Appalachian Trail Retrospective - Gorham, NH to Beaver Brook Shelter, NH

Day 25 (I guess I skipped 24 for some reason)

Tuesday 7/11/00

U.S. 2 (Gorham, NH) to Carter Notch Hut

15.2 miles

Well, back on the trail after 8 long days off!  Although it was sad to leave everyone behind, it’s good to be back!

            Started hiking around 9:15.  Ran into lots of north-bounders, some were day-hikers.  One thru-hiker I met reminded me of Jennifer Phillips, a band friend of mine from back in Mississippi. 

            Lots and lots of climbing today!  My new poles helped a lot thogh.  They’re already scratched up.  My leg felt fine!  I’m so glad!!!  But my knees hurt a little.  I think that’s just getting back into super hiker mode!

            Carter Dome (4,832’) was the highest thing I’ve done since Katahdin (5,267’).  Great view of Mt. Washington.  It looked like rain all day, but it never did!  Really nice weather!

            This AMC “hut” I’m at is quite nice.  There is the caretaker’s hut with a kitchen and 3 bunkhouses.  They each hold 24 people!  It costs $20 but they let thru-hikers work it off instead of paying.  The guy said I’d only have to sweep floors and wipe tables.  We’ll see how it goes.

            For some reason, I had an old Jimmy Buffett song stuck in my head today.  I don’t remember the name, but here’s how it goes (That’s What Living Is to Me, from Hot Water, 1988):

_­           

“Be good, and you will be lonesome.

              Be lonesome and you will be free.

              Live a lie, and you will live to regret it.

              That’s what livin’ is to me…”

 I think it kind of fits...

            The caretaker’s hut was too full of people for me to do any work.  He said if I didn’t have time in the morning, I can leave anyway.  Pretty cool.

            It’s 8:45pm and 3 women from Quebec just walked in.  I can’t really see them (no lights).  I don’t they speak much English, but it would have been nice to talk to someone else.

 A view of the hut complex in Carter Notch from above.

Day 26

Wednesday, 7/12/00

Carter Notch Hut to Osgood Tentsite

10.7 miles

It was too busy at the hut last night for me to do any work, so I got up this morning and was going to do it.  He had me go around and pick up trash (which there was almost none of).  Only took about 15 minutes.

            I slept in because I didn’t want to wake up the Canadian ladies.  They were all pretty nice.  Left around 8:10.  Had a steep climb out of the notch.  I swear the AMC’s signs are messed up!  Right after leaving, I saw a sign that said “Pinkham Notch: 3.7 miles”.  The data book (a small book that lists mileages to features along the entire AT, including water sources, P.O.’s, etc.) said it was 6 miles!  Stupid AMC!

            Saw lots and lots of day hikers.  Going down Pinkham Notch was steep!  At lunch (AYCE: $6!) at the visitor’s center.  It was a nice place.

            Had good views of Mt. Washington all day.  Boy, it is big!  I’m going over it tomorrow.

            Only went to Osgood tentsite because right past it there is a steep, 3-mile climb.  That can wait until tomorrow.

            My legs felt fine!  My left knee feels a little shaky at the end of the day but I’m not worried about it.  I’ll just take my time through the Whites and catch up to the other folks later.  It’s really pretty here.

            Didn’t set up my tent, hope it doesn’t rain!  It’s not supposed to… There’s a group of 3 here who didn’t either.  Another couple just showed up… A group of 10 just showed up!  There so many people here compared to Maine! 

Day 27

Thursday, 7/13/00

Osgood Tentsite to Mizpah Hut

14.8 miles

Wow!  What a day!!!  I didn’t pitch my tent last night and it didn’t rain!  Didn’t get very cold either.  I had to crawl out of my bivy sack because it was too hot (early on, I also carried an emergency bivy sack, which is basically a beefed up space blanket).  Woke up pretty early and left by 7:20.

            Tackled that 3-mile climb like it was nothing!  Must have been that Powerbar for breakfast.  Was above treeline before 9:00 and stayed above it all day.  Got my first experience with the rocks in the Whites (this part is called the Presidentials).  Beautiful views all day long!  Climbed over or near several 5,000+ foot peaks before starting up Washington.  I was hopping all over the rocks and making really good time.

