Appalachian Trail Day 165 - Mahoosuc Notch Campsite to Grafton Notch (Mile 1,924 to Mile 1,931)

Last night was rough but I knew it was going to be that way when I set up the campsite. It was definitely less than ideal.  Although I tried to button down my tarp as tight as possible the wind was so strong that in the middle of the night it pulled up one of the stakes and I was awakened by the flapping. I should have gotten up and tightened everything up, but I was so tired so I drifted back off as best I could.

I got up at dawn and packed up ready for the hike up Mahoosuc Arm. Thankfully it's not raining today, but it's much chillier this morning and the wind is howling. The mountain top, at two thousand feet higher, should be a load of fun. 

While I am packing up, a chipmunk darts out of the underbrush several times to grab any morsels I may have dropped.  The lid is off my bear canister and the critter almost gets inside before I shoo it off. It returns a moment later and tries to nibble on a bag of snacks that I set out for my hike today. I finish packing while watching the little guy zoom back and forth before setting out to tackle the Mahoosuc Arm. 

The hike up in the Mahoosuc Arm is intimidating. The profile says I will gain 1,500 feet over just one mile, making it one of the steeper ascents of the trail. Indeed it's not easy, but I don't think It's harder than any other climb I've done so far; it's just longer. I'm working my arms hard because I use them a lot to pull myself up and over the big rocks. 

I crest the top of Mahoosuc Arm and it is socked in by fog and the wind is whipping. On the summit I put on my rain jacket as a wind layer, careful to hold on to it tightly so it doesn't blow away in the stiff wind.

Clouds are moving across the bare rock of the summit.  I'm sure the view would be gorgeous, but I don't think I will see much today.  I'm very fortunate that I've had a lot of views since starting New England, so I have to take the bad with the good.

As I descend the back side of Mahoosuc Arm the leeward side is much clearer and I have a nice little view of the mountains to the east, although the summits are cloaked in misty clouds.

A short time after leaving Mahoosuc Arm I arrive at Speck Pond.  Although there's nothing short about this hike. The demanding ascent and the rocky descent makes me move at a snail's pace. Most of the comments in the app mention 60 minutes per mile and my pace is right on target.

At Speck Pond I stop to admire the view and collect some water. When I dip my frozen hands into the bog water I find It's surprisingly warm. I have a snack and then head around the pond to start the climb up Old Speck Mountain. I can see the trail up the side from here and It looks terrifying from this vantage; the trail appears to go straight up, almost vertical.

When I start up I realize it's not as bad as it looks. I mean it is as bad as it looks, but the rocks are rather easy to scramble up. I can't imagine a south bounder going down this with a full pack, though.

I summit Old Speck, which doesn't offer any views, but I had plenty of excellent views on the way up.

The trail starts downhill right away. I really hope the descent is nothing like the climb up, or this will take a while. The elevation profile isn't that bad - I will lose 3,300 feet over the next three and a half miles, so one thousand feet per mile is rather steep, but the comments say that it's not too bad.

The descent is quite easy for the first two miles; it's not too steep and much of it is on groomed dirt trail interspersed with rock ledges and some boulders, but nothing crazy. I'm actually enjoying the descent thus far. 

Just as I'm getting complacent, the trail gets much more steep, and takes longer to hike. This continues for about a mile, until I am a mile from Grafton Notch. The trail runs along a beautiful creek. The creek is barely flowing but still pretty, moss covering the bare stream bed. The trail becomes a series stone blocks at awkward angles that require some really big steps down. My poor knees!!

On the way down I meet A southbounder who is hiking up the mountain without his shirt! Oh, if only I could have that metabolism, where I could be warm all the time, even in cold weather. He is really enthusiastic and he is loving his hike. He congratulates me on being so close to the end and tell him I'm having fun but I'm doing much fewer miles as a result of the terrain.

I reach the bottom of Grafton Notch at 3 p.m. to find Dad waiting for me in the parking lot. My knees are really beat up,  even though I have never had problems with them before. I also keep getting a sharp pain in my left Achilles; I will have to baby it in the coming days. I pop 800 MG of ibuprofen and down it with a cold soda from the cooler.

