Thursday 8/24; Happy Hill Shelter to Red Velvet Shelter (1741.8-1749.1)
A short day spent booking it into Hanover, NH, and then milling around town for most of the day. Things learned in the process? Dartmouth is gorgeous, Hanover is an absolutely precious town which caters to hikers and is full of overpriced everything, and I (Fresh) want to visit again.
We ate at a little place called Lou's which had the best berry pancakes I've had on trail yet. Also a pretty great omelette with Gouda, bacon, kale, and tomatoes, and a few doughnut because every hiker needs one of those. So yummy! We had a free side of pizza each for lunch, and gelato to top it all off. We're now a mile out of town at the shelter, which we're sharing with a bunch of pre-orientation Dartmouth students. Apparently, pre-orientation programming is a thing now. Or is it only at the Ivies? I overheard a couple of the girls chatting and I'm shocked at how shallow their conversation seems to be. Was I this air-headed at 18? Gosh! Anyhow, a great day. Looking forward to tomorrow!!
Friday 8/25; Velvet Rocks Shelter to Trapper John Shelter (1749.1-1764.3)
Wow, the weather! What a gorgeous day to start getting into some bigger climbs again! The climbing sucks as much as I remember, but the views are beautiful already! We wandered through the miles stopping to talk with new people and friends. We met Shaggy and his friend whose name I simply can't remember (sorry!!). They were so nice! SOBOs who we hope will keep in touch! We have camped the last couple of days with Deacon who is going to Maine. Tonight we were talking about Miss Janet and her amazing kindnesses. I wish there was some way to repay her, but there some isn't. She's so very kind to this community and gives so much of herself to us all.
Saturday 8/26; Trapper John Shelter to Hexacuba Shelter (1764.3-1776.3)
I forgot to where yesterday, so I'm making it up today (Sunday). Yesterday was largely uneventful, which was a blessing after the night before. I'll start there...
Friday, after blogging (which I did early), we made dinner, talked with a fellow hiker who want feeling very well, hung out and chatted with a bunch of hikers who were both new and old faces, caught up with GWAG, and we all went to bed. I had read a little, was trying to tune out another Dartmouth group which was very loud, and had almost dozed off Wolfe Dog told us that they were calling 911 for the hiker who didn't feel well earlier. Long story short, they called, got the rescue crew our location, and waited. I didn't get in the middle, as I felt like there were enough people helping. I did help pack up the sick hiker's things when they decided to take her down the mountain, and her significant other was going with her. It turns out she's doing just fine, but it was tiring and scary to take part in. Her hiking partner kept thanking you for helping and telling us not to worry about it, that they didn't want to bother. We had to make them ok with the fact that this is what the community is here for. We hello each other. It's what makes us a great group of people. After they departed, I went down and asked the Dartmouth student group to be quiet. Then we crashed.
The following day (today), we're tired and sluggish, and had our biggest climb in a while up Smarts Mountain. The climb was hard and long, and I injured my knee on the way up. No idea at all what I did, but it hurt so badly at one print that I wasn't sure I could get the rest of the way up. I did, and we rested for lunch at the top. The only view was afforded by climbing the fire tower, which I haven't done in some time as I have become uneasy with rickety things on stilts. We meet Scott and Brynn, day hikers who gave us sweets, fruit, beer, and carried out our trash. They were pretty great!
We made our way down the mountain to decide if we'd push on to the shelter or camp near the stream at the bottom. We decided to push on and it worked out ok in the end. The shelter was neat, built part way up Mt. Cube, it's built on the shape of a hexagon and has a bunch of space. We camped with a couple of SOBOs (Nameless was among them and was super nice!), and two sectioners, Julia and get grown son Chris. They were out for the weekend. Turns out, we met Julia back in Connecticut a couple of times (we recognized her), and Chris graduated from GA Tech. So we found all kinds of things to chat about!
I started feeling a little under the weather and we slept. I hoped to feel better in the morning.
Sunday 8/27; Hexacuba to Stealth Site (1776.3-1786.5)
Well, my knee felt a bit better this morning and has done well today, overall. We walked well, found the omelette man, and sat a while eating extra protein provided by this trail angel. He made us giant egg scrambles with ham, cheese, peppers and onions. We had bananas, doughnuts, and juice. It was amazing! Then...I realized I really wasn't feeling very well. We walked a bit more discussing what the best choice is. There's a hostel we were gonna slack pack from but we aren't sure about bunk space and we certainly don't want to pay nearly $20 each to camp in the yard. Add that to the fact that I'm not feeling well, and we decided to call it an early day and put the tent up here by a small stream. I'm hoping that an extra couple hours of rest will help me feel better in the morning. We're officially in The Whites and I need to be healthy and strong to get through them. I think it was the smartest decision, though it's frustrating. It's a pretty day and we stopped before 5PM. It feels like wasted hours. But I guess a few hours of down time is better than getting sick and being down for days. Anyhow, back at it in the morning.
