8/16/01
Yet another crisp cool clear morning dawned on the fab four before we were ready for it this morning! The night was uneventful except for a false alarm sounded by Finn in the middle of the night when he thought that a critter was in our campsite. At 7 a.m. I started the wake up chores by rolling up my Thermarest sleeping pad and stuffing my sleeping bag. Usually when one of us begins stirring, the rest of us follow suit. Normally Redneck moves first, then me, then Finn and finally Phantom. So it was unusual to be the first thru-hiker packing up as my counterparts lay sleeping. The routines of breaking and making camp as well as packing and unpacking our gear are so ingrained now we can do it quickly without having to think about it. It didn't take long before everyone was in their morning routine, getting ready for the day's hike. The first mile of the trail this morning got the sweat flowing within minutes as we faced a steep, rugged 1500' climb up to the summit of Carter Dome. As usual, I brought up the rear getting up the mountain, but I kept hiking upon reaching the summit while the rest of the gang took a quick rest and snack break. I continued a short distance to the summit of Mt. High, which had a gorgeous 360 degree view of the Maine mountains to the northeast and the entire Presidential range of the Whites to the southwest. I stopped and took off my pack and snacked on the small amount of the food remaining to get me to Gorham, while enjoying total peace and quiet on the mountain top. The guys caught up and joined me on the magnificent rock outcrop. No matter how many times we've seen such views, we never tire of their beauty and the serenity of the moment. Seeing the beauty of the land is comforting to the soul and I think it's one of the big factors that motivates hikers to want to endure all of the hardships and challenges of long distance hiking. In countless ways the rewards of hiking far outweigh the challenges of enduring our smelly bodies, enduring heat and cold and wet conditions, feeling the aches and pains as well as total physical exhaustion, biting insects, lack of adequate calories to replenish those expended, long days laboring up and down rugged terrain, and uncomfortable sleeping quarters at time. There is an incredible sense of freedom and a connection to the natural order of the earth in the long distance journey of hiking the AT. I have not yet realized the extent of the impact the trail has had on me, but I'm sure that the way I look at the world will be forever changed going forward. The time to reflect and ponder is great when hiking on gentle terrain, but lately my energy and concentration has been focused on taking each and every step with the challenge the trail has presented.
There were more miles to do and I was hopeful that I could make it to Gorham, NH for my PO visit before the 5 p.m. closing time, so I resumed hiking with yet another steep and treacherous descent off Mt. High down to Zeta Pass. The next challenge of the day was climbing the three Carter peaks, South, Middle and North Carter Mountains. Redneck and Finn moved ahead of Phantom and me and we didn't see them again the rest of the hiking day. After descending from the North peak of Carter, we arrived at Imp campsite. Phantom and I decided to forego the 300 yard steep side trail to the shelter there and opted to keep hiking north. We knew that Finn and Redneck were probably eating lunch there, but saw no reason to expend energy on the side trail with another climb ahead of us. We ate our remaining food, then began the ascent of Mt. Moriah, the last of the White mountains before a long descent to the road crossing in Gorham. Upon reaching the top we kept on boogying and began the six mile descent to the road. We stopped briefly to filter some water at the Rattle River, where I jumped ahead of Phantom and kicked into super cruise mode to try and make the road by 4:30. At 4:05 I popped out to the road crossing and promptly stuck out my thumb in hopes of a quick hitch into town (four miles away). The first two cars gave me the middle finger so I wasn't overly optimistic about my chances. A minute later a young lady and her black lab popped out of the woods at the trailhead parking lot. As soon as she made visual contact with me on the highway, she gestured to me and I knew my ride to town was secured. Ten minutes later I was in the Gorham post office with four packages to haul to the Libby House B&B (The Barn). My food pickup was in box # 1. My bump box with razor and phone charger were in box # 2 (yippee!). Box # 3 was filled with candy and absolutely superb brownies made by my spring bride (you've been holding out on me, honey!). Package # 4 was from Ken and Marcia Stern and was loaded with unique care package goodies tailored specifically to my tastes! Thank you, Ken and Marcia! The sardines were fabulous (eat your heart out, Thom!) and the Tabasco packages were perfectly timed.
My next AT thru-hike will be with Locke, Thom, Ken, Frank, Chip and the rest of the T33 adults! Come on guys, let's get the plan together for 2005 since Chip (Creeper) is already committed and give him some company from GA to ME! Truthfully, I'm hoping still to win the Coke $1,000,000 pop top prize so I can tackle the PCT next year. NOT ! ! ! I checked in at the BARN and not surprisingly, my buddy Priceless was already there relaxing when I arrived. Phantom showed up minutes later from a successful hitch and Finn and Redneck arrived an hour later via another successful hitch. A hot shower and laundry followed. Since I was first in line for a shower I had some time to kill while my friends took their turn, so I cycled to the library for an e-mail check. Thanks so much to all of you who have e-mailed me with updates from home as well as thoughts and words of support and encouragement. You inspire me to keep writing despite the difficulty in finding quality time when I'm not totally exhausted from the hike itself. Around 7:30 Priceless, Medagator, Phantom, Finn, Redneck and I walked down main street to Mt. Pizza for dinner. We were joined soon by two young ladies who are Sobos, Kentucky and Slider, who were also staying at the Barn. I managed a large pizza and some Long Trail Pollenator Ale, which both tasted great after four days on limited trail food and some hut food, which helped get me to Gorham. After dinner we all went back to the Barn, where I promptly climbed to the loft to get some much needed rest. The Whites are complete, we're 16 miles from the Maine border, and I'm excited about entering our final state. The guidebook says the next stretch is the hardest and most rugged yet, but one step after another should get me to Katahdin in September. Today's stats; low 52, high 85. Sunny to cloudy in the p.m. Today's mileage: 15.2; cumulative mileage: 1870.2.