We head to the motel where Dad booked us rooms tonight. It's not fancy but there's not much to choose from around here. As long as it's clean I will be happy.  The rooms are recently updated and we are both happy. 

I shower and we go to dinner at a diner down the street, where we have the most delicious lobster chowder I have ever tasted. 

We will return to the hotel and I am in bed at 8:30.

Today's Stats: 7.1 miles, 2,612 feet gain

Trail Stats:  1,931 miles, 395K feet gain

Appalachian Trail Day 164 - Carlos Col Shelter to Mahoosuc Notch Campsite (Mile 1,916 to Mile 1,924)

I wake up at 5:45. I actually slept in this morning! The shelter is dim, but there's enough ambient light to see without a headlamp. No one came in the middle of the night, so I don't have to worry about waking anyone when packing.  I can hear women's voices from the platforms behind the shelter. 

One nice thing about sleeping in the shelter is that I can pack up pretty quickly.  I'm packed and reading through the shelter journal when a woman my age comes by. She was staying in one of the tents and just wanted to say hello. They are a group of four women doing a section hike of Maine. They're doing five or six miles a day because of the difficulty of the terrain. We talk for a few minutes before she says she needs to finish packing. 

I take my pack to the little creek in front of the shelter to filter water.  The creek is not running but there is a small pool only a few inches deep. It takes me some time to scoop a couple liters of water so I have enough to make it to the next water source five miles away.

We all end up leaving the shelter about the same time. I pull ahead once we start the climb up to Goose Eye Mountain. The open rock ledges along the ridge offer the most gorgeous views. The wind is blowing and it's rather chilly, but I sit here for a while admiring gorgeous scenery and nibble on cranberries and blueberries which are in abundance. The women catch up to me and they start munching on blueberries as well. 

The climb up to the top of Goose Eye is rather fun with ladders made of rebar and an actual ladder made of wood to climb up the steep and high rock face. One of the women climbs ahead of me and I take her picture for her, and she does the same for me as I climb the rebar ladder. 

A short time after, I am on the first of the two Goose Eye peaks, having gained 1,200 feet in the first 2.5 miles of the day.

The trail winds along the ridge to the next Goose Peak and it looks down to the north.  The trail is visible in the open areas on the ridge and lots of bog bridges are visible below. 

The descent down is made much easier with many wooden steps made from logs.  The going is quite slow as I don't have the best balance, but it has certainly improved over the last few months on the trail. 

It's just a beautiful day up here and I stop more often than I should to pick blueberries until the trail leaves the open ridge and descends down toward the next mountain. 

A mile after leaving Goose Eye Peak I reach the Full Goose Shelter.  No one is here, and I drop my pack and sit on the end of the shelter platform. I  have enough water to boil to hydrate my lunch, which is actually my dinner from last night. While it's hydrating I go down the path behind the shelter to the water source to fill up for my next adventure on the trail.

It's too early to stop here for the day so I decided to continue on and tackle the Mahoosuc Notch, which is considered to be the hardest mile of the entire trail. I will certainly need some calories for the endeavor, so I tuck into a delicious white chicken chili and eat a bunch of snacks, and 45 minutes later I am heading to Mahoosic Notch, 1.5 miles away.

The trail up and over the next mountain is a little tricky due to downed trees and erosion where people have gone into the trees to bypass some tough rock scrambles,  but the climb is short. 

After descending from the mountain I enter the notch, considered to be the single hardest mile of the entire trail. I'm excited and nervous because this can take anywhere from two to four hours to complete. I've seen videos of other people's experiences in the Notch, which is basically a rock scramble that is relatively level. 

On entering the Notch I get my first taste of what the next mile will be like. This is not what I was expecting. I imagined some rock scramble where I may have to take off my pack a time or two, but this is rock scrambles the like I have never seen. Huge boulders the size of cars lie helter skelter to one another with deep crevices in between.

Trying to figure out which way to negotiate the rocks is really hard because unlike other sections of the trail, there is no trail. It's just a big jumble of rocks. Occasionally I can make out some very faint white arrows pointing the direction but they are few and far between. Often I don't even see the arrows until I have descended or ascended or gone around some rocks trying to find the right route. My backpack is getting really scuffed up from the tight spots and the backs of my legs are getting abraded from sliding over the rocks.

