Date: 2003-08-13
From: Osgood Tentsite 

To: Carter Notch Hut
Miles today: 10.7
Weather: mist

It rained this morning. A lot. From about 3am on and off until about noon. I was able to pack up my stuff between rain showers, keeping most of it dry-ish. Of course the tent is soaked, and weighs more, but what can I do about that? Not a thing. It wasn't raining when we were ready to hit the trail, so I took my jacket off. Then it started raining steadily, so I put it on again, and we headed out. In about 20min the rain stopped again.The AT here in the White Mountains is still marked with white blazes, although not as frequently, but often, on signs, it is listed only as the local trail name, and we have to pay close attention. This morning, we messed up, and went about a quarter mile downhill on the wrong trail. After not seeing blazes for a bit, we stopped and I read the guide book which gives local trail names. We realized our mistake then--a wrong turn; rather a missed turn. That ticked me off. I was already in a foul mood, knowing my feet would not be dry at the end of the day, and here we just had to make a half mile detour, downhill then back up! Man, was I mad at myself! It didn't cause much delay, and really was no big deal, but I HATE messing up.Back on the AT, we headed toward Pink Notch Visitor Center, for lunch. Along the way, we met many people: a couple stopped along the road to hike a few steps on the AT; a young family headed up to Madison Hut; a lot of dayhikers headed to an overlook. We chatted with all of them. It's so nice to talk to people on the trail, but it can make progress slow down a lot. No hurry though. We were doing pretty good on time.We had lunch at the Visitor Center, made some phone calls, and went outside to head out. We talked to two guys for quite a while about our trip. And for the second time today, we received the comment "You hiked from Georgia?? You look so fresh!" I still don't know what that means, but it is a compliment, according to some of the commenters. Finally, we had to move on, knowing the Wildcats were between us and a place to stay for the night.According to one local, Wildcat Mountain, and its 5 peaks (creatively named Peaks A,B,C,D, and E), is the steepest climb in the Whites. It proved to be pretty steep, but OH! the views! The skies had cleared, and the blue sky was just beautiful. The peak of Mt. Washington was still in clouds, but other mountains were clearly seen. The ravines around Mt.Washington, which we could not see yesterday through the clouds, were awesome! They just seem to drop straight down!As I was hiking along, after crossing Peak E, I kept hearing a beeping noise, from something mechanical. I thought "Is there a freakin parking lot up here?!?" No. But close. I had forgotten that there is a chair lift to Wildcat! After all the sweat I spent to get up here, most people rode a gondola up! Oh well. On Peak D, there was an observation platform. The views from there were pretty good, but not as impressive as from the cliffs going up Wildcat.It seemed like we were making slow progress, but then the ascents became less steep, allowing better time. I don't usually have much fun with steep downhills, but just plug along, slowly butt-sliding down the really steep rock faces, and taking careful steps other times. The descent into Carter Notch was about 1000ft, and fairly steep. The knees were unhappy, but functioned well enough.At the Hut, we asked if we could do work-for-stay, and were told we could. This Hut is self-service, meaning that no meals are provided, but a kitchen for cooking is. There are 4 guests here, and 3 hikers doing work-for-stay. So far, we've done a few dishes, but that's about it. We all sat around talking for a few hours, and Heidi, the caretaker, said there's not much to do, since there aren't many guests here. Maybe she'll think of something in the morning. For tonight, I get to sleep in a bunk, with a mattress AND PILLOW! Ooooo la la.It was a pretty good day today, although I got on Hotdog a bit. I don't remember what started it, but I told him he never pays attention to what I am saying. He answers questions, but not the questions I ask. He'll say "Uhhm hmm" before I finish my sentence, which, to me, means he's not listening. He says it's because he can't hear me. I asked why he didn't just say "What did you say?" And he said something like "I'm hoping you'll just stop talking since I can't hear you anyway." Whatever. Funny that this conversation came up right after Walkabout (female) commented that we get along so well. It's about time we had some words. We haven't really yet, and that is amazing.Each day brings me closer to Maine. From here, the border is 31 miles or so. Wow! Still a long way to go, but I'm slowly getting there. Hotdog got mad today when we weren't as far along as he thought we were, and started saying he wasn't interested in views; he just wanted this to be over. I can relate sometimes, but I couldn't today. I know he didn't really mean he wouldn't appreciate views, but some days, I can only think of 'the end'. Ma was asking me about things related to 'the end' and after the hike, and I didn't have many answers. It's coming to the time when I need to find the answers. Time will fly, and I need to make some plans. The wedding is in 24 days, and I won't be too far from Katahdin then. I'll have to start seriously thinking about my after-hike life very soon. I'll try to keep my mind on my hike during the day, but I'm sure at night I'll ponder my choices. At least tonight I can ponder with my head on a PILLOW! Aaaaahhhhh... it's the little things.