Date: 2006-08-08
From: Franconia Notch, NH

To: Oleson's Brook, NH
Miles today: 10.9

I slept 11 hours last night!!I didn't wake up until 7am and I was still tired, but the thought of coffee in the lobby got me moving. :-)))There was a decent breakfast of waffles that you make yourself, an egg and sausage muffin, a bowl of cereal, some orange juice and lots of coffee.I went back to the room and finished writting my journal entry, then got packed up and we drove Mrs Gorp's car to the Franconia Notch trailhead.We plan on walking back to her car tomorrow after we start north from Glencliff today.We went to a coffee shop in N Woodstock and I carried my laptop in, but they didn't have wi-fi, so we left and drove to a coffee shop a short distance away in Lincoln.I tried the laptop before we went in and I had internet, so I just sat in the truck and uploaded two photos that I used on the two entries I posted.We drove to Glencliff and I stopped at the PO to pick up a couple packages, but the PO is closed for lunch from 10am to 2pm and it was about 11:30am when I was there.I'll have to get the packages some other day.I drove across the street to Hiker's Welcome Hostel and saw Grey Fox, a good friend of mine, when I walked inside.Glow Worm, Mountain Squid and Tortoise were also there.I was talking to Grey Fox when Fat Chapp came walking in. It's always great to see Fat Chapp.We talked for about half an hour before it was time for Mrs Gorp and I to get moving if we wanted to make any miles today.Fat Chapp offered to drive us the half mile to the trailhead, so I left my truck there and took him up on the offer.He dropped us off and we got started walking at 12:20pm.Our first climb was a substantial one...6 miles of up. :-)))Moosilauke is one of my favorite mountains on the AT. It was almost a 4,000 foot climb.We crossed a stream on a fallen tree, then walked by the side trail to Jeffers Brook Shelter without stopping.An hour into the climb, we saw a sobo by the name of Budha. We stopped and talked to him for a while. We had seen him as far north as northern Maine.We stopped at a small stream about 2 hours into the climb and I made some Gatorade and drank that, then drank some water and ate a snack.It was a cool, breezy day, but I was still soaked from the climb.We walked on and stopped again at the Glencliff Trail, just a mile from the summit of Moosilauke.We had another snack and I got out my raincoat and put it on.I knew the wind was going to be blowing hard above treeline and it was cool enough that I figured I might get cold...especially since I was already wet from sweating.We walked on and it did get windy.There was one gust that pushed me around a little, so I figure it was probably blowing 35 to 45 mph.I was glad that I put on the raincoat.The weather is really starting to feel nice out and there were no bugs on today's walk.We got a few pictures on the summit and just as we were leaving, a couple day hikers came up.The guy asked another person to take his and his girlfriends picture with the REAL hikers that have the sticks and everything. (That was us, ha!!) :-)))The guy took the photo of the 4 of us.We walked on and in a little over a mile, we had a small climb up Mt Blue, then a long descent to Kinsman Notch.We walked by the side trail to Beaver Brook Shelter without stopping even though we could hear voices over there.We got to the cascades that the trail follows down the mountain for about a mile.It's a steep area with lots of beautiful waterfalls all along the way.I kept stopping to take more photos.We kept walking till we got to Kinsman Notch, then we walked over to the parking area and found some nice seats and ate dinner.Mrs Gorp wanted to eat there in hopes of someone seeing her and feeling sorry for her and offering a place to stay, a hot shower, food and wine. :-)))No one noticed her. Ha!!!I had packed out a 12 inch roast beef and swiss with onions, tomatoe and lettuce.I got it from the small general store next door to the PO in N Woodstock.It was a fantastic sandwich....loaded with roast beef.It was so big that I had a hard time eating it all.There were garbage cans in the parking area, so we got rid of our garbage, then headed up the steep, but short climb of about 800 feet up and past the Dilly Trail.We kept walking and started looking for a tentsite.We found a spot flat enough for the tents and set up for the night.There is a moose trail right in front of where I set up my tent. Sure hope he doesn't come walking by tonight. :-)))