Appalachian Trail Day 156 - Greenleaf Hut to Galehead Hut (Mile 1,831 to Mile 1,838)

I woke up a thousand times after 2:30 a.m..  By 4:45 I give up on any more sleep and get up; the first one as usual. I have a headache and I'm certain this is related to the altitude. This realization helps me cope with the lack of sleep. The good news is that when I go down In altitude I should sleep like a baby.

I sit in the dark main room of the hut, listening to the wind howl outside of the windows.  Unlike my three other trips up here, it's rather warm in the hut this morning, so it must not be cold outside. 

As I write this, I watch the outlines of Mounts Lafayette and Garfield above me become more visible, backlit by the sun rising on the other side of the ridge. A small pond in front of the shelter, called Eagle Lake, has small wisps of fog swirling about over the lily pads.

At 6 a.m. a Croo member puts out coffee and I enjoy a cup just as the sun breaks over the ridge between Garfield and Lafayette. More people are waking and at 6:30 the Croo gives the wake up call. Usually a few of the Croo are up and sing people awake, but this morning the Croo member, by herself in the kitchen, shouts to the guests that it's time to get up. 

Now I can go back into the bunk room without fear of waking anyone. The two women who were sleeping in the room with me are up, and I get to meet them, since we were never in the room at the same time yesterday while I was awake, I had no idea who they were. They are older than me so now I'm glad that I got the second bunk last night.

During breakfast the Croo reads the weather report sent that morning by the Mount Washington Weather Observatory. Due to the smoke from the Canadian wildfires, visibility is limited to six miles and obviously very hazy. There is also an air quality alert which most likely explains my junky sinuses this morning.  At least there is no rain in the forecast until this afternoon, when there Is a high probability of showers and thunderstorms; pretty much like every other afternoon in the mountains.

Meal is served family style just like dinner, and the lone Croo member brings out big bowls of oatmeal with toppings of nuts, brown sugar, and dried cranberries, followed by scrambled eggs and bacon. Once everybody has firsts we are allowed to grab seconds. There is a pile of bacon left over so I take the whole thing after checking with the others at the table to make sure they don't want anymore.

When we are done with breakfast I grab my things and say goodbye to all the people I've met at the hut before heading out the door. It's 8:15 And I really would like to get to Galehead as early as possible to avoid any afternoon thunderstorms.

I start out with my sun hoodie and my fleece with knee-high gaiters covering my lower legs. It's not too bad until I approach Lafayette, when the wind really kicks up as I get above tree line. About 45 minutes After leaving the hut I summit Lafayette at 5,260 feet.  I am elated! I am on the ridge and it is beautiful, even though I can't see much because of the haze. At least it's not raining or hailing like the other times I've been up here.

Once at the top I have to pull out my rain jacket as a wind layer and don my gloves. The temp is about 55°F with 30 mile-per-hour winds but totally tolerable. I take some pictures and a short video to post on a group family chat before turning north.  I'm on the ridgeline for another half mile and the wind is directly in my face but I'm living this hike!

I can see the ridge that I'm going to be walking the remainder of the day and I start to drip down sharply on large boulders and rocks that we're dangerously slick the last time I was here.  Today the rocks are dry and I easily walk down them with little steps.

As soon as I get below tree line I start shedding layers. Today is going to be warm, and if the sun makes it through the smoky haze it will get hot.

I climb up and down over huge boulders and some not so big rock faces, some of which are 12 to 15 feet high, but I'm able to grab handholds and work my way over them slowly but without too much difficulty.

I reach the Garfield Mountain about noon, and when I arrive I'm greeted by the site of quite the throng of people. A couple with very large packs engages me in conversation. They are through hiking northbound but decided to south bound this section for some reason.

I sit down next to a group of three men and a woman who ask if I'm thru hiking. I recognize one of the men but I'm not sure from where. He says that he has been doing trail magic in Vermont near Wallingford. Now I know where I recognize him from.  Did your trail magic have a gong? "Yes!!!" He asks my trail name and when I tell him it's Trash Panda, his face lights up. He remembers me! His name is Roof Walker.  It's absolutely amazing how many people I have run into out here: Croft, Will, and now Roof Walker!

