8/08/01
A thunderstorm rolled over nearby Mt. Moosilauke last night just after we went to bed and even though the sky was clear above my freestanding tent, the wind must have carried some rain into the backyard of the hostel. I dragged the tent under a demo tarp set up in the yard. The heat, trapped by the extra layer of protection from the rain, along with the blocked breeze made sleeping almost unbearable, so less than 15 minutes later I dragged the tent back out into the open air since the raindrops only lasted a couple of minutes. I drifted off to sleep only to be awakened by another passing shower around midnight. This time Redneck and I both dragged our gear under the available tarp and tolerated the heat until the shower chilled the air enough for comfortable sleep. This morning I was up before 7 a.m., anticipating the big climb ahead with some excitement, but some trepidation and doubts as well. Despite having successfully hiked 1,769 miles already, never had I faced a 3,500' steep sustained climb since I began backpacking years ago. I polished off another quart of chocolate milk and a large can of pork and beans for breakfast (don't ask me why, it just looked good last night at the convenience store!) and left the Hiker's Welcome Hostel around 8:15.
Back on the trail around 8:30, after covering the road walk to the trailhead, the ascent to the intimidating Mt. Moosilauke began. I labored alone, checking the altimeter on my watch frequently as I set mini-goals along the climb. At 2,000' I took a break. Another 300' and another break. I was really struggling to reach the 3000' mark when I came to a small stream crossing at 2,700' where I sat down for an extended break. Just as I was putting the pack on to continue, Green Light caught up and hiked with me. Then Priceless caught up and passed us, and I let Greenlight go ahead of me as well. The climb from 3000 to 4400' was very steep and the pace was slow for me. I kept observing that the trees got smaller and smaller with the gain in elevation. Finally at 4,400' the grade became gradual and the next .8 mile to the top was easy. The views from the top of Moosilauke were beyond description. Now I know why the White Mountains are so popular! With clear skies 5 states were visible and all the Whites could be seen over to Mt. Washington. I spent the next two hours at the summit, along with Swagman, Mick, Green Light, Phantom, Redneck, Priceless, Finn and Bad Moon. Finally we left the beautiful summit and began moving north along the rugged trail. The heat continued, but at 4800' the stiff breeze offered some relief. We started down from the summit and made a mid-afternoon stop at the Beaver Brook shelter, which offered an excellent view of the Franconia Ridge to the north.
It was tempting to stop there for the night but time to press on to the bottom of the mountain. The next mile and a half were really rough on me. The trail was nearly vertical in places, with steps built in the rock in places and handrails cemented into the boulders for safety. My knees were screaming out in pain as the descent continued on and on. It angered me that the trail was so ridiculously steep with no switchbacks or relief. However, the cascading brook next to the trail was gorgeous and enough of a diversion to forget the pain at times along the way. Finally the trail bottomed out at Kinsman Notch. Lion King had left a note on a tree just before the road crossing that said he was managing the cafe .3 mile off the trail. It was a no brainer decision to hike to the cafe to see if he was there. When we arrived at the Lost River Cafe, he was there and happy to see all of us (Redneck, Phantom, Finn, Priceless and Green Light). Lion King recommended the hugely discounted hiker special (meatball sub, chips and drink) and we all took advantage. We relaxed there and entertained a family from New York for awhile as they asked a zillion questions about the trail experience. Finally the cafe and attraction were closing, but we were in no hurry to leave as it was raining outside. The brief shower passed by and a beautiful rainbow formed in the notch just east of us.
Finally we donned our packs and resumed hiking around 6 p.m. It was 6.7 miles to the next shelter and the terrain was once again rugged. There were lots of small ups and downs with little net elevation change, but lots of effort getting up and down the boulders. The large steps required sapped our energy and slowed the pace considerably from what we have been conditioned to along the AT. At 7:45 we reached a blue blazed side trail to Gordon Pond. Knowing that we still had another 4 miles to the shelter, it was decision time. Finn and Priceless decided to go on to the shelter since neither of them carry a tent or tarp. Greenlight, Phantom, Redneck and I took the side trail to the pond, hoping for a flat spot to pitch our tents. Success! We found a nice spot nestled amongst the thick fir trees and ferns next to the pond. As darkness quickly set in, we erected our tents. Phantom and Redneck created the "Red Phantom" neighborhood while Greenlight and I created the "Green Rabbit" neighborhood as we casually joked about our two little separate tentsites. Redneck hung a joint neighborhood bear bag and we quickly got the food bags hung just as darkness fell. Again I was too tired to do much journaling, but managed an hour of writing before relaxing for the night. It was a satisfying day, crossing over the monstrous Moosilauke with a nice campsite for the evening, among good friends. Today's stats: low 75, high 90. Sunny early, p.m. showers. Today's mileage; 12.8 tough miles; cumulative mileage: 1,782.4.