Monday 8/28; Stealth Site to Hiker Welcome Hostel (1786.5-1791.1)
5 miles today. We were supposed to be here yesterday but...You read how that went. And I'm not feeling any better. Energy level is low and our package with all our winter gear isn't here yet. So we're hanging for the day. The gear will certainly be here today, so we'll head out tomorrow, assuming I'm feeling better. Until then, this place works fine. Lots of beds, a hot shower, and a hiker feed tonight!
Tuesday 8/29; Mt. Mousilake slack-Bean/Zero-Fresh (1791.1)
I woke feeling all but worse. So I got stressed and cried, Bean was sweet and supportive and told me that it's ok. So, off he went to home over the first mountain in The Whites, and I went back to bed for the morning. Watched some movies, slept some more, set an alarm to send home the gear were replacing with the winter gear we received yesterday, and woke 10 minutes before it sounded to hear Erik's voice arriving from his slack. Meaning...he finished slacking our first White Mountain in 5 hours. He's fast! He says it was amazing and shared photos from the climb and summit. My anxiety over the climbing to come is not helped by this set back.
Wednesday 8/30; Zero at Hikers Welcome Hostel (1791.1)
And...We're both under the weather. I woke early to use the outhouse and recognized that I feel much better, but still need another day to recover. When we woke later, Bean told me he couldn't to hike. So, unplanned zero it is. I felt like the lead caretaker at the hostel was less than helpful (Tricks was AWESOME though!!), So we decided to switch locations, resupply today, and be ready to go in the morning. Hopefully we're both feeling up for it. So we're in North Woodstock, NH tonight, we've had a tasty meal, and we're resting in a private room. We certainly should have moved yesterday. We had a discussion at dinner about how close we are to the finish and how we feel about that. Basically, we simply can't believe it. Neither of us is ready, nor can we figure out how we'll tell you all about our experiences. It's a bit hard to explain. Actually, it's kind of impossible. So we'll be working on this for the next weeks. Until then, hoping tomorrow is a great day!
A short day spent booking it into Hanover, NH, and then milling around town for most of the day. Things learned in the process? Dartmouth is gorgeous, Hanover is an absolutely precious town which caters to hikers and is full of overpriced everything, and I (Fresh) want to visit again.
We ate at a little place called Lou's which had the best berry pancakes I've had on trail yet. Also a pretty great omelette with Gouda, bacon, kale, and tomatoes, and a few doughnut because every hiker needs one of those. So yummy! We had a free side of pizza each for lunch, and gelato to top it all off. We're now a mile out of town at the shelter, which we're sharing with a bunch of pre-orientation Dartmouth students. Apparently, pre-orientation programming is a thing now. Or is it only at the Ivies? I overheard a couple of the girls chatting and I'm shocked at how shallow their conversation seems to be. Was I this air-headed at 18? Gosh! Anyhow, a great day. Looking forward to tomorrow!!
Friday 8/25; Velvet Rocks Shelter to Trapper John Shelter (1749.1-1764.3)
Wow, the weather! What a gorgeous day to start getting into some bigger climbs again! The climbing sucks as much as I remember, but the views are beautiful already! We wandered through the miles stopping to talk with new people and friends. We met Shaggy and his friend whose name I simply can't remember (sorry!!). They were so nice! SOBOs who we hope will keep in touch! We have camped the last couple of days with Deacon who is going to Maine. Tonight we were talking about Miss Janet and her amazing kindnesses. I wish there was some way to repay her, but there some isn't. She's so very kind to this community and gives so much of herself to us all.
Saturday 8/26; Trapper John Shelter to Hexacuba Shelter (1764.3-1776.3)
I forgot to where yesterday, so I'm making it up today (Sunday). Yesterday was largely uneventful, which was a blessing after the night before. I'll start there...
Friday, after blogging (which I did early), we made dinner, talked with a fellow hiker who want feeling very well, hung out and chatted with a bunch of hikers who were both new and old faces, caught up with GWAG, and we all went to bed. I had read a little, was trying to tune out another Dartmouth group which was very loud, and had almost dozed off Wolfe Dog told us that they were calling 911 for the hiker who didn't feel well earlier. Long story short, they called, got the rescue crew our location, and waited. I didn't get in the middle, as I felt like there were enough people helping. I did help pack up the sick hiker's things when they decided to take her down the mountain, and her significant other was going with her. It turns out she's doing just fine, but it was tiring and scary to take part in. Her hiking partner kept thanking you for helping and telling us not to worry about it, that they didn't want to bother. We had to make them ok with the fact that this is what the community is here for. We hello each other. It's what makes us a great group of people. After they departed, I went down and asked the Dartmouth student group to be quiet. Then we crashed.