They give me a lot of snacks and offer to pack out my trash, which is amazing. We take pictures together and while away the next 45 minutes chatting and admiring the hazy view but still incredible view.  I can see Galehead Hut from here but I know that it's deceiving how far it really is, and how much of a hike it is to get to.

I say goodbye and head down the trail. I stop to filter water next to the trail at a junction for Garfield Campsite and I see another familiar face. It's Tom from Greenleaf Hut. He has a pack board loaded with some equipment that Greenleaf needed to get from Galehead.  The Galehead runner carried it here for him to pack back to Greenleaf. He is chugging water from the stream for the return trip.

The climb down Garfield is so ridiculously hard period. The climb down is pretty much a vertical jumble of rocks, and I have to boot scoot several times to get down for fear of falling. A man is coming up the opposite direction and he has on all black, with a black sun hoodie up over his head. He's scrambling up the rocks on all fours with his hands and his knees in contact, and he looks a little bit like an ape.

I go up and down huge rocks for the next three miles, only stopping once for a short break. My knees are begging for mercy by the time I reach Galehead Hut at 3:30 PM. Since leaving Garfield, I only added another 758 feet of elevation,  but I lost about 1,500 feet, all of it on crazy boulder scrambles.

 My first order of business is to check in and claim my bunk. I'm the second person in my assigned room, which has only one of the four triple bunks occupied,  so I have a lower bunk tonight!

My second task is to make a cup of Chai tea and take some motrin, and then relax on the bench in front of the hut, taking in the amazing views of South Twin Mountain and Mount Guyot. More people arrive, and several backpackers stop in to fill their water bottles before leaving to find a camping spot.

One of the Croo comes out and gives a tech talk about the hut before dinner. She talks about how each hut is provisioned three times per year by a helicopter, which makes 8 trips per provision to each hut. The helicopter flies in propane tanks, dry goods, and other durable items that will last the season. The fresh food we eat is packed in twice per week, and every Croo member carries 40 to 50 pounds uphill each trip.

After the talk, dinner is served and we all file into the dining room, ready for some wonderful, freshly made food. Tonight's menu is split pea soup and fresh bread, followed by salad, then a main course of a spicy chickpea curry over rice with peas for a vegetable. Dessert is a double chocolate cake. 

I eat my fill then go outside for another talk given by the hut naturalist,  who is also one of the Croo. He is studying forestry management and discusses the clear cutting that took place here in the early 1900's. He points out the scars extending across the side of South Twin  Mountain to Guyot that were the makeshift roads used to transport the felled trees to market. 

I go to bed the minute the talk is over and I'm out almost immediately. 

Today's Stats: 5.8 miles, 2,811 feet gain

Trail Stats: 1,838 miles, 367K feet gain

Miles to Katahdin: 356

Appalachian Trail Day 155 - Kinsman Pond Shelter to Greenleaf Hut (Mile 1,820 to Mile 1,831)

I went to bed so early last night that I woke up at four this morning. Last night was not the most peaceful slumber I could ask for. It was quiet enough,  but we were packed in like sardines, and the 12 year old boy next to me kicked me a couple times, and at one point I think I elbowed him in the head. Thankfully kids sleep like the dead, and I don't think I woke him up.

I gather my things as quietly as possible so as not too disturb the other 12 hikers in the small shelter. By the light of my headlamp I pack up outside of the shelter.  I water the leaves behind the shelter right before I leave, and as I shoulder my pack my light illuminates a young man cowboy camping about 15 feet from where I was squatting.  I don't think I woke him, but maybe he was just pretending to be asleep.

It's pitch black outside and I have to hike with my headlamp. I take the easier Kinsman Pond Trail down to Liberty Springs instead of the Fishin' Jimmy Trail, which is treacherous in the daylight, let alone in the dark. I have to lose 2,400 feet of elevation, and people on top of Kinsman yesterday were talking about how steep the trail was. 

The Kinsman Pond Trail is definitely not easy to navigate by headlamp. I hike over bog bridges that are canted at a precarious angle and wobble when I walk on them. The trail Is poorly blazed just like all the other trails in New Hampshire, Not that I would be able to see the occasional blazes in the dark anyway. 

