Date: 2015-07-31
From: Garfield Ridge shelter 

To: Crawford Notch
Miles today: 17.4
Weather: scattered clouds

We slept ok in the shelter. There was one snorer. But, he was on the bottom floor. We were in the loft. There were very large logs used to build the loft. So the snoring was muffled. And, we had ear plugs. But, more importantly, we had a dry tent.    We started the day with a crawl down a ravine with a stream running down it. We went down 500 feet. It was a tough, tough descent. After the descent came 2 ups and downs. Of course over rocks. Then we started the big climb of the day.  We climbed 1500 feet in a mile and a half. It was steep. We did stop at an AMC hut 300 feet into the climb. We asked for any leftovers. The leftover food has to be packed out 5 miles. So, the leftover food is given to thru-hikers. We received 1 1/2 pancakes and a scoop of oatmeal. Oh, coffee also. We eagerly accepted this food. In exchange, we did about 10 minutes work of doing dishes. Many juts offer work for stay for thru-hikers. What that is is hikers can sleep inside on the dining room floor by doing work to stay. And, the hikers can than eat the leftover food. No, we aren't hobos but almost! They say to tell the difference between a thru-hiker and hobo is to look at the shoes. Thru-hikers have $100th shoes/boots.  We left the hut. As we were leaving a hiking family, husband, wife and 2 children were in front of is until the trail split. The dad stepped in a mud puddle. He said "guess I will have wet shoes to hike. But, that is ok. I'll change in the car.". We wish we could get dry that quick.   We started the big climb of the day to South Twin Mountain.  What a climb; 1100 feet in 8/10 of a mile! The trail was steep and rocky. We turned a corner and there was nothing but rocks! Who said Pennsylvania had rocks?!? New Hampshire has Pennsylvania rocks beat! We turned again and climbed through small alpine pines. It was a strange sensation to be hiking through these low shrubs.  As we were climbing, a few south bound section hikers passed us. One guy said "I've seen you before!" We talked to him. Sure enough, we had eaten lunch at a shelter in Shenandoah with him. That was over 1000 miles ago. He was doing another section hike at that time. Strange how we see section hikers again 1000 miles apart.    We reached South Twin Mountain at 4902 feet. It was windy. Sunny, but windy. We took a few photos and a quick break. It was cool. So, we left quickly.  It was a very long climb down. But, for a change, the trail wasn't top steep. It was still rocky and had lots of roots. We made it to Zeacliff Pond and decided to eat lunch. We spread out our ground sheet, took our boots off, are lunch and laid back to relax. But, just as we were about to relax, the sky darkened and it looked like rain was a coming. So we donned our pack covers and continued down the mountain.    We passed Zealand Falls hut. We filled our water bottles, yep - no filtering necessary, and took a short break. Another thru-hiker had already asked for leftovers. They had none as the SoBos had cleaned them out.  We continued another .3 miles on a steep, rock infested trail. But then, out of nowhere, the trail became a wonderful, glorious trail. This is the first real trail we have seen in weeks! It was the sort of trail we enjoy. It was clear of rocks, roots and mud. It is actually an old railroad that is now the AT. It had a slight slope but we didn't even notice. We did pass through a rock slide area. But, there were minimal rocks on the trail. And, it was beautiful with the blue sky, white rocks and green trees. We did see a snake as It slithered into the rocks. It wasn't a garter snake as it had a distinct pattern.  We flew on the trail. Before we knew it, we were at Ethan Pond campsite. We had planned to spend the night there. But, it was only 4:00. We had less than 3 miles to go to US 302. If we could hitch a ride to North Conway, we could stay with Count's cousin. We had planned on being there tomorrow.  We took a short break once we crossed the bogs. Then we pushed on. The trail was steeper with more rocks. But, we made good time until we came to some day hikers. They were from the Netherlands and were very intrigued with our thru-hike. There were three teenage boys. They asked us hundreds of questions. We answered all of them. In return, we asked for a ride to North Conway. They weren't going that direction. Oh well, it was fun chatting with them.  We reached US 302 by 5:15. We didn't even know which way North Conway was! We looked on our map and found it. We had tried to call Count's cousin on the way. No cell phone service. Still no service. Hitching it was. A car pulled over, but he was picking another day hiker up and returning in the opposite direction we needed to go. Cars went past. They didn't even look at us. Then a car pulled over. He said he had room for one. Lavender said there were two of us and said we were husband and wife. He made room. Our trail angel for the day, Eric, move some stuff around in his car. Lavender sat on Count's lap in the front seat, with the seatbelt around both, for the 35 minute side to North Conway. We had a nice conversation with our trail angel on the way. He dropped is off at McDonald's. We thanked him and wished him well.  We were so grateful for the ride.  He was on holiday from New York. We ate some dinner and then called Count's cousin, Cathy. Cathy and her daughter, Sophie, came in 15 minutes. We had never met them before. But, we felt as if we had. We went to their home for the night. We had a shower, nice relatives, and a bed for the night.