Emily Writes Again

Great stay at a frat house in Hanover--cheers Dan. I appreciated the real bed. Easy couple days out of Hanover. New Hampshire did a nice job getting us ready for the whites...first a couple 1000 foot mountains, then a couple 2000 footers, a couple 3000 footers, and then MOOSILAUKE (a 4000 footer). Unfortunately I had no views from the top (the cloud ceiling was around 2000 feet that morning), but the summit was still amazing. The first real alpine zone of the trip. I'll definitely come back to day hike it in nice weather.

The first half of the White Mountains treated me fairly well. A few cloudy summits on the Kinsmans, but views late in the afternoon across to the impressive Franconia Ridge. The trail up the Kinsmans was RUGGED!! I had hiked North Kinsman last February, but the 3 or 4 feet of snow we hiked on made the trail seem smooth. I wasn't expecting the steep, wet rock ledges. Moosilauke and N. Kinsman both had rebar, wooden steps attached to rock faces, and lots of places you had to kind of jump and hope you landed on a flat, non-slippery surface. But it was a fun challenge. I love this kind of hiking. I spent a night at Liberty Spring campsite, just below the crest of Franconia Ridge. That afternoon I slack-packed up Mt. Liberty and Flume and got some awesome views. I'm glad I did, because the next day's "slight chance of rain, summits in the fog" actually meant that Franconia Ridge was cloudy, rainy, and winds gusting to 40mph. Nasty weather. I crossed the ridge without getting hypothermia, and ended up working to stay at Galehead Hut.

The Hut System
The AMC runs huts in the White Mountains, catering to weekend hikers with lots of money ($100 a night!!). Luckily, the college-aged hut croos have pity for thru-hikers who can't afford this price, and can't make reservations months in advance. If there is space, thru-hikers can work for about an hour (cleaning bunks, bathrooms, kitchen, etc.), then eat the leftover food from dinner and breakfast, and sleep on the floor in the dining room. It's kind of a strange system, makes the thru-hikers feel inferior to the paying guests, but I was glad for the option Thursday night. The weather cleared over night, and I had perfect weather (it felt like fall—40 degrees with a windchill) for the hike down to Crawford Notch, where my parents picked me up for a weekend off trail (to attend a wedding in Maine).

Sobos
I've finally met my first southbound hikers who started in Maine. Most have started around May 30 (taking a month to cross Maine and get into New Hampshire). Hit and Miss cruised past Rob and me when we were in Vermont, but I stopped to chat with Whoopie Pie (a girl from Ellsworth, ME), Hickory, Easy, and Bird. Bird spent the night at Galehead with me and another Nobo named Alpine (different from the guy who works at Neels Gap).