June 3
End: Kinsman Notch
Miles: 9.5
Total: 3657.2
No one was stirring from their bunks in the morning, and I had no desire to be the first. Some others eventually went downstairs, and I started to gather rumors of eggs and pancakes. That got me up in a hurry.
Sure enough, Fred was bringing out alternating batches of eggs and pancakes. I had more than my fair share, they were quite good for hungry hikers. We started watching movies on television, courtesy of the hundreds of movie channels that exist on the Dish Network. In between Back to the Future and Kung Fu Panda, we spent plenty of time enjoying ourselves while it rained just outside.
The rain stopped eventually and our movies ended. If another good one had come on we might have just zeroed, but we decided to get hiking. One at a time everyone left, we walked back to the trail, and found ourselves fording a raging creek. Most of the others took off their hiking shoes. Drop Out somehow made it across with dry feet. I opted to just walk through the water in my shoes and socks after not finding any good options for a dry crossing.
The real task for the day was Mt. Moosilauke. The climb was not particularly difficult, but it was long. I decided that I was not going to rush or worry about my pace, and instead just climbed slowly and steadily. Before I knew it I was near the top, and I braved high winds to cross over the top and finally descend back beneath the tree line. The alpine atmosphere was fun but way too windy.
The descent was brutal. The distance was just as long as the climb, but the grade was much steeper. Many times I was faced with flat rock slabs pointing almost straight down, and had to use trees or anything I could find to get down. I took my sweet time because I could not afford an injury at this stage of the hike, and I was covering terrain that was definitely capable of delivering a hike-ending blow at any moment. To top it all off, the trail continued to be a stream of water as well.
After hours of painstakingly slow progress, I arrived at a trailhead parking lot at the bottom of the mountain and decided that I had had enough for the day. Instead of going on to Eliza Brooks Shelter, I caught a ride into Lincoln with some weekend hikers and I was dropped off at the grocery store.
I got the goods then headed over to Chet’s place. Chet allows hikers to stay in bunks in his garage, and has done so for the few years since his camping stove blew up, leaving him legally blind and in a wheelchair. Chet was a super nice guy, and I chatted with him for awhile before getting to my food.
I hung out with Greg, who was out for a week or two in the White Mountains. We went to a bar and I got some food. On the way we saw the whole group that I had been with at Glencliff on their way to Chet’s place.
After getting back to the garage we all hung out and had a good time. My food kept me happy and the garage was nice and flat, unlike the trail. I slept well on the floor since my bunk was not quite big enough.