I am going down a well worn path, that's for sure but maybe it's a game trail?  It looks like a trail but I don't know if it is THE trail. It's definitely a stream. I use my InReach to make sure I am going in the right direction, when I look up and see a blue blaze haphazardly painted on the side of a tree that is leaning precariously iinto the trail, in the light of my headlamp. 

About six o'clock the sun has risen high enough over Mount Lafayette to the east that I can hike without my headlamp. I'm getting hot and hungry, so stop and change into my day clothes, and eat a little breakfast. The smell of my day clothes makes my eyes water. 

This hike is definitely taking me a lot longer than if I were hiking in the daylight but at least I'm still making some progress, albeit slowly. 

The trail remains challenging for the next mile until It crosses Cascade Brook and joins the AT proper from here, when the trail becomes much easier and more like the rest of the AT to which I am accustomed further south. I have lost about 1,700 feet of altitude in the last two hours, so the rest should be less steep from here.

The sun has fully risen while I follow Cascade Brook down, and see some beautiful cascades with big pools of water that would be perfect for a splash if it were hotter. A couple campsites are randomly scattered throughout the woods. I am so paranoid about camping anywhere other than a designated ATC campsite in the national forest, because if I were to inadvertently set up in a forest protection area and get caught,  it's a fine up to $5,000. 

The final mile to Franconia Notch Is delightfully easy. I get a little confunded at a trail intersection and go the wrong way for a moment, but get back on track quickly. I pass a lot of clean and happy hikers heading back onto the trail from the trailhead, and as much as I'm dying for a cup of coffee and some real breakfast, I really need to focus on getting cleaned up as well. My main objective this morning is doing laundry, taking a shower, and getting back on the trail as soon as possible. 

I get down to the Liberty Springs Trailhead at 8:30 AM after hiking five miles down from Kinsman Pond and another mile to the parking lot. I'm dirty and smell awful, but don't bother to change out of my clothes as I get in the truck. 

I think my best bet for laundry and a shower is the Lafayette Campground, just a mile away.  When I arrive, there are people directing traffic in the full parking lots in front of the campground. This is a wildly popular hiking destination and a lot of people are hitting the trail for the weekend.

I park in front of the general store and when I enter I am greeted by a kindly old man behind the counter. I see a coffee machine and I make a beeline for it while he says hello.  We make some small talk and I tell him I have been hiking the trail and I would love a shower and laundry if possible. He says not only is it possible but he pulls out a map and tells me where to park to continue on my journey later today. He is tremendously helpful and kind, and I tell him today couldn't get any better!

I walk over to the bath house and change out of my disgusting clothes so that I can do laundry while I shower. There are two outlets in the breezeway, so I plug in my battery packs, InReach, and watch to charge. Nothing like one stop shopping!

An hour-and-half later my clothes are clean, I am clean, and my electronics are almost fully charged!  While my clothes are drying I look over the map and come up with a plan for the rest of the day.

By stopping at Kinsman Pond last night and not getting to my car earlier, I really screwed myself up for the hike to Greenleaf Hut today. There is no way I will make it to the hut for dinner, let alone before nightfall, if I continue up the AT from here. I would have to hike the mile back to the trail from the parking lot, then climb 4,200 feet over 6.4 very rough miles to Mt. Lafayette, then hike one mile and 1,000 feet down to the hut. That would take at least an additional 6 hours.

I've done that trip before and it is very challenging, even on fresh legs, and something you want to start very early in the day, not at 11 A.M.. While I have hiked many sections of the trail before this journey, I have re-hiked all the sections I have previously done in order to get a real thru hike experience.  This is the one time I am pulling the "I already hiked this part" card and taking a short cut. 

The Old Bridle Path is a 3 mile trail that leaves directly from a parking lot and goes straight to Greenleaf Hut. I will still need to gain about 3,000 feet, but I can make it in about 2.5 hours,  including breaks. 

I pack the essentials for the next couple nights in the huts; toiletries, sleeping clothes, snacks, and my top quilt. A stay in the huts includes all-you-can-eat dinner and breakfast in addition to a bunk, so I'm essentially slack-packing with a couple extra things.

