Date: 2021-07-07
From: East B Hill Rd (mile 256.9)

To: Grafton Notch (mile 267.2)
Miles today: 13.1
Weather: broken clouds

There is something special about the Cabin in Andover. As a hostel it's pretty basic: the bunks are simple and mattresses worn, the carpets dirty, the bathroom and common area are showing their age and rather tight for the 15-20 hikers they often host. No one comes here for these, anymore than one goes to the famous Kincora hostel for the outdoor toilet stalls or attic bunks. Certainly one attraction are the wonderful and copious dinners and breakfasts served every day, family style. But our hostess, Honey, aka Margery Towne, is the primary attraction. Like Kincora's Bob Peeples, she is a trail icon. Aside from bringing hikers into her home for over 20 years she is a lifelong hiker, trail maintainer, and supporter of numerous causes in the trail community like Wounded Warrior hikes. She has decades worth of stories, and sage advice for both greenhorn SOBOs and world-weary NOBOs. At 89 she is going strong. The trail would be poorer without her. Breakfast was big and early, just the way hikers like it. I sent out some postcards that Rusty, Honey's helper, made herself off of one of her paintings of an AT scene. We divided into groups to shuttle back to the trail. Alias, Joseph, and I going back to East B Hill Rd where yesterday's slackpack ended. Bait went to South Arm Rd to hike both yesterday and today's hikes in one long day, a total of 20 miles. NOBOs Squid and Pippin joined us in the car to go further south to Grafton Notch, planning to hike the same 20 in the other direction. Today's ten miles wound slowly up Surplus Mountain, then over the three peaks of Baldpate Mountain. But the first stop was Dunn Falls, a bit off trail but a beautiful set of cascades falling into rocky pools. I got my swim in early, dipping into the cold waters and showering under one of the cascades. To my surprise I did not feel particularly cold coming out despite the moist cool air. I walked the whole day with Joseph, who has no trail name. From Lawrence, Massachusetts, he was born to a teenage mother whose father drifted away early on, but he was lucky enough to attend a good town school in New Hampshire. He's a personal trainer who's studied nutrition and health extensively and practices a strict regimen, fasting in the mornings, sticking to a keto diet, using natural supplements, turning in early and, when he's not hiking, training for 4 hours a day. We have a compatible pace, so we sauntered the ten miles talking the whole time. Joseph has a prickly personality when you first meet him, and he readily admits as an only child that he prefers bring alone, but get to know him and he's friendly, fascinating, and engaging. He's also extremely independent and drives himself. His competitive streak came out early in his hike and he found himself tempted to speed past everyone. But last week he had an epiphany. He doesn't need to rush, he doesn't need to meet any expectations. He can stop or slow down whenever and wherever he wants. He can't control most of what happens out here, but he can control his own choices. So he's been enjoying the company of other hikers and hiking shorter days. He hiked the first 700 moles of the AT last year, including through the height of Covid hysteria, and by his own account he was miserable much of the time, mostly because he pushed himself to finish without trying to enjoy the journey. He's still intent on finishing the entire trail this year, but ready to bend with the winds when they blow. The trail was steep but not as rocky as yesterday. Everything was wet, and the foliage leaned into the trail to wipe their water off on us, but we made good time with few stumbles or cursing. Near the Frye Notch Lean-to we passed several section hikers and met more in the shelter. Two older women were stopping for the day at 11 am because they lacked the energy after climbing over Baldpate. An elderly couple and their energetic daughter were resting, preparing to continue through Maine. They've hiked the whole AT south of here since attempting a thruhike in 2017. The woman has since replaced her knee.Our climb up Baldpate was laborious but exciting. The open bedrock slanted at close to 40 degrees. A girl coming down fell as I greeted her. A couple others coming down looked similarly trepidacious. Much of the rock here was wet, even exposed to wind and occasional sun. We had long views from the alpine summit, views that probably included Mount Washington. Numerous NOBOs and a few dayhikers and section hikers passed us. The thruhikers said little or nothing except for a girl named Dance Party. The dayhikers, two of which were former thruhikers now living in Iowa, were much chattier. The descent on the open rock face was not as difficult as I feared. The sun had dried this face very well. Bedrock slides continued below treeline but not as steeply. We continued to talk and barely noticed the descent. We must have passed a dozen NOBOs in this stretch. At the road we crossed route 26 into the Grafton Notch parking lot where we found a SOBO named Chester. He was serious-looking, bearded, and heavy-set. I never got much out of him. Kevin, the owner of the Bethel Village Motel, was already here to shuttle us out. Kevin is another Boston-area native and enjoyed bantering with Joseph. He and Ruthie run a very tidy motel in the center of Bethel, a good-sized town by Maine standards with numerous restaurants and services. They are used to having hikers, and did our laundry while we went off to get calories. The Butcher Burger is the place to be. Not only was it the only place serving beer open on a Wednesday, but the burgers are the best I've ever had. Seriously. The beef is ground up with bacon. I ate a concoction called the Bacon Bacon, which in addition to bacon strips has bacon jam. Later for dinner I had fried lobster mac 'n cheese. I'm expecting a heart attack on Old Speck tomorrow.Beach Day, Prepack, and Alias showed up, all staying at a motel several miles outside town. Bait came in, only an hour behind us despite doing 20 miles. We seem to have become a tramily. It was nice. Visited the outfitter, Walgreens and food market for minor resupply and microwavable breakfast sandwiches. Expecting to head out early tomorrow. A lot of rain is forecast over the next two days. Five of us are heading out anyway. Joseph decided to take it easy and double zero to wait out the weather. Viewmaster, I learned, had gotten stuck in the rain last night trying to cross Baldpate and had to cowboy camp in a small saddle. She is already south of Grafton Notch, possibly through Mahoosuc Notch, the most difficult mile on the AT. We'll be doing that in the rain.