The following day (today), we're tired and sluggish, and had our biggest climb in a while up Smarts Mountain. The climb was hard and long, and I injured my knee on the way up. No idea at all what I did, but it hurt so badly at one print that I wasn't sure I could get the rest of the way up. I did, and we rested for lunch at the top. The only view was afforded by climbing the fire tower, which I haven't done in some time as I have become uneasy with rickety things on stilts. We meet Scott and Brynn, day hikers who gave us sweets, fruit, beer, and carried out our trash. They were pretty great!
We made our way down the mountain to decide if we'd push on to the shelter or camp near the stream at the bottom. We decided to push on and it worked out ok in the end. The shelter was neat, built part way up Mt. Cube, it's built on the shape of a hexagon and has a bunch of space. We camped with a couple of SOBOs (Nameless was among them and was super nice!), and two sectioners, Julia and get grown son Chris. They were out for the weekend. Turns out, we met Julia back in Connecticut a couple of times (we recognized her), and Chris graduated from GA Tech. So we found all kinds of things to chat about!
I started feeling a little under the weather and we slept. I hoped to feel better in the morning.
Sunday 8/27; Hexacuba to Stealth Site (1776.3-1786.5)
Well, my knee felt a bit better this morning and has done well today, overall. We walked well, found the omelette man, and sat a while eating extra protein provided by this trail angel. He made us giant egg scrambles with ham, cheese, peppers and onions. We had bananas, doughnuts, and juice. It was amazing! Then...I realized I really wasn't feeling very well. We walked a bit more discussing what the best choice is. There's a hostel we were gonna slack pack from but we aren't sure about bunk space and we certainly don't want to pay nearly $20 each to camp in the yard. Add that to the fact that I'm not feeling well, and we decided to call it an early day and put the tent up here by a small stream. I'm hoping that an extra couple hours of rest will help me feel better in the morning. We're officially in The Whites and I need to be healthy and strong to get through them. I think it was the smartest decision, though it's frustrating. It's a pretty day and we stopped before 5PM. It feels like wasted hours. But I guess a few hours of down time is better than getting sick and being down for days. Anyhow, back at it in the morning.
Monday 8/28; Stealth Site to Hiker Welcome Hostel (1786.5-1791.1)
5 miles today. We were supposed to be here yesterday but...You read how that went. And I'm not feeling any better. Energy level is low and our package with all our winter gear isn't here yet. So we're hanging for the day. The gear will certainly be here today, so we'll head out tomorrow, assuming I'm feeling better. Until then, this place works fine. Lots of beds, a hot shower, and a hiker feed tonight!
Tuesday 8/29; Mt. Mousilake slack-Bean/Zero-Fresh (1791.1)
I woke feeling all but worse. So I got stressed and cried, Bean was sweet and supportive and told me that it's ok. So, off he went to home over the first mountain in The Whites, and I went back to bed for the morning. Watched some movies, slept some more, set an alarm to send home the gear were replacing with the winter gear we received yesterday, and woke 10 minutes before it sounded to hear Erik's voice arriving from his slack. Meaning...he finished slacking our first White Mountain in 5 hours. He's fast! He says it was amazing and shared photos from the climb and summit. My anxiety over the climbing to come is not helped by this set back.
Wednesday 8/30; Zero at Hikers Welcome Hostel (1791.1)
And...We're both under the weather. I woke early to use the outhouse and recognized that I feel much better, but still need another day to recover. When we woke later, Bean told me he couldn't to hike. So, unplanned zero it is. I felt like the lead caretaker at the hostel was less than helpful (Tricks was AWESOME though!!), So we decided to switch locations, resupply today, and be ready to go in the morning. Hopefully we're both feeling up for it. So we're in North Woodstock, NH tonight, we've had a tasty meal, and we're resting in a private room. We certainly should have moved yesterday. We had a discussion at dinner about how close we are to the finish and how we feel about that. Basically, we simply can't believe it. Neither of us is ready, nor can we figure out how we'll tell you all about our experiences. It's a bit hard to explain. Actually, it's kind of impossible. So we'll be working on this for the next weeks. Until then, hoping tomorrow is a great day!
No comments:
Post a Comment