The hike up starts off easily, on steps made of stone and a groomed walking path. So nice after the crazy jumble of rocks of the last three days. The trail becomes more like a trail with fewer steps as I head up, and eventually it is a much rougher trail, involving steep rock scrambles, but I'm having a great time!

I am enjoying the views and the cool breezes that occasionally waft over the trail as I gain elevation. The surrounding mountains are very hazy today, but still spectacular. 

I am forced to stop and take frequent pauses in my hike up, as the trail is quite the busy thoroughfare.  I am passing hikers right and left, but the trail is so narrow in places that it's almost impossible to step off it. By unwritten rules of the trail, uphill hikers have the right of way, but most of these hikers are apparently unschooled in trail etiquette, and fail to yield. I get fed up and finally start pushing upward, making the other hikers stop. 

I arrive at the hut at 4 pm, my legs feeling much better than this time the last two days. Lots of people are milling about outside the hut, and I go inside to check in.

I am in bunk room 7, and when I go to claim a bunk,  I'm disheartened to see the bottom two bunks taken. The person beneath me will get woken by my middle-of-the-night forays to the ladies room, but that's the breaks.  At least I'm not stuck on the very top bunk! As an aside, when I did this each time before with large groups, We would make the youngest hikers sleep in the top bunks, leaving the lowest for the oldest hikers.

I ask the Croo (what the hut staff are called) for a bowl of soup when a young man comes up behind me.  He says "I recognized your voice." I recall his face, but like so many other times on the trail, I have a hard time placing people's faces to situations; I've met so many people over the days on the trail, plus I tend to stay a little befuddled in general, in a tired haze from weariness. 

He says that he drove me to Hanover from The Barn Door Hostel. It's the young rock climber who had a lot of questions about hiking. 

"Will!", I exclaim. He said he wanted to go hiking and had a backpack and gear but he wasn't sure where to start. I grab my soup and sit down with him and his cousin, who is from Baltimore, of all places. We chat for a while until they realize the time. They say goodbye and head down the trail I just came up.

I spend the next hour sitting behind the hut, relaxing on a rock, watching about 50 hikers trying to figure out how to get back to their cars.  A volunteer naturalist with the AMC stands at the trailhead junction and tries to help people get on the right trail. Several times people hike down the one trail,  only to return to ask directions to the right trail!

At 6 PM the hut guests gather in the dining room for dinner, which is always a lively affair in the huts. There are about 35 of us seated at the two long tables. Dinner is announced by a dinner bell and a chant by the Croo. We are served minestrone soup, followed by salad and stuffed shells with peas, all served family style. While we eat, the other guests around me ask lots of questions about trail life and my experiences.  The Croo brings out big chocolate cookies dusted with sugar, and the gentleman across from me grabs two extra and gives them to me for later.

After dinner the AMC naturalist holds a trivia game for interested guests, and I lose but learn a lot about the history of the mountains in the process.  I'm having a great time but I'm exhausted and yawning, eager for the end so I can go to bed.

At 8:20 I climb onto my bunk.  The room is dark and the other two people in the room are reading on their Kindles. I can't make out who they are, but I can tell by the voices that they are women. I say goodnight and I'm out within minutes of my head hitting the pillow.

Today's Stats: 9 miles, 2,900 feet gain

Trail Stats: 1,831 miles, 364K feet gain

Miles to Katahdin: 363

Appalachian Trail Day 154 - Gordon Pond Campsite to Kinsman Pond Shelter (Mile 1,812 to Mile 1,820)

I wake up at first light around 5:15.  I slept really well except for the fact that I was cold a couple of times, and woke up shivering.  I was able to tuck my quilts around my shoulders and go back to sleep easily. I think I need to carry a heavier sleeping pad in addition to my cold-weather clothes. My pack is going to be a lot heavier in general. 

I pack up languidly, walking to the edge of the pond, misty in the morning light,  several times as the dawn progresses, hoping to get a nice sunrise. I am moving very slowly this morning and exhibiting avoidance behavior at pulling on my damp, cold clothes in the chilly morning air. 

