The Treacherous Whites

Day 136

We woke up and went to breakfast, which was another wonderful free meal from one of the restaurant’s breakfast menus. When I was checking out, the owner of the inn was walking by, recognized me as a thruhiker and offered to take us back to the Trail. He told us to have the front desk call him when we were ready to go. We packed up our stuff and the front desk had a little trouble getting hold of the owner, but after a bit we were dropped back off at the Trail. It wasn’t an early start though. We decided to hike to Franconia Notch and stay another night in a motel down the road from there, before getting in the thick of the Whites, where shelters were scarce. We hiked up the steep and jagged small mountain, Mt Wolf, across it and a little back down to have a snack at a shelter where we met Squirrel and her dog Zima, and Mother Earth and Bagger who decided to stay the night there even though it was still early afternoon. We pushed on up the steep South Kinsman Mountain and down a small saddle to North Kinsman Mountain. Again, the trees were miniature on top of the peaks, but we didn’t stay long before we had to climb down the mountain. Halfway down the Trail leveled off for a bit and we came to Lonesome Lake Hut. The Appalachian Mountain Club owns these small buildings that are scattered across the Whites. Day hikers and section hikers who want to pay more than one hundred dollars can spend the night in a bunkroom and get homemade breakfast and dinner made by the small crew who runs each hut. These huts come in handy for thruhikers mostly because the crew offers work-for-stay to at least two thruhikers every day. The thruhikers work for up to two hours in exchange for a place to sleep on the floor in the dinning room and the ability to feast on the leftovers at breakfast and dinner. Even though we weren’t going to ask about work-for-stay since we planned to go further and stay at a motel, we went in to check things out. The place was packed with section hikers eating dinner at several long wooden tables. Part of the room was sectioned off as a kitchen with several young people, the crew, enjoying a break from work. One of the crewmembers walked over to us and gave us some information about work-for-stay. He was really nice and told us that from about 10 am to 4 pm every day, all huts have soup and baked goods available to anyone for a small price. We thanked him for the info and left. I didn’t notice any thruhikers inside, but the crew was so nice and the food looked so good that we planned to get work-for-stay at least once during our journey through the Whites. The hut was right next to a wonderfully still lake surrounded by the mountains. We pressed down, further down the mountain to Franconia Notch where we got confused by the guidebook. We thought we could access the road from where we were and were unhappy to discover we had to take a side trail for about another mile to a parking lot where we called Mt. Liberty Motel to pick us up. As we waited, we talked about our thruhike with a group of middle-aged hikers who looked really tired and were sitting in the parking lot next to their van. They explained that they had begun hiking in the morning and gotten lost and so had hiked all day. They gave us some of their watermelon and made us some of their special drinks, a plastic cup stuffed with watermelon and filled with vodka and pomegranate syrup. It was real great. In a few minutes, a nice woman from the motel picked us up and asked if we’d had dinner. We were just going to cook ramen in the room, but she offered to drop us off at a pizzeria and pick us back up when we were done. She and her husband, the owners, were very accommodating the whole time. She even offered to put our packs in our room while we were at dinner. The pizza was great and when we were done we called her and she came back to pick us up. We passed by many motels along the way filled with tourists milling about in the pools and on the decks. AT the motel we showered and watched some TV before drifting off to sleep.

Miles hiked today: 16.3 Total AT miles completed: 1812.2 Total AT miles left to hike: 373.1