About an hour into the notch, it starts to rain steadily. I can't afford to get cold while climbing up and down these boulders so as soon as I find a safe spot where I can take off my backpack, I put on my rain coat realize my rain pants which are cheap Frog Toggs will be perfect to protect my legs from the rocks. I will probably tear them to bits, but at this point I don't care.

The rain makes everything slippier so I have to really watch my step. I keep thinking about how a man last month got stuck in here for 5 hours and had to call search and rescue to come help him out. I really don't want to end up on the evening news.

I make it out of the notch at 4:25, which is 1 hour and 55 minutes after I started. I'm a little scraped in spots and my pants are shredded on the seats, but I am elated!

I collect water from the stream at the south end of the notch and set up camp at a tent site just beyond. The wind is howling and there's nowhere protected to set up my camp because I'm on the side of the mountain. The wind is howling through the valley, so I try to tighten down my lines on the tarp as best I can.

By putting up my tarp first I can then set up everything else under the protection the tarp provides me. As soon as I get my hammock hung I strip out off all my wet hiking gear and put on my dry wool sleeping clothes.

I sit on the side of my hammock and heat the water for my dinner. I eat and I am asleep as soon as the sun sets. 

Today's Stats: 7.4 miles, 1,965 feet gain

Trail Stats: 1,924 miles, 392K feet gain

Appalachian Trail Day 163 - Stealth Campsite to Carlos Col Shelter (Mile 1,902 to Mile 1,917)

I wake up at 5:07, with the slight change in light just before dawn, like I have pretty much every other morning when sleeping in the woods. I slept extremely well last night and get up and stretch and water the leaves. I'm in no real hurry so I decide to sit in my hammock and update my blog posts until the sun rises a little higher.

When the daylight is bright enough to pack without a headlamp, I pack while watching the antics of the many squirrels and chipmunks inhabiting the area, and hit the trail at 6:40. 

The day promises to be warm and it's slightly humid so I don't mind putting on my hiking clothes, still damp from yesterday's exertion. 

From the campsite the trail the trail starts straight uphill, and climbs up to Mt. Hayes. The trail crosses several false summits until reaching the peak.  

The climb up is steep in places but gradual for the most part. The trail passes through spruce forest and crosses several large rocky outcrops, worn down by tens of thousands of feet walking across the surfaces.

The Mount Hayes summit is nothing to get excited about. The only way to delineate the peak is a sign marking a cross trail. The trail descends from the mountain for a mile at what is supposed to be a stream crossing but ends up being a couple of muddy puddles. I need water and I'm able to find shallow pool that is fairly free of debris, and filter a couple of liters of water and eat a snack before tackling the next climb.

The trail starts up a rocky face where I have to scramble a couple of times. After 500 feet of climbing I come to a huge rock ledge with beautiful views of the northern Presidentials behind The Carters in the foreground. I can see Gorham In the valley below.  I take advantage of the 5g Network to upload two days of blog posts before continuing another 200 feet up the unnamed peak.

That descent down this unnamed mountain is typical White Mountain hiking. I encounter a few tricky drops where I have to use my hands and boot scoot, but it's not so bad. At the bottom, I come to a stream but the only water is a pool that is covered in spruce needles. I guess I'll have to wait for the next water source a few miles away and be judicious with my water consumption for the next 1,000 foot climb.

My climb up the mountain is pretty in a couple spots, but mostly just more of The Big Green Tunnel - a nickname for the Appalachian Trail. There's some rocky ledges with views to the south and west. The climb is challenging but not the worst I've had in the Whites. At the top, the rock ledges are in the direct sunshine, and without a breeze it's rather hot, but still quite pretty. I have hiked six miles at this point and feeling great. I think I finally have the right timing and amount of electrolytes and carbs and other macros, and my legs are getting the job done without too much work.

The trail goes around the beautiful Page Pond, where there is a resident moose that visits the pond in the evenings. I don't see a moose, but the pond is very big and pretty, with loads of dragonflies zipping about over the water.

