Date: 2008-06-30
From: Beaver Brook Shelter

To: Kinsman Pond Shelter
Miles today: 16.0
Weather: moderate rain

Lets begin¢¦the day that kicked the living shit out of me. I knew it was coming, I did all I could to prevent it, too little too late. What are you going to do? So on the docket was a fifteen mile traverse to Kinsman Shelter or a nineteen mile stretch to Lafayette Campground on Rt 93 for a night in civilization and a pay shower. Did I mention how bad this one kicked my ass???So, the morning started with a very stiff legged 3,800 foot descent down the ¢Moose¢. One thing I am not good at is early morning descents. Forty seven years of abuse has left me with a square wheel that just does not work well. But down I go, having looked forward to descending this beast since I did the ascent of the same face two years ago. On a trail that features stunning views of the 20 or so waterfalls as well as stairs, iron handholds glued into the boulders, and steeps that make you dizzy it¢s all you could ask for and more. It¢s one of the few trails you hear the thru-hikers talk about post descent. So once down I take a very short breather and start the ups again. Up the Kinsman Notch Trail which is a mile or two long, as steep as your going to find for a non-mountain climb. All I can think about is getting to Eliza Brook Shelter for lunch and the ¢oh my freaking god¢ climb up South Kinsman. I was thinking ¢Paul (my name right), you really should take a break and eat, you¢re still 5 miles out from the shelter.¢ I didn¢t listen. Why¢¦because I ran into my old amigo Brian! The cheatin¢ bastard was ahead of me. Come to find out he was so exhausted by day 3 he decided to get off trail, rent a car, hit the local hostel, get new clothes, shoes, walking poles, mail 20+ pounds of stuff home, and catch a blow. Can you believe this shit¢¦a freaking rent-a-car!!!So it¢s off to the shelter where I find both ¢J¢ and Glen. They are there for the night (it¢s only 3pm!) due to Brian. We swap stories and I get a bit of their extra food since they are tired of carrying it and are going off trail again tomorrow and I¢m running low. An hour of chatting and eating and I¢m off, not quite recharged but needing to get where I¢m going¢¦a dip in Kinsman Pond!Off to the first bump on a hump called Mt. Wolf. Nothing hard, just the beginning of the end for me. In what I called the ¢Uh-Oh¢s¢ in my cycling days is what is best described and the ¢eat now or die later¢ sign. I ran through that puppy. A few miles left to the South Twin climb which I see on the map as steep and undulating but so close to the end I decide to power through. Needless to say the climb kicked my ass worse than I¢ve known in years. Not one, not two, but THREE bumps on a hump. That sucked! Thankfully it was up as trying to rock hop down this monster seeing three of everything is not contusive to personal safety or sanity. Finally, the summit arrives and what great views I get. Three of everything! Just kidding Dad. Cindy and I almost did this summit this winter but the weather was turning foul and we abandoned on the summit of North Kinsman. Smart call looking back, just a shame as this would have been stunning in the winter. So a few pics and I¢m off. A note about trail topography; the difference in trails between summer and winter, mind boggling. Winter you¢re almost always in an 18 inch wide path smoothed out by snowshoes with somewhat even footing, and on some trails 6-8 feet of snow. Summers are always 180 degrees different, bouldered, off canter, and wet. The ¢Fishin¢ Jimmy¢ trail to the Kinsman Shelter was just that. Funny after going up/down this trail 2-3 times this winter. So as I descend off the North Kinsman summit I decide no shot at either Lonesome Lake Hut or the Lafayette campground. I just don¢t have the legs or the patience to descend any further. I pull into Kinsman Shelter where I meet the sisters Flash and Crash. Not to offend anyone but one was a chipmunk cute blond, her sister was a crew cut lesbian look alike of the ¢bull dyke¢ persuasion. Talk about the differences between summer and winter trails, that was these two. More on them later. I set up my tent, stuff my face full of food, and hit the sleeping bag. I was toast.