Date: 2021-07-16
From: Nauman Tentsite (mile 339.0)

To: Whitewall Brook above Zealand Falls (mile 353.2)
Miles today: 12.6
Weather: few clouds

I woke early but didn't want to move. A very light rain sprinkled the tent, enough of an excuse to wait for it to dry. The Toledo group around me packed up and left. Around 7:30 Alias brought a fresh-cooked breakfast burrito to my tent. He prepared all his food for the hike in advance (his first trail name was Freeze Dry), but breakfasts were all oatmeal, which he tired of quickly. Now he's obsessed with making great breakfast burritos on trail. Since Spam singles are in short supply he used precooked bacon, along with reconstituted eggs and habanero cheddar. He even crisped the bacon on the stove. Best trail breakfast I've ever had!After moving my sorry butt and packing up, I hung out with Joseph and Beach Day in the Mizpah hut. Both are meeting their parents in Crawford Notch this afternoon for a day or two off trail. The croo put out breakfast leftovers around 9 so I ate very well this morning. Despite having a big day planned I didn't get moving until ten. After all, it was the last time I'd see these guys.My big day included an unconventional route. Having already traversed the Whites twice I want to see more of what is off the AT, and specifically bag some 4000-footers that are nearby but I've never taken the time to blue blaze. So instead of hiking down the notoriously steep Webster Cliffs I headed down the Crawford Path. It's a much easier descent, but also much more direct to the peaks I wanted to visit. Along the way I swam under Gibbs Falls in a clear, cold, rock-bottomed pool.Several hikers passed on their way up, including a woman heading up to finish the last two of her New Hampshire 48 peaks - Monroe and Washington. Washington seems to be a popular place to finish. She warned me not to leave Mt. Isolation to last, a mountain maybe six miles from Washington but very difficult to reach otherwise. Hmm, probably too late for that. It'll be a very long dayhike if I ever decide to tackle that peak. In the notch I stopped at the AMC Highland Center on the site of the old Crawford House. I've been having intestinal issues this morning, part of the reason I hung around the hut earlier. Had some lunch in the Highland's cafeteria and it was after one before I felt ready to hike further.Met a painter by the old rail station - now a gift shop - who is the artist in residence this week. His painting session of the station and notch was interrupted by a brief but heavy rain shower, so we scurried under the porch roof.From there I headed into the diminishing rain up the Avalon Trail, over Mt. Avalon, to Mt. Field, a 4000 footer. Then along a very muddy and rocky ridge for a couple miles to Mt. Willey - an out and back route I had to repeat. Neither peak had a summit sign, just a cairn of rocks surrounded by dense spruce forest. A trail runner wearing only shorts and a hydration vest passed me going out and coming back. Once the ridge path intersected with the A-to-Z trail (Avalon to Zealand I guess?), I dropped my pack for an out and back to Mt. Tom. That's three peaks added to my collection. If my count is correct I have 27 of the 47. The A-to-Z trail dropped gradually over 3 miles to the Zealand Falls. Just above the falls sits the hut. It was 6:30 and dinner was in full swing. I planned out tomorrow's peakbagging along the AT, then went in search of a stealth spot, finding one by the Whitewall Brook that feeds Zealand Falls, a few hundred yards from the hut. Walking back I found Pappy sitting outside the hut reading a Heinlein novel. He had a short day from Crawford Notch where he'd stayed at the Highland Center, but when the shower came through he decided to stay rather than try for Galehead hut. He enjoys the background chatter of hikers here, while staying apart. We're both headed to Garfield shelter tomorrow. Tried to buy a Hershey bar from the hut but they didn't have change for a five, so I ended up buying three bars. Good decision. Headed back to my tent where the roar of the falls lulled me to sleep.