It takes me 3 days to reach the first 4,000 footer in New England from Hanover, New Hampshire. The mountain is called Moosilauke and it is 4,800 feet. I decided to just hike up and over it August 7th and then go into the town of Lincoln. The day only contained 10 miles and I was done by 1:00; I was given a ride into town by a day hiker who had hiked down with me. Thanks to the position of the trail, I happened to be able spend the next day slack-packing a good 17 miles up and over the Kinsman peaks and end up on a second road that leads into Lincoln. It was the best decision I could have made; the terrain would have been almost too intimidating had I kept my full pack. There were a few sections that had out-right rock climbing straight up. I had left most of my stuff at a hostel in town and was able to take a taxi ride back.
After minimal sleep I spend just over half the day debating on whether or not I should stay. Due to the fact that the weather was going to be cloudy with a chance of rain the next day, I eventually gather the gumption to leave...I don't reach the the trail until about 3:40. I do a steep 3 miles up and then an easier 3 miles along the length of Franconia Ridge. It's the most breath-taking place so far and it feels familiar, like I may have had a dream about this place as a child. The sun starts setting as I approach the side trail to Green Leaf Hut...unfortunately for me, it's another steep, down-hill mile off the trail. It takes an extra 45 minutes to get there but I luck out and get work-for-stay along with Little Rhino and Lollygag. We do a little work cleaning up the kitchen in exchange for left-overs and a place to sleep (on the floor of the dining room).
The next day was as gloomy as I had expected it to be but it didn't rain and had actually cleared up by the time I reached Zealand Hut by Zealand Falls. Since I arrived rather late and since this hut was right on the trail, there's no work for stay this time and they suggest that I go half a mile farther to tent. I stick around for the left overs they kept saying they couldn't promise and then I actually go and cowboy camp on the falls. A couple is nice enough to bring my pack inside for me, I'm still paranoid about rodents finding a way into my food bag. I leave late the next morning, August 11th, after having left-overs and doing some cleaning with Hong Kong Steve. We go down to Crawford Notch, an 8 mile hike, and run into trail angels. They end up offering us a ride into the town of Gorham, which is extremely nice of them since it's 45 minutes away. Although I was really tempted to start up Webster Cliffs and head towards Mount Washington while the weather was nice, I knew I was in no shape to do so and took the ride with Hong Kong Steve. Between the obvious risk of dehydration (it was 90 degrees, there are no water sources on the way up) and the bad pack rash I had gotten, I would not have been able to enjoy myself.
I, much to my surprise, end up spending 6 nights at the White Mountain Hostel. I slack-packed 3 days, zeroed one, and had a light pack over the Wild Cats which just means I brought a day and a half worth of food and left any other unnecessary gear at the hostel. It was a 21 mile section that took taller and, of course, faster hikers than me close to 12 hours to slack-pack this in a day so I made the right choice for myself. I did just over half of it to get to Imp Shelter and then did 8 miles back to the Hostel the next day. The 1st slack-pack was up Webster Cliffs to the summit of Mount Washington and then Hong Kong Steve and I got a ride down the auto road. There was no view on the summit that day, just fog and at one point, driving rain. We zero the next day and then pick up where we left off (again no view for us) and climb along the ridge line toward Madison and Pinkham Notch. In order to try to do the Wild Cats in dry weather, we decide to southbound a 12 mile section toward the hostel (it's right on the trail) and then do that mountain range the day after. Unfortunately, it rains halfway through the day anyway and the already terrifying drops look deadly. I end up testing all the trees to see if I can swing from the base of one to the base of the next. These are 8 to 10 foot drops of sloping flat rock, and with 20-30 lbs, you're not going to try to jump. The people I had started with, Griz and Spidey, were nowhere to be seen and I was beginning to fall apart. When I finally reach the shelter, the last portion slowing me down to close to a mile an hour, I'm pretty cold, wet and hungry.
The next day, I leave early enough to reach the hostel by about 10:40 and found out Griz had turned around within the 1st three miles of the hike and that Spidey hadn't come back yet. When I arrive, I am offered a free night's stay; I must have looked the prime example of misery...at least that's what I had thought at the time. But it turned out I had made an impression on the owner when I mentioned how I'd been saving my money for almost 10 years and that was how I was affording this trip. Thank you to everyone at the White Mountain Hostel for everything! The breakfasts were amazing and this place will always be one of the biggest highlights of my trip! I miss you guys!
It's the 18th of August by the time I finally leave the Hostel and arrive, at long last, in Maine. It took me 8 whole hours to make it to Full Goose Shelter, only 10 miles away from where I started that day. The sun had hit the horizon by the time I got there. This particular day was when I experienced my first bad fall, ironically on a set of stone steps, not on the nearly impossible sections that made me move incredibly slow. I had done a face plant and hit my forehead on a rock. There was a good sized knot and a light green bruise that arose, but I felt rather lucky considering; no one was able to tell.
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