Date: 2017-08-13
From: Glencliff / Hikers Welcome Hostel

To: Kinsman Notch / Terodactyle's House in Lincoln
Miles today: 9.3
Weather: overcast clouds

Am I writing this in a jacuzzi with jets pummeling the backs of my calves? You bet I am!So here's how I got here. Today was a quintessential AT day. It didn't start well - I hardly slept at the hostel last night, I was so anxious about the Whites. A lot of other people were slackpacking, doing the climb in reverse to make it easier. I wondered if I should too. But no, I wanted to do it under my own power, the right way, with the same gear I've carried since Georgia.Breakfast was hearty - baked French toast with the last of my Vermont maple syrup, bacon, coffee. Sometimes I think I could hike anything with enough food and coffee. I downloaded a ton of Israel Story episodes for the trek up the mountain. And I was surprised...by how manageable it really was. It was long, but I went slow. (And now, thanks to Israel Story, I'm semi-obsessed with seeing the "new" bus station in Tel Aviv).I felt such unbridled happiness when I summitted Moosilauke and the other hikers, led by Wanderer, started cheering. At first it was covered in moving mist (very Ireland!) and then the sun broke through, and the views were stunning.We stayed there a while, snacking and reveling in the view. Then Wanderer and I hiked down from Moosilauke together. It was fun to talk about shared memories, places we had both hiked, hikers we both knew. I mostly like to hike alone, but sometimes, like today, hiking with someone else is a real treat. It was fun to commiserate with someone else over the hard parts - esp. the wet, dodgy wooden "stairs" sunk into the rock alongside the waterfall that were sometimes level. After concentrating on them for a couple hours while going downhill you lose all sense of gravity and where flat / level would be. Wanderer fell 2 or 3 times while I was with her, but bounced up, no problem. Surprisingly I never fell. But then again I usually don't fall on the hard stuff. I fall on easy stuff later.I was hiking faster than normal because I was with her and never noticed the shelter I had planned to stay at. We cruised right past it. I know it's only day one, but the Whites so far just aren't as bad as everyone was scaring me into thinking. Or maybe I've just been doing this kind of hiking for so long now that it just seems like an extension of everything else.So far, it's challenging but not ludicrously, near-prohibitively hard. Ulysses, not Finnigans Wake.At the bottom, at Kinsman Notch, we met Terodactyle (his spelling). He was doing trail magic and looking for thru-hikers who needed a place to stay. We are both LASHers, so we continued to the parking lot to get a ride to a hostel. I didn't have phone service. But two men from Boston offered us a lift to the Notch Hostel - weirdly where I have a reservation for two nights from now. But the hostel was full. (The logistics of how you can hike for two days and end up staying at the same place you were at before - you have to see a map to understand it)So Wanderer and I took to the road to walk to town and figure something out. She had friends at a motel so that was my new Plan C. But then Terodactyle drove by and saw us again! He offered to take us in.Wanderer went with her friends and I went with the flying dinosaur. But before we said goodbye, she took a Darth Vader helmet keychain (that I had admired!) off her pack and gave it to me. How incredibly sweet is that?! It's now hanging above my right shoulder- just in case there's any doubt which side of the force AT-ATs are on. :-)Terry is a retired firefighter who thru-hiked last year and is going to do the PCT (I'll trail magic you there!). He has a condo in Lincoln, is a great source of knowledge, loves trail journals as much as I do, and especially likes helping hikers in need - The ones on the verge of quitting. This isn't me, so I feel especially fortunate that he made an exception. His place is basically paradise ¢ hot tubs, pools, air hockey, Ms. Pac-Man, sauna, clean soft beds. Fuego, who I hiked with, stayed there the night before!He made me a pizza and we swapped trail stories. He gave me the option of having the room to myself or sharing with other hikers he'd find. I believe in sharing the wealth! So he went to Chet's place (Chet is a beloved local who puts up hikers in bunkbeds in his garage) and found a hiker (Sequoia), who was on the floor because the bunks were full. He brought her back along with a couple he met at Price Chopper who knew my name! (aside: we don't have Price Choppers in California. It's a grocery store with a ridiculous name)It turns out the couple were NOBO LASHers named Ginger Root and Goldfish. I talked to them at the Dirt Cowboy while waiting for Isaac in Hanover. The trail is such a small roving community! What a fantastic introduction to the Whites!