I finally get on the trail at seven, later than I intended. Leaving the pond, I stay on the numerous bog bridges as the trail heads uphill.  A short while later I am back on the Appalachian Trail and heading north and uphill.

The first climb of the day takes me up to Mount Wolf, where I have to navigate some challenging boulder climbs. My legs aren't sore, but they aren't working very well; it feels like I have weights attached to my ankles, not fresh like I usually feel in the mornings. I also have a headache. Either I'm coming down with something or I am just tired from the climbing yesterday. I have to take smaller steps, which is hard to do on these big rocks.

By nine o'clock I cross Mount Wolf and I've only done 800 feet over 1.3 miles plus the trail from the beaver pond. I am moving at a snail-like pace today, but it is what it is.

The trail through here is not really a hiking trail but a series of obstacles to navigate. It's as if all of the states took all of their craziest and worst trail conditions, dumped them together like dice in a Yahtzee cup, and then spilled the contents out onto this trail.

I'm so glad that I did not do this as a slack pack, which would be almost 17 grueling miles. And I am extremely glad that I hiked in last night to whittle down the amount of miles and gain that I have to do today.  I normally can count on a minimum of two miles an hour on my hikes, but with this hot mess I'm lucky to do a mile every 45 minutes in some places. This is going to take me a heck of a lot longer than I originally planned.

I pass Eliza Brook shelter Around 11 A.M, completing four miles and 1,000 feet. I am so ridiculously slow this morning. From here, I start my upward slog to the Kinsman Peaks. I will be gaining 2,000 feet over two miles. Normally 500 feet per mile is steep, so 1,000 feet per mile is going to be extremely steep.

Leaving Eliza Brook shelter the trail parallels the brook for about a mile and I get to look at beautiful cascades and waterfalls as I hike uphill against the flow of the stream. The trail is rocky and steep but not unmanageable except for in a couple places where trees are down across the trail and I have to shimmy under or climb over them while trying to navigate the steep incline. 

When the trail crosses the Eliza Brook and diverges from the stream for the last time, I take off my pack and top off my water.  I drink some electrolytes and have a snack, hoping that will boost my energy. What I really need is a cup of coffee.  This will be the last water until I get up and over the mountain, which is only three miles, but at the rate that I'm hiking today, it will take me many hours.

The trail starts to go straight up on boulders.  I debate putting my poles away but there are many times when I'm able to use them. I have to find hand holds on many of the rocks to hoist myself up. My shoes are well suited for this kind of hike, but I still slip In places. I always maintain three points of contact on the rock to avoid a nasty fall. Getting rescued out here would be no small feat.

The next mile is ridiculously steep, with 1,000 feet of gain. Unarguably one of the toughest miles I've ever done on the trail. The climb takes me an hour, and by the time I reach the South Kinsman Peak, I am spent. The sun is shining brightly overhead and it's quite hot at the top. There are a ton of people sitting on rocks and enjoying the gorgeous views. 

I see a group of young campers that are part of a summer camp. I saw them when I was hiking up to Moosilauke yesterday. Several of them excitedly chatter at me. Most of them look to be in the 12 to 14 year old range, and they are handling the mountains well. They ask where I stayed and where I am going. When I tell them I'm going to Maine, some squeal with amazement.

I pause and take in the gorgeous views. I can see Moosilauke to the south, and to the east I see the peaks of Lincoln, Haystack, and Lafayette, where I will be tomorrow. This is the second 4,000 foot peak I will be climbing in New Hampshire,  with Moosilauke being the first. Every day I will climb at least one 4,000 foot mountain until I leave the Whites, with some much higher.

I continue towards North Kinsman, with a few more crazy rock scrambles over the next mile. I see some alpine cranberries, and I try the small red fruit, which is surprisingly less bitter than the larger cranberries that I've tried in the wild. 

The views on the north peak are much less dramatic than the south peak,  but still gorgeous.  There are fewer people here,  but more are hiking up. 

I head down the trail and not surprised to see that the trail has lots of rock scrambles down.  I need to decide what I'm going to do tonight. This hike is taking much longer than anticipated.  By the time I get down to Franconia Notch,  it will probably be a very late night doing laundry and taking a shower.  