Day 137

We woke up, but didn’t exactly hurry to get back on the Trail right away. When we went to pay at the office, Nepsis found a couple of postcards there she wanted to purchase, but the owner said she could have them for free. He then drove us back to the parking lot where we had to walk the mile back to the Trail. Right away, we had a long, difficult climb. Halfway up we took a break and just as we started hiking again we heard our names being yelled from behind. It was Yote, a thruhiker we hadn’t seen in a long time. He hiked fast and we hiked with him talking for a while. He explained that he kept getting injured, and one such injury took him off the trail for a month. He told us he was trying to finish the Trail by August 17^th, five days before our intended end date. He said he was hiking with a girl named Peaches who knew someone who worked at the hut we were all headed to for work-for-stay. He and Peaches had got work-for-stay at the hut we stopped at yesterday after we were gone. When we couldn’t keep up, we let Yote push on ahead of us. Near the top we caught up to Yote and Peaches at Liberty Spring Campsite where they were talking to a camper with a large beard. Beside Forrester Gump, Andrew, the camper was the only one on the whole Trail who knew what Hesychast was. He was Orthodox and we talked awhile before hiking on to Little Haystack Mountain. Here we met Squirrel and her dog Zima again and she relayed the story of how she had stealth camped next to a brook last night and hung her dog’s food on a tree right next to her tent. She woke up to noise in the middle of the night and unzipped her tent to find a black bear right in front of her. The bear ran away of course, but she was shaken up by the experience a bit. Half of the dog food was missing and the pouch had a big tear in it from the bear’s claws. From the top of Little Haystack we were above tree line for the next two miles as we hiked up and down the rocky terrain from peak to peak along a beautifully exposed ridgeline, Franconia Ridge. A lot of tourists were up here despite the fact it was still morning. At the bottom of Mt Lincoln’s peak a researcher with a stopwatch gave us a card with the time we passed by on it and we hiked right on up the peak past many section hikers to the top where another researcher took our time card. A group of young people was up there excited to be the fastest ones up so far. They were talking to Yote and Peaches. As soon as we got there the researcher informed them they’d just been beat by us. The views were really great on Mt Lincoln and there were a lot of tourists hanging out on top. We asked Peaches to take our photo for us. The clouds kept rolling in and out so sometimes we had good views of all around us, but other times even the next peak would be obscured by clouds. We hiked past Yote and Peaches on the last and tallest peak, Mt Lafayette, and began the rocky climb down. We scrambled down rocks for a thousand feet and past the 5/6 mark of being done with the Trail. Then we hiked up the steep Mt Garfield and partly down the very steep and precarious down we stopped for a break. Yote and Peaches past us and we continued down and across another a large gap between two mountains to Galehead Hut. Yote, Peaches, Silent Bob, another northbounder we didn’t know then, and two southbounders were sitting on the porch waiting for the guests inside to finish their dinner. We didn’t expect to get a work-for-stay, but because the crew of the other hut seemed so nice, we were hopeful, Nepsis probably a little too hopeful. We went inside and Nepsis asked the crew about it. The crew leader nicely, but awkwardly denied us food, but offered to let us sleep on the floor inside. We walked out, Nepsis devastated. She had to walk away from the other thruhikers and sit on a rock, holding back tears. The hike was tough and some good food would have been great. Eventually we cooked our own ramen dinner and hiked on, a mile up South Twin Mountain. The top was cold and we hiked a bit down on steep rocks until we found a small alcove, just big enough for our tent, right next to the Trail. One southbounder past by before it got dark and we went to sleep.

Miles hiked today: 13.8 Total AT miles completed: 1826 Total AT miles left to hike: 359.3

Day 138

We woke up early and hiked a few hours, past Mt Guyot and across Zeacliff Ridge until a short, steep down section, which ended at the Zealand Falls Hut. This hut was smaller, and we enjoyed bean soup, oatmeal cookies, and gingerbread in the small dining room. After the early lunch we hiked quickly across a long, flat ridge for several miles and then way down a few miles to Crawford Notch where we crossed US 302. Just after a road there was a plastic bag filled with sodas and a note telling people to leave it for thruhikers. We each enjoyed a soda with our second lunch before hiking back up a long ways, along the Webster Cliffs with excellent views, up to Mt Webster. We then hiked across the ridge to Mt Jackson and a little further down the ridge to Mizpah Spring Hut. For the third time we got there during dinner time and Nepsis made me go in to ask about work-for-stay. They weren’t taking any thruhikers in because a bluegrass group had rented the entire hut and were planning on playing late into the night. Next to the hut, a small hike into the woods was the Nauman Campsite. It was packed with campers, but the caretaker found us a spot on a platform with two other tents already on it. It cost $8 for each of us and the others on our platform were a group of young boys with two teenage counselors out hiking for a week. We went to sleep when the younger boys quieted down.

Miles hiked today: 20.3 Total AT miles completed: 1846.3 Total AT miles left to hike: 339

