Date: 2007-08-01
From: Garfield Ridge Campsite

To: Zealand Falls Hut
Miles today: 9.7

I woke up around 6:30 this morning and heard Walking Cowboy packing up his gear. I was still tired and I noticed I had condensation inside my tent again. I decided I would take my time and wait for the sun to come up and dry out my tent.It was 9:00 when I finally started hiking today. I saw Anna the caretaker on my way out. She was getting ready to leave, but had to stop to register a hiker. I started down the steep rocky descent from Mt Garfield. A few minutes later Anna caught up to me. I told her it was against AMC policy for caretakers to pass thru-hikers, but she passed me anyway. She was going to Galehead Hut to meet up with other caretakers and haul bark to the 13 Falls site for the composting privy. Most sites have bark delivered by helicopter, but the helicopter can't get to 13 Falls.I caught up to Spartan on the trail. He is doing a flip-flop hike. He started in Virginia and is hiking to Maine, then he will hike Virginia to Georgia. We arrived at Galehead Hut and found Anna already there. We went inside for the soup. I had two bowls of potato dill soup, bread, and lemonade. The hut had solar panels on the porch roof and a small wind generator about 2 feet above the roof. I have always heard that wind generators should be mounted 50 feet above any obstruction, so I doubt it is working effectively. They had a poster on the wall that said if we don't reduce greenhouse emissions, New Hampshire summers will feel like North Carolina by the year 2100.I left the hut with Spartan, but in just a few minutes he had hiked out of view. I hiked by myself the rest of the day. I passed a couple sobos and a bunch of day hikers. The trail was rocky with several steep ascents and descents. I could see Mt Washington from the trail today. I saw smoke rising up from the mountain and wondered what was burning over there. Then I remembered about the cog railway on Mt Washington. It burns coal and must be what I was seeing. I should be there in two days.I was feeling tired and weary as I approached Zealand Falls Hut. My knees felt a little sore from all of the rocky slopes today. I was hoping to get a chance to do chores for a free stay at the hut. Walking Cowboy was on the porch and had already talked to the croo about work for stay. No other thru-hikers were there. I talked to Karen and she said I could stay! They feed the paying customers at 6:00 PM and then at 7:30 we get to eat left overs with the croo! We get to sleep on the dining room floor and then they wake us up at 5:30. I won't get out of here until about 9 AM after eating breakfast and doing some chores.This hut is right next to a steep stream. They have a micro hydro system generating power here. Basically they run water from the top of the hill through a 4" pipe down hill about 100 ft where the water spins a wheel attached to a generator or alternator that charges batteries. I went down and looked at the system. It is generating 23 amps and it does it 24 hours a day. The water is returned to the stream after it passes the water wheel. Very cool!I only hiked 10 miles today, so I will have to hike 14 tomorrow. There is a 7 mile section in the morning that is fairly flat, so I am hoping to move along faster. Plus, I will be well fed!I ate dinner - turkey, gravy, minestrone soup, peas, mashed potatoes, bread, and cookies! It was delicious. Now I am reading a book titled: Katahdin - An Historic Journey. I am so excited to be in the Whites and close to Maine.The weather has been awesome since I entered the Whites. High temps in the 70s and lows in the 40s or 50s. No rain so far! People tell me this is unusually good weather for this area. I am lucky once again and enjoying every minute of it. The views are absolutely amazing here.Loving life on the trail.