I could stay at Kinsman Pond tonight. There is a shelter available for a small fee. If I stay in the shelter, I can get an early start in the morning and try to get a shower and laundry before I head up from Franconia Notch tomorrow morning. 

I arrive at the turnoff for the Kinsman Pond campsite and shelter. I need to make a decision now. I am so weary that I decide to head towards the shelter and if there is room available then I will stay here tonight. I'm really tired and want to go to bed early. Actually, I could go to bed right now,  but it's only 3 p.m.

I'm trying to figure out why I'm so freaking tired. I have been regularly gaining three or four thousand feet of elevation in a day for several days back to back. Why is today so different? Why are my legs not wanting to work? And why does it feel like I'm wearing 10 to 15 extra pounds on my back, when I'm actually carrying less than I usually do.  Then it hits me. I'm at a much higher altitude than I have been spending the last two-and-a-half months! I am spending more time above 3,000 feet, and while it's not very high in terms of all the mountains I've done, it's the most consecutive days that I've been at this altitude. I have always been very sensitive to even the slightest changes in altitude. This would explain the fatigue and mild headaches.

I enter the campsite, which isn't like any other campsite I have seen, but small tenting areas distributed throughout the woods over a pretty large distance.  I pass the caretakers tent, but no one is present.  They must be busy with their duties,  so I proceed to the shelter.  There are a few spots taken in the shelter, but it is otherwise wide open. I start setting up my sleeping pad and a young man tells me the caretaker is running around.

He says the three that are set up in the shelter didn't have any cash,  so the caretaker is having them plant a few trees to earn their stay. As I finish setting up a young woman in a green AMC Polo and a clipboard is directing people to a nearby campsite. She tells the other tenters that that are set up in the space that they need to move their tents closer together to make room for more arrivals with the authority of a drill sergeant. The arriving groups of campers are coming in like a bus just let them off at the trail junction. 

I introduce myself and let her know that I would like to stay in the shelter. She tells me that would be great and she will be right back to register me and collect my money. When she returns she has the group of young campers I saw at South Kinsman in tow. She gives me a sorrowful look and says "I'm sorry but they are staying in the shelter with you."

On the upside, she gives them a stern lecture about camp etiquette and looks at me and asks me what time I want to go to sleep. I say that I usually go to sleep around 8:00 p.m. and get up at 5:00 a.m. 

"Okay, quiet hours start at 8:00 p.m." she says. The campers all nod acknowledgment, ready to shed their heavy packs. Their counselors high five each other with the 8 p.m. curfew.

I got to the cooking area and make my dinner. The young campers are next to me and they are all involved in cooking a group dinner which is super cute. Before they eat dinner they sing a song of thanks, and even though it's only 7:00 p.m., I think I'm ready to hit the hay. 

I pull on my buff and put in my ear plugs and I am out like a light to the sound of adolescents giggling and screaming and singing. They are so cute and I'm so glad they're having a good time. I love the idea of taking kids in the woods. As long as I'm not the one doing it. 

Today's Stats: 8.7 mile, 3,205 feet gain

Trail Stats: 1,820 miles, 361K feet gain

Milesnto Katahdin: 374 miles

Appalachian Trail Day 153 - Kinsman Notch Southbound then North to Gorden Pond (Mile 1799 to Mile 1812)

I am the first one awake again, and I would love for once to be able to sleep until my alarm goes off! At least I will easily be ready to hit the trail when the shuttle leaves at 7. In the meantime, I strip my bed and use the extra time to pack the food and supplies I will need for tonight. 

The shuttle leaves promptly at 7, and I am the only one heading south from Kinsman Notch over Moosilauke. When we arrive at the notch (what they call the low spot between two mountains in these parts), I say goodbye to Mystic. She hiked Moosilauke yesterday,  skipping the 10 miles I did, so she can meet her husband in Franconia Notch tomorrow. 

I cross a stream next to a big and beautiful campsite. This would be an awesome place to camp if I was hiking Moosilauke northbound from the hostel.  I hope I can find something like this later tonight!