The trail leaves the pond and goes up another 800 feet along the tree-covered ridge before starting a mild descent towards another pond. The app shows the trail skirting Dream Lake, but a sign says the AT has been rerouted, avoiding the lake. Apparently maintaining the trail through the bog is a lost cause, so the AMC decided to take the high road and reroute the trail to go up above the pond.

After another mile and a half, through some very frustrating twists and turns on an extremely narrow trail encroached by raspberry canes and witch Hazel I come to Upper Gentian Pond.  Like the other alpine ponds, Upper Gentian is very pretty, albeit small. It looks like this is the water source gor the next few miles, but I decided to hold off on collecting water from the bog directly. I will go downstream and take my chances, hoping for a better source downhill.

So, the stream that I followed downhill is the outflow of the bog and Is not flowing at all. There are pools of stagnant water littered with debris and lots of bugs floating on top. No thank you!

As I'm walking down along the stream that is a bug-infested swamp, a hiker comes towards me. He is the first person that I have seen since yesterday afternoon. I was starting to think that I had been transported to some parallel universe and I was no longer on the Appalachian Trail.

We say hello and I tell him I haven't seen anyone all day. He is with his tramily (trail family) and the rest of them are at the Gentian Pond Shelter just up the trail. He is in search of fresh water and I'm sad to tell him that the last decent water source was two and a half miles ago, and that the only water source uphill is another bog. He wrinkles his nose and says that he is worried about Giardia.  I tell him that he should be fine as long as he filters the water appropriately. 

He turns around and we talk as I follow him up the trail. We cross a stream that looks like a bog outflow, and I tell him that I'm trying to decide what I'm going to do but in the meantime I'm going to stay here and take my chances on the water.

I'm actually pleasantly surprised by the water. What I thought was a blog outflow stream tastes delicious after filtering,  and it's cold too. That means that it's not all bog water but mixed with some fresh water. While I'm filtering my water I'm trying to figure out my next step. 

If I don't stay here at Gentian Pond, the next shelter is 5.2 miles away. Not a problem,  but it's already almost 4 pm and I have about four hours before it gets really dark. I should be able to do that even if Mount Success is as bad as the comments say it is. The only thing is that my legs are getting tired. I've already done 3,000 feet and the haul over Mount Success to the next campsite is an additional 2,300 feet of climbing, which is a lot to do before nightfall. 

Screw it I'm gonna go for it! The worst case scenario is I have to stop along the way and set up my hammock. If I go a couple of miles and think there's no way I'm going to make it up and over before dark I will just stay on this side of the mountain.  In preparation I take some caffeine electrolyte tablets. I'm may pay for it later, but it will give me the extra pep that I will need to hike until dark.

Going up towards Mount success is no joke but similar to the other climbs in New Hampshire. It's my new normal. The hike is steep and slippery with all the dirt and pine needles on the rocks. It's 1,100 feet of gain over 1.5 miles, but most of it is in the first 8/10 of a mile. After that it's a lot of bog bridges and small climbs up to the top.

I get to the summit of Mount Success at 6:00 p.m. and the sun is starting to drop over the mountain ridges south of Washington. It's absolutely breathtaking up here with a wide expanse of rock faces mixed with the low scrub of spruce and blueberries and cranberries. There are several boggy areas with bog bridges connecting the rocks

I can't understand what all the hoopla is about. This hike hasn't been any worse than any other hike so far, and it's actually been a little fun. I grab some cranberries and blueberries and realize that I have to hike 32 minute miles to make it to the shelter by full dark so I pick up my pace as I go down the mountain, praying that I don't have any crazy rock scrambles to impede my process. 

It's easy going for the first half mile or so but then it gets a little crazy. I come to a rock wall and there is a rope hanging down the face. I don't really need to use the rope; I think it's more for the people who are descending southbound and I think that it would have been a great thing to have a few of these ropes when I was descending Carter a couple days ago. 

I'm making decent time but then I get to the most insane jumble of huge boulders. I can't even tell which is the best way to descend. It's such a huge maze of some of the biggest rocks I've scrambled over in my life. This is going to take me a few minutes! In between the rocks are huge gaps. If I fall down in between any of these I have no idea how I could get out. I end up making my way down but I think I've put a couple of scrapes in my backpack in the process.

