Date: 2004-08-21
From: Gordon Pond

To: North Woodstock, NH
Miles today: 13.0

Day #160 "Embrace and become part of the environment instead of struggling against it. Listen and mother earth will guide you." Ray Lewis OH-MY-GOD! Today would be considered the worst day in most hiker¢s journals but, for me it was one of my best days. By the end of the day I was like an excited school boy. I wanted to share my euphoria and made a telephone call to Lady Kritter. I tried to be coherent in describing the day's events. I think I failed; I was talking to fast and jumping from one event to another without a point of reference. So, in word I will try, from the beginning.Just after midnight heavy rain started falling. Daybreak was a bleak grey, wet and still raining. A slight break in the intensity of the rain gave us time to pack our gear. The trail at 6:00 was a muddy little brook. The rain started again accompanied by a chilly wind. The climb up the South Peak of Mt. Wolf (3360 ft.) and the East Peak of Mt. Wolf (3480 ft.) was difficult. Trail and weather conditions deteriorated during our climb up South Kinsman (4358 ft.) and North Kinsman (4293 ft.) On top of these summits Catdog and I were in whiteout conditions. Instead of struggling against the weather I became a part of the environment, one big water drop. Walking the trail was a dance and a ballet put together. Each foot step was a slip or slide, a constant struggle to keep my balance. Sometimes you are leap-frogging from one boulder to another surrounded in water and mud. Other times, to cover a larger distance, you would plant the hiking poles out in front of you, jump leaning on the poles and finding a spot to land (mountain pole vaulting). Hunger struck Catdog and I so we sat in the middle of the trail in the pouring rain and ate our lunch. (For those of you that don¢t know me, I love cold weather and rain [without lightning] and the combination of both was a first). Our first refuge from the weather was our first experience with the AMC hut system at Lonesome Lake. We were soaking wet when the crew of the hut let us in, warming us with hot soup and coffee. I know this is going to sound weird, but throughout this struggle with terrain and weather I was having a ball. Quest, Catdog and I left the hut, followed the trail around the fog encased lake, then the overflowing, swift moving Cascade Brook. Several hikers were returning from the brook crossing, stating it was impassable. We continued. Badger, Pappa Bear and April Showers were at the crossing surveying the whitewater. The water was moving in such large volume and speed, when it flowed over a rock ledge, the water at the bottom of the ledge would shoot back up like a rooster tail from a high power racing boat. The massive force and energy being displayed was dramatic. The six of us, Catdog, Quest, Badger, April Showers, Pappa Bear and I, consulted each other. We did not want to go back to the hut. The only other alternative was to bushwhack along the brook to the road 1.7 miles away. The plan was set; we would follow the roar of the brook to our right and make our way trail-less through the woods. Each one of us would take turns finding the easiest way overcoming obstacles, holes, steep landscape and deep mud. Pappa Bear and Badge fell with minor injuries. April Showers fell into a mud hole up to her thighs. I envisioned myself as a mountain man traveling through the mountain forests, like the Native Americans before him, without roads, using the skills needed to survive in the wild. Finally, an hour and half later we found a blue blaze trail that led us to the parking lot. To top it off within 5 minutes all six of us hitched a ride in a pick-up truck into North Woodstock. The elation of experiencing mother mature in the raw, to witness and survive her energy could be taken one of two ways, negative or positive. I chose positivity and became a school boy again. Note from Lady Kritter: I¢ve booked an appointment with a psychiatrist upon his return. Here in Florida, courtesy of Charley¢s recent temper tantrum, many of us had to ¢bushwhack¢ out of our houses and still couldn¢t find ¢the trail¢ ¢ our driveways, roads, or even our front yards. However, our winds were a little breezier than Krispy would have liked, and then there was lightening ¢¦ He walked 1,800 miles for this? I¢ll bet he splashed in every puddle along the way, too!