Date: 2009-08-07
To: View Entry
Miles today: 75.0

Dear readers,WHAT A WEEK. In short, my ass got kicked. Big time. At least it was sunny. It was collectively decided that getting that hotel room a week ago when it was raining all day was the best decision any of us have made during our entire AT experience. The next day was sunny and beautiful for our hike over Franconia Ridge, one of the most scenic portions of the AT. There were hordes of dayhikers up there as well, which was a strange feeling. They made me realize what good shape I'm in with the frequency that I was passing them.Over the course of the week, we stayed at two shelters that had an $8 fee (the AMC has a monopoly on most campsites throughout the Whites with this fee) and 4 huts. We stayed at Galehead, Mizpah, Madison, and Carter Notch huts. The food at the huts was delicious and our experiences there improved with each one. I was thankful for their dinners, which they always made extra of for thru-hikers, to the point of almost being all-you-can-eat. I needed the calories. I can't imagine how I would be feeling if I had been required to eat my typical dinners of mac and cheese, etc. all week. The crews at the huts were super nice and I even had a mutual friend of workers from two different huts! Small world. In exchance for staying there, we were expected to do an hour or so of work, usually easy chores such as dishwashing, sweeping, etc. It worked out well.The best part about the week was the weather we had for Mt. Washington. It was a beautiful day with hardly a cloud in the sky! At Washington's summit, there was simply a light breeze. It could not have been more perfect! We had a 12 mile hike that day primarily all above treeline, and for the first time, it felt like Mother Nature was cooperating with us. You'd think that after 145 days of living outside, I'd have a nice suntan built up by now. Nope, I got fried because I forgot sunscreen on my arms.The views were incredible. The hiking was challenging. Luckily, nothing rivaled the climb up Kinsman Ridge (THANK GOD) with the exception of a few parts such as the climb up Wildcat Ridge (that climb confirmed the fact that I will never Southbound. I can't imagine going down it), and the descent off North Carter, right before Imp campsite. Hopefully I'm jarring some memories for all of you past thru-hikers or section hikers who know what I'm talking about. And, well, I won't even go into the first three miles north of Madison Spring Hut. It was overcast, windy, and we had a 3+ mile rock scramble up and over Mt. Madison. Windy seems like an understatement. I mean it was hard to keep my balance while balancing on sharp rocks. It was a long three miles. It was the closest rival to Max Patch we've had. At least it wasn't raining. I was glad to get below treeline as I heard the wind howling above my protection of pines.All in all, I got dominated by the Whites this week. I am bruised, scraped, exhausted, and feel like I have knees of a 90 year old. They were more difficult than I imagined, and I am simply thankful for the good weather we had. I have concluded that our bodies are not designed to handle the type of abuse the AT delivers through the Whites for over a week straight. It always seemed like the AT took the longest, most difficult route to the next hut. I felt like I was falling apart towards the end. And, being Northbound, I found it mentally challenging to handle such a tough week when I have been at this for so long. Physically and emotionally, I'm starting to feel burnt out, yet this week I was required to dig deep and find the energy inside me to put forth more effort than I've ever needed to before, to get through the Whites. It was really hard. Gorham, NH couldn't come soon enough. Last night I hoteled it with Gangsta, Plunger, Mr. Right, and Sir Richard. We all slept long and hard. It was nice to wake up and know I didn't have a monstrous day of hiking ahead of me for the first time in awhile. It was a good, but very challenging week. I can't say I have much desire to hike in the Whites again, but I will say that the scenery was worth every bit of it.Alright, my computer time is almost up, time to go. As glad as I am to have this last week behind me, I know there is still some difficult stuff in the coming days. I'm not in the clear yet, but soon enough, will be *hopefully* cruising to the finish line. Happy Trails,Wagsps- thanks for all of the guestbook entries! I do read them- they get sent directly to my email, unfortunately, I have no time to respond to any of them at the moment!