A quarter mile later I walk along what would normally be a waterfall but it's dry. This region really needs some rain, but I hope it quits until I get a little farther away from these rock scrambles. A new wooden ladder scales a rock wall, and at the top I see a sign.  Wait!! I am in Maine!!! This is so amazing. New Hampshire was gorgeous but boy was it hard. I don't think anything's going to change in Maine. If anything I think it's going to remain difficult for the next 200 miles. 

I take a quick picture and video because I need to get to the shelter. I only have a few minutes before sunset and I still have a half mile to the shelter trail and then an additional hike down the mountain to the shelter. I round the corner and come to the Ledges. These are another big jumble of rocks. Welcome to Maine!

It takes me a few minutes to negotiate The Ledges because I go down one way and then realize that there's no way I can continue on this route so I have to go back up and around and down.

A few minutes later I get to the side trail for the shelter. The sun has already set and the light is very dim under the dark canopy of the spruce trees. I still have just enough ambient light see the rocks so I don't pull out my headlamp.

I arrive at the shelter at 8:15 just as full dark sets. Tents are set up all around the perimeter, and the shelter is empty, so I'm going to be a shelter rat for the night. I have one cup of water left and I'm too tired to eat so I set up my sleeping pad and change into my sleeping clothes and skip dinner, which I will probably pay for tomorrow. 

At nine o'clock I am snuggled in my down top quilt. I am so tired, but finding it hard to unwind. You know when you are exhausted but your brain is still really wired and it's hard to power down? I start doing some deep breathing exercises to calm my body and I start getting cramps in my back. It's no wonder; carrying that backpack up and down all those rock scrambles really stressed my muscles. I sit up and do a couple of stretches and then I am back down and out for the night.

Today's Stats: 15.4 miles, 5,430 feet ascent 

Trail Stats: 1,917 miles,  390K feet gain

Appalachian Trail Day 162 - Imp Campsite to Stealth Camp (Mile 1,891 to Mile 1,902)

I slept like a log last night for nine hours. I woke up a couple of times to cold spots on my shoulders but I adjusted my quilt and snuggled back into blissful slumber. I'm really excited to be able to spend my last month on the trail in my hammock every night, except for the few times I go to town to shower. 

I wake a little later than my usual at 5, and by the time I get packed, brush my teeth, collect the bear can from the bear box, and hike back up the side trail,  I'm back on the Appalachian Trail at 7am, just as the sun breaks over the mountain ahead.

There's a chill in the air this morning; not surprising in the mountains of New England. I hike with my fleece on for a little while but I'm soon shedding layers as I start climbing up to Mount Moriah. 

The sky is blue and clear and the sun is shiny brightly. There's a light breeze blowing just enough to stir the plants.  It's promising to be an absolutely gorgeous day. 

The climb up Moriah is steep over the next thousand feet, but it's usual by White Mountain standards. Along the way I stop to take in the breathtaking views. I can see The Northern Presidentials from Mount Washington to Mount Madison behind The Carters which I climbed yesterday. It's so amazing to look out and see what I've accomplished for the last two days.

I have cell service and I sit in the sun on a rock ledge to send pictures to my family chat, as well as to Buttercup and Martian. I hope they had views like this when they hiked through here. This is the last mountain of the Whites, and this is the perfect send off.

The descent down Mount Moriah is very steep.  I will lose a total of 3,300 feet over the next six miles, but the bulk of that will be in the first two miles. Thankfully the rocks are nothing like coming down off Carter yesterday. I am able remain upright and step down on boulders most of the way, although it's really hard with one pole, so sometimes I have to reach down with my free hand to hold on to rocks or grab trees to prevent a fall.

I pass a woman with a day pack hiking up the trail towards me. She stops and asks me a lot of questions about my hike and she is curious as how old I am. When I tell her that I will be 57 in two weeks she tells me that I'm amazing and this is something that she wants to do and I'm an inspiration.

I continue down the mountain buoyed by her kind words. I have a couple of rocky stream crossings which are quite easy, and the trail becomes so much easier! I'm actually able to enjoy a walk through the woods instead of worrying constantly about about each step, something which I have done almost every minute of hiking for the last two weeks. 

