Date: 2016-07-15
From: NH 112 - North Woodstock, NH - Mile 1,799.7

To: Franconia Notch
Miles today: 16.3

I'll admit being apprehensive about today's hike. I've read so much about the White Mountains being difficult that they have spooked me a bit. Today's hike was 16.3 miles which have been routinely hiked before and after my bout with Lyme Disease. But these are the Whites so my thinking going into today was that past experience is meaningless. Since it was 16 miles though I hiked solo. Beth is fine and I want everyone to know that her fall yesterday wasn't a bad one. She's fine. My notes from my reading of previous years' trail journalists that I took notes on was that this hike was difficult due to its 16 mile length and due to the strenuous climbs and descents. References were made to putting your hiking poles away to enable hand-over-hand climbing and butt sliding. It was a long hike. There were many miles of New Hampshire boulders. New Hampshire boulders, at this point, seem to be very different from northern Pensylvania boulders. New Hampsire boulders are typically flat or rounded and they are securely lodged in the trail. New Hampshire boulders rarely hurt, they just slow me down. Northern Pennsylvania's boulders are pointed and lose. They hurt and they slowed me down. Today's trail had substantial sections of very large boulder slabs that lie next to each other to form steep trail. Hiking through these boulder slabs is done by either powering up the slabs (something I was only able to do a few times), hiking within the boulder slab gaps (I did this a lot), or by hiking on the edges of the boulder slabs and grabbing trees or tree roots to pull yourself up (I did this a lot too). It's rained pretty hard the last two nights resulting in a lot of wet trail. This day is near the top of the list in terms of the number of hours my feet were soaked. The trail's wooden planks around Harrington Pond were completely submerged but I walked on them since the alternative was trampling vegetation, vegetation that shouldn't be hiked on and vegetation that could be beneath an unknown depth of water. The water overwhelmed the trail in sections after the Lonesome Lake Hut too. The Cascade Brook bridge was previously washed away and my right foot went for a swim when it slipped on a wet boulder. My feet were wet enough that foot placement to avoid water wasn't a priority at times. So this hike was fun. Why? Because trail like this is a continual puzzle that has to be figured out. All that rain water resulted in robust waterfalls and brooks; there were miles of hiking along their sides and embankments. The weather was clear today and the summits of Mt. Kinsman provided numerous views in all directions. I wouldn't continue to hike if I couldn't enjoy a day like this one.   I didn't see many hikers today. Maybe the bubble of southbound thru-hikers has passed. I saw a lot of people at the first White Mountain hut, Lonesome Lake Hut. Overnight guests here pay over $100 a night per person to sleep in a bunk in a shared room. The guest gets a commonly-shared dinner and breakfast. It seems like a lot of money to me to be here but the hut seemed to have many guests when I hiked by it. Funniest scene today? After hiking by the Lonesome Lake hut. a young couple came hiking by me from the other direction. They were talking about weddings so that got my attention given Anne's upcoming wedding. I looked at them as they passed. She was wearing a string of pearls. Think I've seen a lot on the AT but that was a first. Guess I should make sure to have clean clothes the next time I hike by a hut.