Date: 2014-07-22
From: Kinsman Notch

To: Chet's Place via Franconia Notch
Miles today: 16.3

Wow our second day in the Whites was a bit tougher! Lots of steep rocky climbing and descents mixed with nice rooty trail over 16.3 miles made for a long slackpacking day - but we did it!Back to Kinsman Notch to slack to Franconia Notch - Big Dawg and I were the only ones in the car starting from there since Cape and Critter were doing the challenge from Franconia to Glencliff - a long day for them! Much warmer this morning than yesterday so we knew it was going to be warm and sunny all day.Started the day climbing up to Mount Wolf - passed a couple SOBOs along the way and made our way carefully up the trail - a little slippery in places and roots mixed in with rocks. Overall not a bad climb but we did not stop at the summit since I thought we had a little further to go - follow the overlook sign to see the summit!From Mount Wolf we had a long down to the Eliza Brook Shelter and lunch - still walking carefully since the down was a little slippery and sometimes just sections of rocks. I did not have my poles since I was holding the water bottles and at some points I wished I did have them! The trail required extra caution so our pace for the day was much slower than normal - to be expected since we are in the White Mountains!Ran into Critter and Cape at Eliza Brook Shelter - they were making good time and they should be able to make it back to Glencliff before 9 pm. The shelters in the Whites so far are cool in design and mostly well-maintained - if only they had picnic tables!Out of the shelter we started the climb up South Kinsman Mountain by following the Eliza Brook for a mile - lots of cool little cascades and swimming spots! Without a towel to dry off I did not feel like hiking with wet feet - hard to dry the boots out! A very steep climb up to South Kinsman Mountain after the pond - it required a lot of scrambling up rocks and trees roots using hands and feet for about 1.25 miles - would have been very tough with a pack on! We took breaks as needed and slowly but surely made it to the summit. The reward for the steep climb - great views from the trail to the summit and from the summit itself! Rested at the top with a SOBO and his friend doing a section with him - chatted with him about the walk to Franconia Notch and his trail ahead.We moved on since it was getting later in the day - the climb up to the North Kinsman Mountain was not as steep and gave us a great view of Lonesome Lake, Cannon Mountain, and Franconia Ridge! We will be going over Franconia Ridge soon - looks like we will have nice views from up there!From North Kinsman we had a long climb down to the notch - steep from the summit down to Kinsman Pond Campsite and also a steep section before Lonesome Lake Hut. Some sections had steps built into the rocks and some just made you walk over the rocks down - be prepared for anything in the Whites!Lonesome Lake Hut was pretty nice! The hut building was very clean and well-maintained and the lake itself was a pretty cool view! The trail went right by the lake so we enjoyed it briefly before motoring on.The climb down became more gradual as we neared the notch and we made it down through the trail - acting as a drainage ditch for the nearby stream! A little wet and slippery but we made it without slippage.Finally at the notch for the evening - a little later than expected but still made it! We didn't have any luck hitching to Chet's Place so we called the Shuttle Connection and they picked us up at the Flume Visitor Center - a nice company that charges shuttles per person. The guy knew exactly where Chet's was and he also gave us information about the location of food and the stores in town - nice guy!Chet has a pretty nice setup - the hostel is run in his garage with bunks and mattresses and a nice backyard with a porch. He has showers and laundry and the hostel is a very laid-back and chill place. Chet himself is a great and amazing guy as well - he survived a camp stove explosion in his mobile home that burned 45% of his body and is still a positive and outgoing fellow. He has been through a lot but is still giving back to the trail - amazing!A late arrival so we ate dinner late and resupplied late and planned to head out in the morning. A big rainstorm is supposed to be coming in so we will check the weather in the morning. A lot of familiar faces here tonight - Sharp Knife, Hiccup, Pilot, Navigator, A-Train, Pippin, and Pooh Bear along with some SOBOs and new NOBOs. A full house again!Pretty tired from the day - rolling to bed!