Date: 2018-06-24
From: The Notch Hostel

To: Galehead Hut
Miles today: 13.0
Weather: overcast clouds

We woke up to fog in morning as we milled about the hostel eating some food and waiting for our shuttle ride to Franconia Notch. Justin, who works at the Notch Hostel, drove us up around 7:30 and we were headed up the Liberty Springs Trail. I had only come down this trail before so, again, I got to see the trail in a new perspective.The hike up to Franconia ridge was in some fog and full humidity. Driving towards the range we thought the sun might burn off the fog but we were wrong. We huffed it up to the ridge and were completely socked in. I was grateful, however, that it was not raining! We headed over Little Haystack then Lincoln before running into a man on the ridge. He was one of Two Clicks followers on Instagram who had hiked up to meet him. His name was Gandalf and he had thru hiked in 2016. We sat atop The ridgeline, only able to see 50' in front of us and he pulled out beers from his bag! How could you say no!? We sat around chatting for close to an hour in the miserable weather completely exposed. We laughed about the trail but eventually the cold and the booze was draining me and I was shivering! After two beers we parted ways as he headed south and we pointed north simply to get warm. Thanks Gandalf for the trail magic!I hiked on over Lafayette on this viewless day then started the descent to Garfield Pond from the ridge. As I did this, another man who was pulled off the side of the trail asked if I knew Two Clicks. I told him how we had hiked roughly 1500 miles together and he offered me a beer too! Holy crap. I was so tired and cold already that I had to turn it down. Remember when I said "how could you turn down a beer?" Yeah I did that. But thanks for the offer Woody!On the summit of Garfield I ate and drank some substance in hopes of gaining back some energy. I made a few phone calls too without knowing this would be the only service I had for the next day and a half. Once Two Clicks got up there we laughed about him being famous on Instagram. I'm just the squid who happens to travel with him and take a lot of pictures of him haha.At the Galehead Hut, Two Clicks and I scored a work for stay in the crappy weather. Essentially, the huts allow thru hikers to sleep on the ground in the dining room of the AMC huts and eat dinner and breakfast leftovers in exchange for a bit of work. Well we really scored here and ended up only doing a tiny bit of work. I cleaned some drawers at night and swept the dining room in the morning. Two Clicks folded blankets in the morning. In exchange, we ate stuffed shells, salad, soup and dessert with those who were staying the night. It was a sweet gig! Thanks to Jake (Shaggy) and Thacher the two hut croo who were there with us.While at the hut, we were also treated to a talk by a naturalist named Anne who talked a lot about wilderness with us. She did a talk at night then we had multiple conversations with her regarding birds, like the yellow throated sparrow in the area and the Pemi Wilderness in which the Galehead Hut borders. Thanks Anne! It was a great night and we were happy to be inside out of the rain and winds.P.S: Sorry for the delay in posts! I've had little to no phone service these past few days and no chance at wifi or 4G! I suppose it makes the experience more real! Thanks for everyone's concern