Date: 2006-09-09
From: Glencliff, NH

To: Ore Hill, NH
Miles today: 6.5

I walked on the AT today!!! :-))) It was a long day that started last night at 11:30pm when Hokey Pokey hollered upstairs at me that it was time to get up. I JUST went to bed a couple hours before. He finished packing and we left Roanoke a little before 1am heading north to Glencliff, NH. Hokey Pokey drove and I stayed awake and talked to him until it started getting light out. I dozed off a few times, but woke up and drove about 150 miles while Hokey Pokey slept. The cheapest gas I saw was $2.29 in Va. It's sad that I feel that's cheap....it isn't, but it's better than the $3.00 we were paying a couple months ago. We got to Hartford, Ct at 11am and picked up Kerosene, who had flown in last night from Michigan and was waiting on us. We all stopped and ate at a Quiznos Sub and it was pretty good. I had an Angus beef hoagie with cheese, grilled onions, mushrooms and lots of jalapeno peppers on it. I was just trying to build up my strength for walking later today. :-))) I laid down in the back of the car and took another nap when we started heading north again. We got to Glencliff at 2:30pm and met DebW there who was waiting on us. She's going to hike for a day or two with Hokey Pokey and Kerosene. Phat Chap came out and we all talked for a short while, but everyone was excited and anxious to get started walking, so I told Phat Chap I'd talk to him longer the next time I see him. We all headed for the Trail at Rt 25. Hokey Pokey and Kerosene are doing the Whites, DebW is walking with them for a while. I headed south....the proper direction to walk the AT. :-))) I had Mt Mist to climb right off....they only had Moosilauke. Mt Mist was over a 1,000 foot climb and I'm not sure what Moosilauke is, but I'll bet it's not even close to what I had to do. ;-))) It was warm out when I said my goodbyes and I headed into the forest at 2:50pm. I understand we may have some freezing temperatures in a day or two. That will be very welcome. I ran into a nobo by the name of Pockets about 30 minutes into my walk. I thought there would be more color to the leaves up here. They are changing, but only a few trees are well into the total color change.Some of the lower growth bushes are changing colors faster. It sure was great to start walking again. I just walked slowly and stopped and stretched out my foot. It's a little sore, but that may be because I was in the car so long. I ran into two more nobo's by the names of Tonka and Polar Bear. A thunderstorm welcomed me back to the forest about an hour after I started walking and it lasted about an hour. I got to try out a new piece of gear...a poncho. Before I get in trouble with Cedar Tree, if I like a poncho, I'll buy one of yours. :-)))I'm just checking out a cheap one to see how it works for me. The poncho was kind of nice. I put it on and it fits over my backpack too, so everything stays dryer. I walked up Mt Mist with it on and I walked easy enough that I didn't work up a sweat. I'm sure I looked quite dashing out here in my poncho too. :-))) Oh yeah, I weighed my backpack at Hokey Pokey's before we left. I've changed a few things I'm doing....you know, the coffee thing. Well, I've got my winter stuff with me and with full food (3 days) and full water (1 litre) and the pack weighed in at 19 lbs. :-))) It used to be 23 lbs with my winter gear. I have changed a couple other things, but will talk about them as I use them.....later. I met 3 nobo's who were slacking this section. Their names are Rice Burner, Long Shot and Bobcat. They were all wet because they didn't have any rain gear, but I was dry in my poncho. Ha!!! :-))) I came to a small stream just before I crossed Rt 25C and there was trail magic!! A bunch of Cokes laying in the stream. I carried one to have tonight and walked on. Thanks!! It was starting to get close to dark, so I found a nice, soft flat spot and set up my tent. I'm laying on my new Gossamer Gear sleeping pad and it feels really good. I'm looking forward to trying it out when it gets cold out to see if it insulates well. It's a little bulkier than my old Z Rest, but it weighs about half as much and is supposed to hold it's shape where my Z Rest would flatten out by the end of a long walk. It's raining again, but no thunder this time. I was listening to an owl just before it started raining, but only for a minute and he went somewhere else. It's dark out, I'm stealth tenting out in the middle of the forest, it's raining and I'm happy. :-))) Oh, I cut a small hole in my right Superfeet insole in hopes of not having as much heal pain tomorrow. Hummmm, I'm done with my journal....I've got my new MP3 player here that I could listen to, or I've also carried a book with me, so I could read. So many things to do. Think I'll go to sleep and think about all that tomorrow.