After crossing the stream, the trail starts uphill, and in a big way. The elevation profile for this mountain, like so many other mountains for the next 75 miles, is straight up.  FarOut says I will average 852 feet of gain each mile for the next four miles, which is more than a little above the overall average for the Whites.

The trail is right next to the stream, and like the rest of New Hampshire so far, there are barely any blazes.  I am following A trail, but is it THE trail? I keep turning on GPS to confirm that I am on course.  I am climbing huge, sharply slanted rocks, where I have to take huge steps that are really working my legs and booty.  

The elevation profile doesn't portray an accurate pucture of this hike. The trail is so steeply pitched that I gain 900 feet in the next half mile. Wow! This is ridiculously steep. The one thing I like about these steep climbs is that I can knock out a huge chunk of elevation quickly,  which means the trail will flatten out briefly at some point ahead.

The hike is gorgeous, but hard, as I follow the stream uphill where a waterfall or cascade greets me at every turn, each getting more impressive than the last. I spend a lot of time pausing and taking pictures, just to stop again a few minutes later for something even prettier.  

The trail leaves the brook after a mile, and just before Beaver Brook Shelter,  I see a young man filtering water from a stream that is running down the middle of the trail. He says he stayed up at the shelter but had to return down here to get water, so I stop and filter water since this is the last source until I go down the other side of Moosilauke. 

When I finish grabbing an extra liter, I see a herd of young kids coming down the trail towards me. They seem so happy to be out here, bubbling with enthusiasm. They stop to let me pass, and I express my thanks.

The scent of the spruce permeates the air as the trees change from hard to softwood. It smells like I'm walking through Christmas, the smell is so amazingly pungent. The trees here are super stunted and missing vegetation on the windward side. You can tell that winter here is absolutely brutal.

The air is getting much colder, and I stop and put on my gloves, but I don't put on any other extra clothes just yet, although the wind is getting decidedly stiffer as I gain elevation. I am at four thousand feet in altitude,  and will be at almost five thousand at the top of Moosilauke. 

I round a corner and have a gorgeous view of Moosilauke in the distance. It's still one and a half miles, and about a thousand feet of climbing away, but it's a gorgeous day and I am so excited for the summit. 

Three miles into my hike I see Sonic. He is really cooking.  He left the hostel at the same time we did, and he's already done four thousand feet of climbing and seven miles!  He definitely has the right trail name. We stop and chat briefly. I tell him about the absolutely gorgeous waterfalls ahead, and this is already one of my favorite hikes of the entire trail so far. He says that the views on top of Moosilauke go for about a mile across the ridge. We both marvel at how gorgeous the weather is for this hike. We just couldn't have picked a better day to climb the mountain.

A short time after saying goodbye to Sonic I cross paths with Wormwood. We talk about pretty much the same things. We are both enjoying our days immensely. I say "goodbye," and "happy hiking," because I know I won't see him again. He plans on hiking into the Kinsmans today and he will be way ahead of me, as will all these young men. 

About a half mile from the top I see Carrot Cake heading downhill. I am so glad to see him again. He has seen me at my absolute lowest low on the trail when I was trying not to ugly cry in Norwich, Vermont at Captain Stash's house.  Now he sees me enthusiastic and delightfully happy.  While we are talking he stops to say a mouse ran across the trail behind me. I don't see anything. Then it happens again, nd again I don't see it. By the third time I tell them I think he's screwing with me, but he swears he's not.

We part ways and I arrive at the summit about 15 minutes later. As I approach, I am blown away by the breathtaking views up here.  I take out my phone and use the PeakFinder app. I can see the Kinsmans, which are indeed going to be a bitch tomorrow, as well as Lafayette, South Twin, and In the distance, Mount Washington.  This week is going to be wild!

As I approach the summit marker, I hear a female voice say "Oh, hi!" and I see Fallout crouched down out of the wind by a wall of sorts made of stone.  She tells me that she's having a great time and she really enjoyed staying at the shelter last night. She looks rested and content, and I'm so happy for her.

We marvel at the absolute gorgeous views. I couldn't have asked for a better day to hike this mountain. Today is just what I needed to set my anxiety at ease, reminding me that I love the Whites because even though they are hard, they can be a lot of fun. 