            Crossed the stinky, smoky, ugly cog railway and was at the summit (6,288’) by lunchtime.  Ate 2 hotdogs, 2 liters of soda, and an ice cream bar (purchased from the shop at the visitor center on the summit).  Worth every penny!  Then I went down past Lakes of the Clouds hut where there was a warning sign that said “Caution:  This area has the worst weather in America…”  That wasn’t true today!  It must have been better than 60 degrees with only a gentle breeze blowing!  Absolutely gorgeous weather!!!

            Lots and lots of day hikers up here!  Probably saw more people here than I did in the whole state of Maine, including the towns!

            Made it to Mizpah Hut about 3:30.  I’m going to work again to pay my fee.  I think I may have to do some real work this time.

            I think this was the best day I’ve had so far!  Great terrain, great views, good lunch, and best of all, nothing hurt!!!  I hope to have many more like this.

            The Whites rule, but I could do without the crowds.

            All I had to do was wash dome shelves.  Only took about half an hour.  Since it usually costs $60 to stay here, that works out to $120/hour!  But, unlike the paying customers, I ate leftovers and slept in the attic…

            Still!

Day 28

Friday, 7/14/00

Mizpah Hut to Guyot Campsite (0.9 miles off AT)

18.3 miles (not counting mileage to campsite)

Woke up at 6:00.  Ate some applesauce and last night’s dessert leftovers.  Mmmm good!  I didn’t stick around for breakfast… left about 7:20 again.  Made good time over Mt. Webster and down into Crawford Notch.  Another steep descent.  I met a guy (thru-hiker) wearing a USPS cycling jersey.  We talked about Lance for a while and how he’s doing in the Tour.  Cool guy.

            Anyway… easy climb up to Ethan Pond campsite.  From there to Zealand falls it was FLAT and really fast going.  I did about 5 miles in just over an hour! (This stretch of the trail follows an old railroad bed.  My good buddy Meredith worked at Zealand Hut a few summers ago and I visited here there.  Just flat as I’d remembered it.).  Met up with Troy (who later became “Rooster”), a guy I met in Monson, Maine.  He said Adam & Tara (the Canadian couple I’d met at Potaywadjo lean-to on my second day) are just ahead.

            Hiked with Troy for a while.  End up going fast trying to race a rainstorm.  Made it to camp at 3:45.  Not a bad place but too far off trail.  Adam and Tara went on to Galehead.  Argh!  (If I remember correctly, this section of trail is in the Pemmigewassett Wilderness, bka “The Pemi” and was a really cool stretch.)

Day 29

Saturday, 7/15/00

Guyot Campsite to Liberty Spring Tentsite

13.2 miles

Woke up early (~6:00), didn’t eat and was gone just after 7:00.  made it to Galehead hut by 8:40.  Adam & Tara were there!  They are now “Leap Frog”.  This was the first time since my second day I’ve seen them!  Had all-you-can-eat carrot cake (day-old) for a dollar!  Decent breakfast.

            Not much after that until the climb up Mt. Lafayette.  Once I got above treeline, the wind was howling!  My pen is dying… Ahh, that’s better.  This is my super-duper-writes-upside-down-and-under-water-“Space Pen”.  Anyway… the wind almost blew me down several times.  The higher I got, the worse it got!  About a half mile from the summit it started raining.  Rain hurts when it’s going 75mph!  Waited at summit for a half hour before it stopped raining.  It was a really pretty hike along the ridge.  (This is the beautiful Franconia Ridge.  I REALLY need to get back and do that one!)  It was still windy though.  On the way down, I somehow lost one of my sandals.  But when I got to the tentsite, 2 other southbounders showed up with it.  They were “Frog” and “EZE”.  They seemed cool.  They went on to Lonesome Lake Hut, which I should have done too.  Oh well.

            I have a LONG day tomorrow.  About 22 miles… unless I wuss out.  We’ll see…

 A view from partway up Lafayette looking back towards Mt. Guyot.

Day 30

Sunday, 7/16/00

Liberty Spring Tentsite to Beaver Brook Shelter

20.5 miles

Rained all night!  Really windy too.  I got a little wet inside my tent.  Woke up at 4:30 but stayed inside until 5:30.  Sucked packing up in the rain!  Left around 6:30!  Easy going until Lonesome Lake Hut.  There by 8:30, in time for breakfast.  Had a bunch of pancakes and cookies.  Didn’t have to pay!