The woods are beautiful birch and beach and spruce. The ground under foot is soft with leaf litter and spruce needles, although there are still plenty of rocks to walk around. It's easy going and I send Dad a message that I should arrive by 1pm at US Route 2.  This will be the only road crossing for the next 31 miles, so he is treating me to a town day and a room!

The trail crosses the Rattle River, which looks to be quite low judging by the huge smooth boulders in the river bed, but even at low water the river has a number of amazing pools that would be perfect for an afternoon dip on a hot day.  The trail then walks directly up to the Rattle River Shelter; a standard no-frills forest service shelter, but it's well maintained with a fresh coat of paint. 

The next two miles passes quickly on the very easy and almost level trail, and I am at the Rattle River Trailhead on time at 1 pm. Just before the parking lot I see a cooler with trail magic and a congratulatory sign for making 1,900 miles! Less than 300 to go!

Dad is waiting for me and he takes some pictures before I load up into his truck for the trip into town to take a shower and resupply for the next three days. He spreads towels on the seats for my dirty backpack and my dirtier body.

The drive into town is short and we go to lunch at a riverside restaurant where I eat an entire pizza and some chicken wings before going to his hotel room to shower while my electronics charge. I  pack three days of food in the bear can before loading up and returning to the trail. 

I am dropped off at the trail head parking area where he picked me up and we say goodbye. I am not sure where I will camp tonight,  so I will hike until I find a suitable spot.

The trail is a road walk for the next mile and it's unseasonably hot in this part of New Hampshire. Loaded with 3 days of food and four liters of water,  I am struggling with the weight of my pack in this heat. 

Soon the trail enters the woods but the trail then goes straight up the mountain for a thousand feet over the next 2 miles. I have to stop a couple of times to catch my breath. I consider sitting in the shade for an hour or two for the heat to dissipate, but there are no boulder climbs, so I press on. 

Three miles from where I hopped back on the trail I come to a flattish area in the woods that looks like it floods frequently, so it is relatively open. There is no rain in the forecast tonight so this looks like a great place to call it quits for the day. 

I get set up and have a half hour to sit on the edge of my hammock and update my blog and played Sudoko, which for some weird reason tends to calm my mind for bed. 

I am out 20 minutes after sunset.

Today's Stats: 10 miles, 2,200 feet gain

Trail Stats: 1,902 miles, 385K feet gain

Appalachian Trail Day 161 - Pinkham Notch to Imp Campsite (Mile 1,878 to Mile 1,891)

I woke up and took a shower before texting Dad that I'm ready to get packed up.  He came right over and took me to grab some coffee before going back to the hotel so I can organize my things.

There is not another road crossing for 20 miles, so I plan on camping out tonight and meet him tomorrow at the next road crossing to resupply before I head back into the woods.  Getting supported is quite a luxury, and I'm so thankful that he is doing this for me. Town chores like grocery shopping and doing laundry takes precious hours out of time that I could be hiking or just relaxing in camp after a long day of hiking.

Packing up takes a little while because my stuff is spread out in various containers in his truck. I have ziplocs in one container with cleaning supplies and food in another, with blocks of cheese In the cooler.  I leave my dirty hiking clothes from yesterday with him and he'll launder them And bring then back to the trail for me tomorrow to have clean clothes to change into.

I'm packed up and he deposits me on the trail at 7 A.M after a quick fast food stop for breakfast. I say goodbye and he says he will follow me on my Inreach website, that shows my live track as long as I have my device turned on, which I always do when on the trail. 

I head up 19-Mile Brook Trail which is the continuation of the detour for the Appalachian Trail. The first mile or so is a slight incline on a nice easy pine duff path. I gain a few hundred feet while going upstream against 19-Mile Creek. The water level is a little low in the creek but there's still some really nice small cascades and waterfalls along the way.

It's fairly humid this morning after yesterday's rain and the temperatures are in the mid 60s in the valley. It's overcast and there is a small chance of rain in the mountains today. I start sweating even though I'm not working very hard.

