Mahoosuc Notch and Arm. The hardest mile on the AT. Given the time crunch of summiting 9/11, my general distaste for the Whites and New Hampshire and the advice of Wingit (who thru hiked previously), we decided to jump up to 1900. Originally we were gonna go out for 2 days and do the notch on Wednesday but there’s the possibility of rain and we all wanted to do it together. this is not a section to do in wet weather. Lots of scrambling, using hands to pull and rock climbing. We actually put our poles away. It was actually fun-challenging in a different way and a whole body workout. The arm was super steep and more climbing. Old speck mountain was the same but a lot more exposed so felt more scary. But overall the day was good- nice views, decent hiking. Maine actually has blazes and some regular trail between the hard stuff.
Day 175. Zero in Gorham. Steady and Dogtag did the climb up the Wildcat Mountain and took the Ski gondola down. Will and Silverback and I didn’t want to put extra miles on our legs and chance injury. Also the wildcats is supposed to be one of the hardest climbs and isn’t even on the official AT this year due to a bridge being out. And I am allowed to have a zero and relax. We hung out at the Joe Dodge Lodge for a while, then went to Gorham to see if we could get checked into the hotel or at least drop our packs there, and the rooms we ready! We grabbed steady and silverback, got some ice cream, had soup at the visitor center then went to back to the hotel. I planned the next couple of days, got meals and such ready for that and then we had Chinese buffet for dinner.
12.9 trail miles to Mt Washington (9 real miles). Wingit had suggested to Puck and Frickles to slack up Mt Washington, and I am all for a slack pack, especially over hard climbs. Dogtag and silverback were also going to be going up Washington and so we figured we would be able to meet them, one person Go get the car and then come back up and get the rest. There was a trail that headed up to the AT, Crawford path, which left right from the Highland center so we decided to take that. After having breakfast and saying goodbye to princess peach we headed out. It was a much better day of hiking today. We stopped at 2 huts and got water and a snack. There were a ton of day and weekend hikers out which was kinda nice but kinda annoying. Lots of trail runners which just blows my mind. The weather was great, 360 views, and a feeling of accomplishment for doing a big climb.
3 miles to Rt 302/Crawford Notch. We hit trail magic at a parking area just before and had a breakfast sandwich and some snacks. Then we went to the car where Dogtag and Silverback were supposed to be waiting. We planned to meet and discuss if we were going to push on or go into town for the night. Wingit informed us that Dogtag and silverback were already walking. Since we were pretty tired from the past few days we decided to go over to AMC Highland center and check it out and get some lunch. We also wanted to see Princess Peach!!!! We haven’t seen her since her birthday in June in Harper’s Ferry, she went on vacation to Ireland and then decided to flip flop up to Maine and go SOBO. It was great visiting with her and hearing her advice on the next chunk. I got laundry done at a different hotel and there was all you can eat buffet included. The bunkhouse was reasonable, pretty empty when we went to bed but several people came in pretty late. My mood was awful today-the stress of everything is getting to me and going home is on the top of my mind. The deadline of 9/11, trying to plan and coordinate, plans changing, the difficulty of the hikes themselves…. It’s all overwhelming. I am exhausted. Even on days off there are so many chores and I do the brunt of the planning, so I haven’t had a break or been able to relax in a really long time.
14.9 miles to Ethan Pond Campsite. Descending after Garfield was rough, it’s down a section called the waterfall, super steep and rocky, would be disastrous in rain. Sourpatch hiked with me for that bit. We made it past Zealand falls and the hut there. A nice flat and mostly reasonable section of trail after that. I was able to make up some time since we had so far to go. But also it means that the trail designers do know how to make nice trail when they want to. I got into camp just as the sun was setting over the pond but it was too cloudy to have a pretty one. Got set up as quick as possible and had to eat in the dark but better than hiking in the dark for sure
10.3 miles to Garfield campsite. Today was Franconia Ridge, one of the iconic places in the Whites and along the whole AT. Honestly, I am not feeling it. Everyone says this is the best day for views and the hard parts of the Whites and steepness are totally worth it. I am just meh-the views are nice but the difficulty far outweighs any enjoyment I am getting. I was also worried about thunderstorms, there wasn’t a lot of water along the trail and I didn’t eat well last night so that all probably has affected my mood. Did talk to a girl planning to do the hike next year who works at a state park in Vermont which was fun.
8.9 miles to Flume Gorge Visitor center over the Kinsman. Today is the hardest day we have had in a long while, probably the whole trail. Straight up scrambling, then scooting down. Lots of rocks and boulders. Not quite as sketchy as Lehigh Gap or Killington, but definitely a challenge and was a lot longer going. Almost would have been fun with a lighter pack. The views at the top of Kinsman were excellent and the forest is lovely. Silverback found a nearby VFW that let us camp-Commander Randy was incredibly nice and generous and this post has an amazing space. A huge pavilion that we were able to spread out in. We got our get and food bags organized for the next several days through the whites.
7.5 miles to Eliza Brook Shelter. Steep up coming out of the notch (aka Gaps in the south). Lots more climbing today than yesterday-I had to use my hands to help me get up big rocks. But with it being a short distance I just took my time and rested when I wanted and enjoyed taking my time. I also scheduled some post trail appointments 😭. I got to the shelter later as usual, but still had a few hours of daylight to hangout and chat. There are 20ish NOBOs and then several SOBOs and a couple of section hikers here so a full house, but luckily Sourpatch got here and got a great tent site. I chatted with Carefree from NC, a section hiker out here with her husband for a good while. Everyone was in tents by 8, and not having cell service should hopefully make for a good long night of rest
SOBO slack over Mt Mousilauke, 9.5 miles. This was our intro to the Whites and exactly like I expected. Super steep, rocky and slow going, but man oh man is it pretty. We went up Beaver Creek which is actually a long waterfall. When we finally reached summit it was open like the balds in the south. It smelled so fresh and had great views. The descent was also steep and rocky, but we managed. I saw Neutral again which was so awesome to catch up. At the hostel we had a pizza, shower, laundry and got ready for the rest of the week.
Lyme Dorchester to hidden parking area, 6.9 miles. Yellow blaze to Hikers Welcome Hostel. We went up Smarts Mountain, a steepish climb and got to go up the fire tower for nice 360 views. There is a wildfire in Canada so things are hazy, but we could still see the Whites and Presidentials looming in the distance 😬 We made the decision to bump up and skip about 10 miles to get to the hostel a day early. We have been on schedule so far but we know mileage is going to go down in the Whites and Maine, and we want to have a little more wiggle room to be able to be safe since our summit date is 9/11. Hikers Welcome is a lovely hostel, they are kind to help plan the next leg of the journey, have good resupply, great spaces and it was nice to have a lot of people there-Frickles, Wingit, Puck, ToGo, Mtn Dew. We also saw Tortoise and Bougie who we haven’t seen in ages!!
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