            Pretty uneventful, miserable hiking all day.  Made it to Eliza brook shelter by 1:00.  Decided to keep on going the 9 miles to Beaver Brook.  More misery!

            Got there about 6:00.  Pretty long day.  “Little Debbie”, “Candyman”, “Waldo”, “Squirrel” and some kid from Mississippi (who called himself “Star Murder”) all showed up eventually.  Last time I saw them was the day before Gorham!  Either they’re going slow, or I’m going really fast!  Yeah baby!  Only 8 miles to Glencliff!

Crash!

Despite the heat wave we've been having lately, I've been able to get some time in on the bike.  It's been mostly (dirt) road riding, but today I took the mountain bike out for the first time in a while.  The 95-degree temp and high humidity reminded me of Mississippi, and I was sweating like a pig.  After climbing for a long time, I decided to turn around and call it good.  The descent was mostly a dirt road I've ridden many times.  However, it turned out to be a lot looser than it's ever been.  I was probably going 35+ mph and came into a sweeping left hand corner a little too hot.  Despite being on the front brake a lot, the rear started to slide out, and I could tell I wasn't going to make it.  If I tried to ride it out, I was going to go off a bit of a rock wall and into some big trees, so I laid the bike down hard.  I hit the ground quite hard and hit my head pretty good.  Really glad to be wearing a helmet!  Road rash was minimal because the trail-side was lined with ferns, but I did hurt my wrist pretty good and my left side is pretty sore, including my head. 

As I was sliding quickly off trail, I must have understeered a good bit to try to bring it back.  In the process, the tire rolled off the rim (even at 45psi) and the tube exploded.  My left (front) brake lever was also bent skyward.  These brake levers had been on my trials bike years ago, so they've seen a lot of abuse.  Needless to say, when I tried to bend it back into place, it snapped right off.

I normally just carry a patch kit to deal with flats, but since the tube blew up, there was about a 6 inch tear in it.  No patch would ever fix that!  So, it looked like I was in for a long walk.  After a mile or so, I had an idea of how to fix it.  Cut the tube in half, knot it in the middle, and see if it would hold air.  Well, it did... for a little while at least.  It lasted long enough for me to get out to the paved road.  While walking alongside that, a road rider came up and gave me his spare tube, which I thought would work but ultimately didn't.  While trying to pump that up, some teenagers walked by and I asked to borrow their phone.  I gave Chrissy a call and she came to my rescue.  I'm going to make sure to carry a tube and my phone from now on!

Worth a shot right?

So far so good...

Hmm... this might actually work.

Oh well, good enough for a few miles.

Snap.  Luckily, I have a spare.

Appalachian Trail Retrospective - Rangeley, Maine to Gorham, New Hampshire

Day 18

Tuesday, 6/27/00

U.S. Rt. 4 (Rangeley, ME) to Sabbath Day Pond Lean-to

9.4 miles

Woke up pretty early, in a BED though!  It was a little too short but it was better than a sleeping bag…

            Went out for breakfast, had an omelet.  It was sooo good!  Did a bunch of packing and took care of food and stuff.  Got rid of my oatmeal! YES!  Did laundry, but my socks still smell a little…

            Got gas [white gas for the stove] and did some other things in town.  Saw some cute girls [believe me, there’s not a lot of ladies out on the trail].  What a sight for sore eyes!  When I see someone out on the trail, 95% of the time it’s some older dude.  Anyway…

            Got to trailhead about 1:00pm.  Took a last look at the new trumpet, hugged Ma & Pa, and I was off again.  In the pouring rain… I wore my new shorts and shirt mom got me.  Worked very well.  So the did XC ski poles.  No leg pain today, but I did only go 9.4 miles.

            Pretty uneventful hiking.  Saw a rotting moose carcass right next to the trail.  It sure smelled great.