About the two mile mark the trail starts to get noticeably more rocky and a little steeper. I stop to take a short break at the trail crossing for Carter Dome and a man walks up with a day pack. He is moving fast and sweating profusely. He stops and we chat for a few minutes. He is a teacher and has to go back to school next week so he is enjoying his last week of vacation by hiking In the mountains. He gives me a high five before he heads up the trail.  I shoulder my pack, getting ready for the steep ascent to the Carter Notch Hut, where the detour ends and I will rejoin the Appalachian Trail.

The trail continues uphill for the next two miles. I stop to take a break on a nice and big flat rock, where I can keep my pack on and lean back for a chair of sorts. A tall young man walks up and we chat for a while. I joke about how I am having a leisurely day on the trail, and he gives me a fist bump when we depart and says "God bless you. " I'm not sure if it was simply a parting goodbye, or a prayer for divine intervention because he thinks I need someone to watch over me, haha.

The trail merges with the AT just above gorgeous lake dotted with water lilies sitting in the shadow of the Wildcats. I could sit here all day,  but I have only hiked one-third of my miles and I want to stop at the hut.

I take the blue-blazed trail to the Carter Notch Hut. I leave my pack outside and go in to grab a baked good, which are always delicious. There are no guests and the Croo is chatting amiably in the small dining area. 

Their packboards are on the tables, packed with boxes to be carried down the trail to Punkham Notch. I then realize it's Wednesday,  which is resupply day for all the huts. The Croo will take non-compostable refuse down the mountain and each return with 50 pounds of food and supplies. 

A young woman is on the floor trying to stuff all of her things into a huge backpack that is already bursting at the seams. From their conversation I make out that she is leaving her position In the hut, her summer with the Croo coming to an end. Many of the Croo are students, and with school starting soon they will be switching out staff for the fall season.

I refill my water bladder and select a piece of coconut cake from a baking sheet. It is amazingly good but falling apart so I take it outside in order to not make a mess; there are no napkins or paper towels in the huts. 

With my water replenished and my hunger satiated for the moment, I shoulder my pack and start down the trail. As I reach the Appalachian Trail the Croo walks by with their packboards, singing in merriment and shouts of "Goodbye Carter Notch Hut" echoing around the small lake.

Leaving the hut, I prepare myself for the the hard day ahead. I still have to summit five peaks over the next five miles, three of which are 4,000' feet. Additionally,  there is no water on the ridge, so I'm carrying an extra seven pounds of water. 

The ascent up to Carter Dome is very steep, and like all the trails In the Whites thus far is rocky, requiring huge steps up the boulders, difficult with a pack weighing almost 30 pounds. I have to Work hard to keep my Balance so that my heavy pack doesn't pull me backwards up the steep incline.

The good thing about steep climbs is that I gain altitude quickly, climbing almost 1,600 feet over 1.2 miles, with most of the gain in the first half mile. 

A rock ledge looks out over Carter Notch and the mountains to the south and east. Wildcat is to the south and I can see the hut far below next to the lake.  Wildcat is a great visual reference,  asI know that Carter Dome is 400 feet higher than Wildcat, so it gives me a good idea of what the rest of my hike will look like, and I can see that I still have a lot more climbing to do. 

Another half hour and I am finally above Wildcat. I can see Mount Washington behind it, although the peak is obscured by clouds. Now that I am above Wildcat, I'm getting some lovely cool breezes. The wind is coming from that direction and the mountain was blocking the breeze until now. I'm at 4,500 feet altitude and the humidity has finally evaporated. 

I get to the summit of Carter Dome and there is no view from the top but a rather large cairn. I follow the trail to the site of an old fire tower that was dismantled some time ago. There are many cool little campsites tucked into the trees up here.

I follow the white blazes and see a viewing area right off the trail. There's a really cool view of the north, and the wind is howling from that direction.  Within seconds I'm shivering, my clothes wet from the exertion of the climb, so I return back into the shelter of the thick spruce forest.

One mile later I summit the second peak of the day when I reach Mount Hight. The view from this mountain has everything that Carter Dome does not. It's absolutely gorgeous, with commanding views in all directions. I can see the entire Presidential Range from Jackson to Washington to Madison. To the north I see the next two mountains, and I see I still have quite a bit of climbing to do. I've done 3,700 feet already,  and my legs are still feeling the strain of the 6,000 foot descent of yesterday. 

