Date: 2003-09-03
From: Galehead Hut

To: Campsite on the trail.
Miles today: 0.0

start Galehead Hutdestination campsiteWe were woke up by one of the kitchen staff playing a guitar, going from room to room,until all the people were awake. Now, that is a nice way to wake up!!Breakfast started with cream of wheat cereal, with your choice of toppings. Brown sugar, dried chopped apples, cinnamon, granola or any combination you want. Then there were stakes of hearty buckwheat pancakes covered in hot maple syrup. Link sausages and grape juice, a variety of cold cereals and milk, finished off with canned peaches and all the coffee and hot tea you could drink!What a way to start the day!! Mudbutt has decided that the White Mountains are just way above her capabilities and has decided to hike out and get the car. Papermaker and I will hike the next two days, and Mudbutt will pick us up where the trail crosses the road. I know this was not an easy decision for her to make. She agonized over it for the last three days. I am heart sick that she has to do this, but I know she made the very best decision she could. I do not know what the next few weeks hold for us. We haven't even discussed that far ahead. Papermaker and I set out this morning and were immediately greeted with a thousand foot boulder climb. Nothing like that to get your blood pumping and your sweat glands going. Up and up and up. We were rewarded for our efforts by spectacular views all around us once we got above the tree line. On and on, more rocks and boulders than I ever could have imagined. We finally came to a rock ledge that would be a great lunch site. There was a wonderful view and a nice breeze. We took our boots and socks off and let our toes wiggle freely while we had lunch. Just as we were packing up to leave, a group of four men came up the trail hiking south. There was Todd, Henry, Rich and Mark. They said they were out hiking looking for fire, wind and water. The trail they were about to start would surely hand them much more than that. It would take fire inside to get them up the trail, wind to cool them off and water to rejuvenat them afterwards. I wish them well. They were the friendliest guys we have met in a long time. We talked hiking gear, stock market, polio, you name it. As we talked we noticed that Grey Jays had started congregating in the small trees around us. Everyone pulled out their cameras as Papermaker hand fed the birds his granola bar. I know, I know, you are not supposed to feed the wildlife, but he did and the birds seemed much appreciative of this fast food. Papermaker being the hiker that he is suggested that we take a blue blaze trail off of the AT. It would shorten our hike for the day by a few miles, and maybe we could find a nice campsite for the night, near a creek he noticed on the map. The guide book said the Zeacliff Trail descended steeply for a mile and a half. That was an understatement to say the least. It was a near vertical descent. At one point I had to drop my pack and shimmy down a tree trunk, much like the firemans pole in the fire houses. Luckily for me there was a rock ledge that stopped my rather fast trip down. It also shaved the five months worth of leg hair off of the insides of my legs! The descent was 1.5 miles long, all down hill and treacherous at times. Papermaker wasn't happy hiking down the trail on his feet, so he inadvertantly slid down quite aways on his buns. It was a sight to behold. This tall lanky man, hiking poles flying every which way, his legs going in one direction and his arms in another, hollering as he slid. He did not appreciate me laughing at him as I did, but I just could not help it. He made really good time until a boulder got in his way and he stopped real sudden like. He has a couple of bruised fingers from trying to grab trees or rocks as they flew by, but other than that the only thing hurt was his pride. Finally the trail gave way to a flat section right at Whitewall Brook. The stark white sheer vertical rock face of Whitewall Mountain was enough to convince us to save that climb for in the morning. We pitched the tent at a campsite close enough to the brook that we could go to sleep with the wonderful sound of running water in our ears. That will be really romantic until our bladders start humming that same tune in the middle of the night! I fixed us a fine supper. Fine because there was no maccaroni and cheese involed. Spinach soup and crackers, well rather cracker crumbs as I had been carrying them for a couple days, Asian Noodles, and then granola bars for dessert. Just as we finished eating and washing dishes it started to rain. A slow quiet rain that calms you and sings you to sleep. In harmony with the brook there is nothing as soothing. total miles