            Oh yeah, at the Rangeley library the computer wouldn’t let me send email!  Piece of junk!  Didn’t have time to write any postcards either.  Or get hold of Sofi… (Sofi was a friend of mine I worked with in the summers.  We were planning on meeting up and hiking at some point.  I don’t think I saw her again until a year or so ago when I met her when I was working out in Santa Barbara and we went on a whale-watch trip to the Channel Islands.  I did eventually meet up with another ice cream shop friend, but that wasn’t until North Carolina….)  Sheesh, being in town is busy!

            Now I’ll be seeing dad in Gorham, NH on the 2^nd.  Looking forward to that.  Then the next week, maybe hiking with Sofi.  I hope I can arrange that.

            Oh well, short day tomorrow…

            I am pretty sure that Sabbath Day Pond, where the shelter was located was full of leeches.  I remember going down to the waters edge of some pond in Maine to filter water.  While I was kneeling by the bank, I remember seeing big leeches gliding around.  I remember being grossed out and killing one, and while I continued to filter water, several other leeches came along to feed on the carcass.  Nasty little things…

Day 19

Wednesday, 6/28/00

Sabbath Day Pond Lean-to to Bemis Mountain Lean-to

8.3 miles

I feel so incredibly lazy for only going 8 miles!  But the next shelter was another 12 miles with big mountains in between.  Maybe I’ll go extra and camp out tomorrow.  I’m not in a hurry, but I want to make more progress!

            Don’t remember when I woke up, at a bagel (much better than oatmeal!) and was gone by 7:45.  Pretty uneventful… At the crossing of Hwy. 17, you could see Mooselookmeguntic Lake.  It looked really pretty.  Maybe a good place for kayaking/canoeing?  Near the town of Oquossoc.  That was pretty much the highlight of the day.

            Got to the shelter around 12:00.  I probably could have made it to the next one, but my leg might get hurt again.  Better to take it easy than to mess up my legs!

            Read for quite a while.  There wasn’t much else to do!

            Snacked on food too.  Mom:  Thank you so much for the Nutella!  Where did you find it?!  Keep it comin’! (I had experienced the wonder of Nutella for the first time on a 3-week trip to Germany the preceding April on a highschool trip.  It changed my world.)

            Two guys I’d met earlier in the day, Chris and Jared showed up a little after 1:00.  Chris had just been to town and he brought hot dogs, bund an onion and mustard!  Good dinner.  And… for dessert we roasted marshmellows (thanks Phoebe!).  So, at least I ate well. (I remember Chris’s trail name became Freefall, but I don’t remember Jared’s.  “Freefall” made it all the way to Georgia, but I don’t know about Jared.  I hiked with them for a day or two, but left behind eventually.)

            Not too far to Gorham and New Hampshire!  It’ll be good to be in a new state.

            My water filter sucks!  (I had/have a PUR hiker that was always getting clogged up, making it very hard to pump water through it.  Eventually figured out how to make it work a bit better, but often times, I just drank the water without filtering, especially from high elevation streams.  Ponds and slow, warm water, I always filtered.  Especially when I could see cows wading upstream…)

Day 20

Thursday, 6/29/00

Bemis Mountain Lean-to to Hall Mountain Lean-to

12.8 miles

Got up early and was gone by about 6:45.  Caught Jared, who had left at 6:30, in about an hour.  Made good time until descent of Old Blue Mountain.  Very, very steep and rocky.

            Then, I had to climb up and down Moody Mountain, which was even steeper!  But it wasn’t too bad…

            Then came Hall Mountain.  Wow, it was steep!  But I made it up to the top finally.  That was about all I had energy for.

            Somehow the strap on my poles pulled my watch off and I didn’t notice it.  So there’s $45 down the drain!  It was a birthday present too!

            I got to this shelter between 1:00 and 2:00 (I think).  I wanted to keep going, but wanted to see if Chris or Jared had picked up my watch.  Nope…  By the time they got here it was too late to go any further.  Oh well… By the way, Orange-pineapple Tang is really good!  Keep sending it if you can.  More Nutella too!