The descent from Mount Hight is a doozie! It's extremely steep and I have to throw my poles down several times so I can sit and boot scoot down some of the boulders. At least it's short. I get to the bottom and take a break at a trail junction before I start climbing again toward South Carter.

The 500 feet climb up South Carter is not so bad, but I'm losing steam from all the climbs. I pause on the way up to drink some more electrolytes and I need another snack, even though I just ate. 

At the top of South Carter the trees are too high for a decent view,  but I can just make out Carter Dome and Mount Hight to the south.

As soon as I go start to descend the short distance from South Carter, I get a glimpse of the sky to the north. It is very dark, and looks ominous. I'm not really sure if I should hunker down and put out my tarp or continue on. 

I decide to go for it and keep walking. Just because the sky is dark doesn't mean I'm going to get dumped on; mountain weather is so fickle. It ended up being the perfect decision because all I get are a few sprinkles as I summit Middle Carter, where there aren't any views.

The view is the same for North Carter. I'm getting really tired of all these Carters, which require a lot of work for no view at the end.  

I then start straight down the most harrowing and difficult descent of my life.  

Indeed, the elevation profile on FarOut does show this being straight down for the next half mile, with 400 feet of altitude loss. I didn't look at the comments for this peak before now; there are too many waypoints along the trail to read up on each one. But as I sit here on a rock, I flip through the comments to see a whole lotta hate for the AMC for this section. 

The rocks are extremely steep, and in some places 10 to 20 feet straight down.  At one particularly confounding 30-foot scramble I toss my poles down and they start clattering and rolling the entire 30 feet, without any rebar for handholds or steps. 

I am really glad I purchased my Hike Safe card; the $25 cost funds the New Hampshire Fish and Game department,  who are the people who conduct backcountry rescue operations.  The card is insurance so the rescued doesn't get charged for a rescue endeavor,  which can run into the tens of thousands of dollars. 

Hoping against any injury, I go to use my poles for one small section and the tip breaks clean off at the shaft. It's no surprise since I had them wedged in between rocks frequently when coming down Madison yesterday.  I'm actually surprised it took this long for one to break, but now I'm going to be even slower descending with just one pole. It looks like I will just have to crawl down most of this.

After what seems like an eternity, but in actuality about an hour, the trail levels out into a mile of a series of bog bridges. I have a few new scratches and scrapes on my arms and legs, one of them bleeding. 

The bog bridges run through the muddy marsh for over a mile when I reach the turn off for the Imp Campsite. It's three-tenths of a mile off the trail but I really have no choice but stop here; the next water source is four and a half miles away.  It's a good place to stop for the night anyway; I am worn out from today. I did 5,000 feet of elevation gain and that ridiculous decent. And my body was already tired from the hike down from Washington yesterday. 

I make my way down the rocky side trail to the campsite. I check in at the caretaker's cabin and he introduces himself his Yogi and when I tell him that I have a hammock, he tells me that he has a great secluded spot. He can't tell me where it is because it's difficult to describe so he slips on his shoes and walks me past the privy and group tent platform and up a hill through the woods. It's a beautiful and big spot hidden in the trees with no widowmakers overhead. This is going to be perfect place to camp tonight!

The campsites have very strict rules on where you are allowed to camp and eat. There is no cooking anywhere but in the kitchen area. I set up camp and grab my things and head that direction. First I have to get water which is but a trickle. Filtering three liters of water takes me quite some time I'm starving.

I head over to the kitchen area, which sounds much nicer than some logs set in a square underneath a tarp, and hydrate my dinner, which is chicken pasta Alfredo whkle talking to a man who is doing an overnight of Mount Moriah.  The campsite kitchen is on the edge of the mountain and faces northwest. The trees are cleared out in front and there is a bench with an amazing silhouette of the mountain ridges. It's very hazy, but I watch the sun set behind the ridge.

After the sun sets, I deposit my bear canister in the bear box and go straight to my hammock and right to bed. I am positively beat.

Today's Stats: 9.7 miles, 4,723 feet gain, 2,670 feet loss

Trail Stats: 1,891 miles, 383K feet gain