Fallout is kind enough to take my picture at the summit and I stay to talk for a little while longer. She's planning on camping at Kinsman Notch this evening so I will most likely see her In the next couple of days.

I'm on a little bit of a time crunch so I don't stay too long at the summit. I need to get down and reposition my vehicle and get hiking in this afternoon, so I say goodbye and start down the mountain, where I will descend 4,000 feet over the next six miles, which is going to be rough on my knees.

On the way down, the alpine vegetation slowly becomes replaced by the hardwoods that I have hiked through for so many weeks. Stunted and desiccated spruce transition into maples and birch, and the fragile alpine plants turn to ferns and viburnum. 

The sun is shining and a light breeze blows. The rain last night has caused several small streams to cross the trail, and in as a result, it's quite muddy.

I see Beagle and Tiki Bar coming uphill, and they take a break to talk with me. They were at the hostel last night. I didn't realize that they met Dad the day of his stroke,  in Cheshire, Massachusetts.  They talked to him for a while and benefited from his trail magic while he was waiting for me. We say goodbye and I keep going downhill.

I am very thankful that the descent is nothing like the trip coming up the other side of the mountain. No crazy and steep smooth rocks requiring holding on to rebar, and no wooden steps. Nonetheless, I have to really be careful because it is very steep and the last thing I want to do is blow out a knee.

By one o'clock I've hiked about seven miles And I have lost more than 2,000 feet of altitude since leaving the summit. The trail starts to get a little less rocky and with a slightly easier slope. Hopefully I can make up some time In the next couple miles. I was planning on taking a shower and doing laundry at the hostel, but it looks like I'm going to have to leave as soon as I get there and drive straight to Franconia Notch,  where I will call for a shuttle to take me back to Kinsman Notch. If I hike in a little tonight,  I will shave miles and climbing off my hike tomorrow. 

A mile and a half from the hostel I have to do a road walk. The blazes in New Hampshire are sorely lacking, and I recheck the app a little while later to see that I passed the turn off for the trail. Ugh! I got a bonus half-mile. I turn around and I see a little brown sign that is pointing the opposite direction from where I came. I make the turn and a short while later I'm back in the woods.

A half mile from town I see the 1,800 sign! Another 100 miles in the books! I'm really starting to feel like I am making real progress now. I've hiked my first mountain in the Whites and I am having fun. I really feel like a through hiker now and it's only taken me almost one thousand miles to do it.

I return to the hostel, get my backpack in order for the next section, and pay my bill. There are already nine people here and more are hiking up as I leave. It's nice to see so many people out here hiking. 

I drive to Franconia Notch and park at the Liberty Springs Trailhead. I call a local shuttle service called The Shuttle Connection, for a pickup and transfer back to Kinsman Notch.  They arrive about 20 minutes later and I am on the trail by 5:30 PM.

The hike out of the notch is brutally steep and taxing, especially because I am carrying so much water and my cold weather gear, which is much heavier than the summer weight kit. Before I know it I have already done 700 feet! 

I pass a couple of campsites on the side of the trail but it's early enough that I decide to push to a beaver pond four miles up that's supposed to have a very nice campsite. The wind is coming out of the west and so it will be nice to be on the leeward side of the mountain tonight.

On my trek down the blue-blazed trail to the pond, I walk over several old and sagging bog bridges, but the dirt around them is relatively firm so I start walking beside them. I step beside one bog bridge and sink my right leg up to the knee in mud. I have a lot of difficulty pulling my leg out and end up having to crawl on my hands and other knee and pull, praying my shoe doesn't come off in the process. I'm able to release my foot with my shoe still on it, but now I'm covered in mud.

I pass the bog outflow creek and wipe off a lot of the muck before arriving at the camp a few minutes before 8. I get set up right before full dark. The dense thicket of spruce trees blocks out the sky, so darkness falls very quickly.

I'm in bed at 8:45, felling tired but fulfilled after a hard day's hiking. 

Today's Stats: 12.8 miles, 4,478 feet gain

Trail Stats: 1,812 miles, 358K feet gain

Miles to Katahdin: 382