            Fairly easy day tomorrow…

           

Day 21

Friday, 6/30/00

Hall Mountain Lean-to to Baldpate Mountain Lean-to

14 miles

Rained a lot last night.  Kinda noisy.  Don’t know when I woke up…  I think I left around 7:15.  The trees were all wet so I got soaked.  That was kind of a bummer…

            Hiking was pretty easy.  Got to Frye Notch Lean-to around noon.  Met “Sleepy”, “Little Debbie”, and “Candyman”.  They said it was noon!  I’d been going pretty fast.  As soon as I left there it started hailing with lots of thunder and lightning.  Climb was pretty steep up Baldpate Mountain.  It was very windy and cloudy at the top.  No views!  Took a while to come down to the lean-to.  Felt good to put on dry clothes.

            Eventually “Porkchop”, “Jackass”, and “Sleepy” showed up.  They’re characters!  Well… I go through the infamous Mahoosuc Notch tomorrow and over Old Speck Mountain.  It’s big (4^th highest mountain in Maine at 4,170 feet).

            It was this fateful night with Porkchop and Jackass that I was given my trail name.  They were goofy college kids and they were making up spontaneous rap songs while dousing a boulder with white gas and lighting it on fire while dancing around it.  They were rapping about chili-dogs, and Porkchop said to me as I watched the hilarity, “Hey, your trail name should be CORNDOG!”  Obviously this is a stupid name and doesn’t really have any meaning, so I ignored it.  However, AT tradition states that you’re supposed to take a trail name that’s given to you (though many people make up their own).  This was the only trail name anyone ever gave me, so I eventually became known as “Corndog”.  It’s pretty silly, but there it is.

Day 22

Saturday, 7/1/00

Baldpate Mountain Lean-to to Full Goose Lean-to

12 miles

Nice day today!  Left camp around 7:30.  It was downhill to Grafton Notch, the end of MATC territory and the beginning of AMC (Appalachian Mountain Club, aka Appalachian Money Club because they charge you for everything).  After Grafton Notch, climbed Old Speck Mountain.  Hiked most of the way up with a girl named Holly (just a day hiker).  She was cool.  She shared her food and gave me a peach!  Fresh fruit!  Climbed the tower at the summit, got my first view of Mt. Washington.  BIG!

            Ate lunch (a Powerbar) at Speck Pond Shelter.  After that, came down Mahoosuc Arm.  Wicked steep.  I think I pulled my quad on my right leg now!  Passed a group of north-bounders, all moving really fast.  One of the last people in the group I asked about “Northwind” (Eric Eisele from East Boothbay, a kid I’d never met, but his mom gave me some pointers before I took off on the trail).  It turned out he was the first one in the group!  I passed him without knowing it.  But I wasn’t going to go backwards to chase him down.  Met his hiking partner Julie though… (I never did meet Eric, not even back in Boothbay).

            Made it through Mahoosuc Notch OK.  It’s supposed to be “the hardest mile of the entire AT”.  Wasn’t that hard but it was really slow going.  Maybe that’s what they guidebook meant.  Had to squeeze through little cracks and gaps in the boulders, often having to take my pack off and shove it through first. 

            Got to shelter (big, sleeps 12 people) around 4:30, I think… “Little Debbie”, “Candyman”, “Squirrel” and “Waldo” and 5 other people were here.  Lotsa company.  Sleepy, Porkchop and Jackass haven’t shown up yet.  They probably wussed out!

            Too bad I missed Eric.  Old Speck is very pretty.

 A glimpse of the trail through Mahoosuc Notch.  Note the arrow pointing the way.  Mahoosuc notch is filled with giant boulders that have fallen off the walls of the notch.  There is about a mile of this sort of scrambling.

Day 23

Sunday, 7/2/00

Full Goose Shelter to Gorham, NH

21.4 miles

I’m writing this on the 9^th in Boothbay.

            My leg hurt all day.  Didn’t make very good time because of it.  Did finally make it to Gorham though.  A new state!  1/7 of the way done! 

            My garage sale, fiberglass XC ski poles broke on the way into Gorham.  I remember struggling a lot this day, limping and swearing down the trail.  It was a bad day to do 21 miles.

            I bought some Leki poles at L.L. Bean, hopefully I’ll have better luck with them.  Haven’t tried them out yet…

            Can’t wait to be back on the trail.  Hopefully on Monday.

            I wound up taking 8 days off in Boothbay to let my leg recover.  I think it was a combination of pushing too hard, not eating well, and maybe not drinking enough.  It would have been very easy to call it quits at this point, but I kept on going…