Day 139

We woke up early and got hiking. Crew members had informed us that it is best for thruhikers to arrive at 4 pm to ensure a work-for-stay spot and we had our eye on one and wanted to make sure we could there around that time.  We started hiking in the cold morning a bit up to Mt Pierce and a bit further up to Mt Eisenhower, above the tree line. It was very windy above the tree line, making the cold air even colder. We were in constant mist, getting a bit wet. We put on our ponchos, more to keep warm from the wind then from the wetness. We hiked on, a bit more up past Mt Franklin and a bit more up past Mt Monroe. There were probably great views all morning, but we couldn’t see anything beyond the clouds enveloping us. A bit further on the Lakes of the Clouds Hut appeared out of the mist in front of us. It was nice to get out of the cold. This hut was a lot bigger than any of the others and we had cheese and broccoli soup and several delicious pieces of pumpkin bread with chocolate chips inside. When we had enjoyed the food and warmth long enough we exited the hut to find the clouds clearing out. We hiked on, past the lakes, which really could be called ponds and to a sign that read: STOP THE AREA AHEAD HAS THE WORST WEATHER IN AMERICA. MANY HAVE DIED THERE FROM EXPOSURE. EVEN IN THE SUMMER. TURN BACK NOW IF THE WEATHER IS BAD. We hiked past it and started heading up the second tallest mountain on the Trail and the tallest in New Hampshire, Mt Washington. Once the clouds cleared we could see towers on the top of the summit and the Trail turned into a giant rock pile with cairns leading us in the right direction. We hiked steadily and passed several section hikers who seemed to be struggling and looked at us in disbelief as we kept going without breaks. Finally, we reached the top where there were several buildings and tourists walking about. The clouds rolled in again and after snapping a few photos of a hiker statue and the cog railcar that had just brought a group of tourists up from three miles down the mountains in Bretton Woods, we dashed inside the visitor center. It was the biggest building there and had a post office, restrooms, a cafeteria, a gift shop, and a museum inside. A lot of tourists and fellow hikers were inside. We ate lunch and some resupply at the cafeteria and waited inside while we waited for the Smartphone to charge. There was a video on one wall showing movies of people on top of the mountain being tossed around by strong winds. Next to the monitor was a historical list of all the deaths that had occurred on and around the mountain. Most were winter accidents or sudden health failures of older people, but there were also several of young people who had something unimaginable happen. One of the most memorable stories was of two board members of the Appalachian Mountain Club who decided to hike the couple of hours up the mountain to a meeting that was being held in July. An unexpected ice storm hit and they were not prepared for it and both died. We hung out inside for a while before leaving to snap a photo on the summit and get hiking again. We hiked down, along the railway a bit and a couple railcars passed by. Traditionally, we, as thruhikers, were supposed to moon them, but we simply waved. As I walked down the rocks while trying to take a photo I fell on my knees, cutting them up on rocks. As we hiked down the rocks, the clouds cleared out again and we had nice views as we hiked along, passing by Mt Clay and Mt Jefferson. We followed the cairns up and down, up and down until from the top of a mountain we could see hut way down at the bottom of an incline. We got excited and hiked a little faster down the precarious rocks. When we were almost all the way down, as I was sticking my trekking pole into the ground, my feet slipped out from under me and my face smashed into the handle of my pole sticking in the ground on my way down. It hurt, but there was no blood. But after this I really hoped we could get the work-for-stay. The hut was pretty empty inside except for one crewmember making dinner. It wasn’t quite four o’clock, but we were getting nervous so Nepsis asked the crewmember anyway. She asked us where we’d hiked from and when we told her she accepted us. We were very happy and soon she brought us outside, two hundred feet away from the hut, to where our work was. She brought us to a small wooden walled area where a bunch of compost was spread out across metal grates. Our job was to get the thick, muddy, bad-smelling substance through the holes in the grates with a couple of shovels and a plastic rake. She told us when we were finished we’d be done with our work-for-stay. We went to work scraping, smashing, pushing, and raking. After fifteen minutes nothing really looked different. After half an hour it looked the same. We could see a little bit of the compost getting through the grates, but not really much at all. Nepsis decided the best method was to squash it with her shoes. The problem was it all stuck together even when it was smashed small enough to fit down the holes. After a long time with no visible progress, Silent Bob and another thruhiker we’d never met before named Bagheera, came to relieve us. They also got work-for-stay positions. We went back to the hut to rest and look around the place.. The most interesting thing to me was a section of the wall that explained that all the energy the hut uses came from solar and wind power with some propane tanks for backup. It showed how much wind and solar power was being accumulated at any given time, how much battery was used up, and how much of the battery had been charged with solar vs wind power. Within a few minutes, Bagheera came back in to ask us how on earth to get any of the compost down through the grates. In the next couple of hours guests started arriving one after another until the place was full. Dinner started for the guests so us thruhikers waited outside. We joked about how the proper guests wouldn’t want to eat with the likes of us and that we were being treated like dogs, getting their table scraps. After a bit Grams, Gramps, and Indy showed up, who we hadn’t seen in a long time. We talked for a while before they decided to go in and ask for work-for-stay. They were denied, but the crew gave them a large loaf of homemade bread. They consumed it feverishly and it looked so good. We were all so hungry. Eventually, the crew came out to call us in for the leftovers. We were all so happy as we piled our plates high with chicken, couscous, homemade bread with butter, salad, soup, and brownies. It was amazing. We felt sorry for Grams, Gramps, and Indy so we snuck them some brownies when they came in to use the restroom. The crewmembers have to hike up several boxes of fresh food on these wooden slabs several times a week to their own huts to be able to prepare these meals. After dinner we sat around waiting for the guests to go to their bunkroom so we could go to sleep. Lights out was at 9:30 pm and we pushed some of the benches together to sleep on them for the night.

