each to finish off our stay here. Sadly, I have to agree to the slack packing or risk not being able to finish the trail this year. I’ve always said I would only resort to slack packing as a last resort and I think I am there with my knees.
Ever since Pinkham Notch, I had been pondering my own mortality. The end of my life has always seemed nonexistent but now with my episodes of blacking out climbing Wildcat, my falling in NJ from the heat, the constant pain in my heel from plantar fasciitis, and now both of my knees starting to fail, I’ve got to really consider the possibility that I am not an immortal. In recent years, I’ve tried to insulate myself from facing my failings by continually lowering my expectations. As I’ve stated before, I’ve lowered my expectations to the point that I just don’t want to wallow in my own excrement. Thru-hiking the AT has proven to me that I’m still aiming too high. I guess I have no choice but lower my expectations for the trail and slack pack. Since we will be staying in hostels through southern Maine, I should be able to delay the excrement wallowing for at least another few weeks.
Gloria dropped us off in Grafton Notch and we started our first day of slack packing. I admit, it felt great not having all that weight on me. Even though we were climbing, I was able to move quickly and, seemingly, effortlessly. I decided to really open up my legs and see how fast I could go without a load. Bear and I agreed that we’d all meet at the Bald Pate Lean-to for a snack and then I took off.
I averaged 19 minute miles up to the lean-to. That is in excess of 3 mph. Not exactly a blistering pace in today’s fast paced artificial world, but for a dying, homeless, jobless, black sheep, old man, AT thru-hiker, it’s a good clip. I almost missed the side trail to the lean-to because the sun was in my eyes, but I saw a couple of hikers turn so I caught it. I got to the shelter, dropped my pack, went and got water, pulled out a snack, and talked to the other hikers, yet no members of my tramily showed up.
The hikers I had followed in were a father/son combination. The son took off to find the latrine and I asked Brian how old his son is. He said “My daughter is 9.” I apologized and he said don’t worry about it, his daughter purposely wanted to be initially thought of as a boy because people treat girls on the trail so differently. A 9 year old girl already sees this? Smart kid. Rocket carried all of her own gear and share of food. Brian and Rocket started in New York and are heading to Katahdin.
Bear and Good Chip showed up while I was talking to Brian and Rocket. Eventually, Sassy showed up, but neither Bear or Sassy brought their packs to the lean-to. Bunny was struggling today, walking even slower than if she were carrying her full pack. It was apparent to me that Bunny was not taking to this whole slack packing scheme and wanted to carry her full load. She’s the first person I’ve heard of that hikes slower when slack packing. I went back out to the trail and stayed back with her the rest of the day while everyone else blew on ahead.
The real reason we headed over to Bald Pate Lean-to was to check it out for Peter and Marcia. After they did their AT hikes, they decided to “pay back” the experience by maintaining this shelter and section of trail. They were caretakers here for over a decade coming out a few times a year to do maintenance. They even built the latrine here. They had asked us to check out the lean-to when we passed. It’s been over a decade since they were caretakers, but this still holds a special place in their hearts. I went to have a look at the latrine and was dismayed by the smell—it’s in need of a little TLC.
The climbing became a bit steeper but it was a world of difference with a light load on our backs. Bunny has been pushed to her body’s limit and needs this slack packing to heal up. We emerged above tree line to what I can only describe as my new favorite mountain…Bald Pate. We traversed the obligatory bog near the summit but made the final ascent up a huge piece of granite to join the rest of our tramily having lunch at the peak. Rocket passed Bunny and said “Isn’t this a glorious mountain and day?” It truly was and this is an amazing little girl.
There was another hiker at the summit talking with everyone. It was a day hiker out bagging another 4K peak on her free day working for the forest service. We all sat and talked while we ate our sandwiches (yes, bread in the backcountry as well as daily showers, lightweight packs, and sleeping in beds—I might allow myself to be tricked into liking slack packing).
There was some wet patches on the north face of the granite slabs as we headed down. It was steep and could have been painful if we fell, but we are older, experienced, slow moving hikers. Bear, Sassy, and Good Chip waited for us. We took a break at Frye Notch Lean-to for a snack. There is another peak and plateau after the lean-to where we were supposed to call into Pine Ellis as it was the last place where we would be able to get a signal (Verizon only, Good Chip is slowly morphing into Great Thing He’s Here Chip). It was still almost 6 miles from our pickup point. Naomi told us she’d send Gloria in 2 hours. I demurred, thinking 2.5 to 3 hours and everyone else reluctantly agreed. It was decided 2.5 hours. Just as we got to the road, Gloria pulled up. It had only been 1 hour and 55 minutes. From now on, we will listen to what these women tell us. They’ve been around for a while.
Gloria picked us up and offered us lemonade once again. She told us that Ilene’s husband, Paul who died 7 years ago, had started the hostel and loved being around hikers. He always had lemonade when he picked them up and always sent them off with an apple when they returned to the trail. Ilene really isn’t up to maintaining the hostel by herself, but she promised Paul to keep it open by whatever means she could muster. Gloria and her sister, Naomi, are helping her keep it going as much as they are able. Good Chip said this is the best lemonade he’s ever had and what’s the secret ingredient. Without missing a beat, Gloria said “I piss in it.”
Getting back to the hostel that evening, I softened my views on its cleanliness. This is a hostel filled with love for hikers and for Ilene’s deceased husband. Ilene is 82 and barely gets around, Naomi is practically blind but does whatever she can to help, and Gloria is running shuttles to help out while caring for another sister who is handicapped. Who cares if the place is a little run down. This hostel is a living tribute to Paul being run by three old ladies who should be in their golden years enjoying their lives. I have a new appreciation for Pine Ellis.
I’m still bothered about losing our package from Alice. It’s not so much the food as it is the letter she includes with each shipment. Bunny and Alice lived just a few blocks from each other growing up but they lost touch with each other over the years when Alice went away for school. It’s been fun piecing together who Alice is. I have never met her. We haven’t given up on the box yet and we had some time to follow up with UPS today when we got back. We were able to find out the box weighed 38# and was signed for by a person named “Customer”. Surely, there can’t be very many “Customers” in Bethel, ME.
EFG