Miles hiked today: 11.8 Total AT miles completed: 1858.1 Total AT miles left to hike: 327.2

Day 140

We woke up very early to a crewmember noisily setting the tables for breakfast. Us thruhikers packed up and sat at a table in the corner drinking coffee and tea while we waited for the tables to be set and breakfast to be made. In awhile the other crewmembers woke up and walked into the hallway with a guitar to wake the guests with the song, “Angel from Montgomery.” The guests slowly poured into the dining room and were served oatmeal and pancakes while we waited for them to finish. After they were done and slowly leaving the hut we had our fill of breakfast and shortly after Nepsis and I hit the Trail. Right away we had a steep climb up Mt Madison, then way down several miles off, across a fairly level part, and down a bit further to Pinkham Notch where there was a Visitor Center with a cafeteria inside. We bought sandwiches for lunch, ate, and rested inside, charging our phones with Grams, Gramps, and Indy who were already there. In a bit Silent Bob and Bagheera came and then Yote, Peaches and another thruhiker we had seen, but didn’t know the name of. It started to rain and Silent Bob took a nap on the outside porch on a bench. Peaches came us some extra food she had from a mail drop. A woman she had met sometime during the Trail took a liking to her and often sent mail drops with a ton of food. We also found some food in a hiker box and when the rain cleared out again we finally got back to hiking behind Bagheera. The first mile was flat and easy along some ponds, but I was sleepy and didn’t feel much like hiking. I woke up when we had to hike up the very steep Wildcat Mountain. It was slow going, but we passed Bagheera, who had stopped to make a phone call. We kept pushing on up and Silent Bob passed us. Finally, we reached peak E as the sky began to darken with storms. We passed peak D where there was a small tower and a ski gondola and we climbed a bit further up to peak C and across to peak A. On our way down into a notch Bagheera passed us and it started to sprinkle. Down in the notch there was a hut down a side trail, but I thought we’d just continue on since it was evening already. Nepsis wanted to check it out anyway and on the side trail we passed by a couple of ponds that looked beautiful with the mountains behind them. Carter Notch Hut was tucked away on an incline. The bunkrooms and restroom were separate building further up the hill. As we approached the main building two girls in bathing suits came running out. On seeing us they immediately asked us if we were thruhikers and if we wanted work-for-stay. We happily agreed and they told us to go in and eat while they ran down to the pond for a quick dip. Inside, the hut was very small, and crowded with guests hanging out around the tables. Silent Bob and Bagheera were already sitting down and eating. We heaped piles of salad, lasagna, peas, and brownies onto our plates and started scarfing it down. Soon, Yote, Peaches, and the thruhiker we kept seeing arrived and they were all offered work-for-stay too. The thruhiker we hadn’t met yet was named White Rabbit. We were sitting next to a family who were playing Uno together and the parents had a box of merlot. When Nepsis mentioned it, the offered us the rest so I poured cups for the thruhikers who wanted it. Then the crew brought out stacks of baked goods and set them in front of us, challenging us to eat it all. We were all feeling real great and the crew was extremely nice and friendly. Our work-for-stay consisted of cleaning the kitchen, but since there were so many of us thruhikers, it took no time at all. We all just hung out having fun until it was time to sleep. We all lined up on the floor and fell asleep quickly.

Miles hiked today: 13.7 Total AT miles completed: 1871.8 Total AT miles left to hike: 313.5

Day 141: Part 1

The crewmember in charge of breakfast was neither up as early nor as loud as the crewmember at the last hut. Still, it was pretty early as us thruhikers started waking up. The crewmember gave us more baked goods and coffee in exchange for us waking up the other crewmembers with “The Lion Sleeps Tonight.” Yote took the lead with a powerful solo as the rest of us sang backup. The crew told us we could stay for more breakfast if we wanted to help with breakfast cleanup, but Nepsis and I opted out to get hiking. Immediately, we had a steep climb out of the notch on slippery rock through the early morning cold mist. Several of the other thruhikers passed us before we reached the top of Carter Dome. From there we hiked across the ridge to Mt Hight, an abrupt down to Zeta Pass, and the gradual up and across a few miles to Middle Carter Mountain and North Carter Mountain. From there we went a ways down and up a bit over Mt Moriah before making our way down, out of the mountains to a road where we stopped by a hostel. We made it through the Whites!