Date: 2008-09-08
From: Hikers Welcome Hostel, Glencliff, NH

To: Kinsman Notch on Trail via Glencliff, NH
Miles today: 9.5
Weather: broken clouds

I wasn't in any hurry this morning. The plan was to get a ride with Phat Chap at 8am to North Woodstock, eat breakfast, then get dropped off at Kinsman Notch and walk back to Glencliff for one more night. I woke up a little before 6am and stuck the stove outside the tent and brewed up 24 ounces of my strong Stumpknocker's Blend Coffee. I ate two bananas just to hold me over till "real" breakfast at Peg's. Hell On Bad Wheels was also going to slack south with me, so the three of us headed over to North Woodstock together. I had the Hungry Hiker Special...three eggs over easy, bacon, homefries, wheat toast and a couple pancakes....and more coffee. :-) Phat Chap dropped us off at Kinsman Notch and I started walking south on the Appalachian Trail at 9:50am. It was a 3,000 foot climb in front of me, but the first half of the climb has cascading waterfalls to look at. It's one of my favorite mountains on the entire AT...especially if you walk it southbound so you can watch all that water coming down off the steep mountain. Cascades on Beaver BrookI took a bunch of pictures of the waterfalls. Hopefully Mrs Gorp will post them in my photo section. :-) I thought Beaver Brook Shelter was only one mile from Kinsman Notch. I had been walking for an hour and was feeling bad that I hadn't gotten there yet even though it was a steep climb up the mountain and I kept stopping to take some pictures. I got to the side trail to the shelter and saw it had been 1.6 miles. I felt better, smiled and walked on. :-) I ran into Dirt about 20 minutes later. He was flying! He wanted to make it to Franconia Notch today. We talked a few minutes, then I let him go. ;-) I got up to Mt Blue, then was at the summit of Mt Moosilauke in another 1 1/2 miles. I saw Robert and Stretch just leaving the summit and talking to them a few minutes. It was fairly windy and cold, so I only stayed about 20 minutes on the summit. I took quite a few pictures there...it's absolutely beautiful up there! Rock cairn on Mt Moosilauke Summit of Mt MoosilaukeI drank a Coke I carried up and ate a snack, then started the long descent back to Glencliff. I still took more pictures as I was walking along. I'm really excited about getting into the Whites and Maine this time of year! I walked slowly so I wouldn't slip on the wet rocks, roots and mud. I was using some short ski poles that I borrowed from the hostel because my poles were still holding up my tent. I left everything set up right where I slept last night. I saw lots of nobos that had been at the hostel last night...Cheeseburger, Pilot, Truckin', Pipps and Dirty Girl. Dirty Girl is a guy. :-) I passed by the side trail to Jeffers Brook Shelter without stopping. There was no need to stop at either of the shelters today because my smiley face stickers were back in my tent. :-) I rock hopped Oliverian Brook and got to the road where I turned and walked back up to Hiker's Welcome Hostel. That was a great walk over Moosilauke! I always enjoy that mountain and it's beautiful waterfalls on the way up and the beautiful views once you get above treeline. Moosilauke is just over 4,800 feet high! I checked out the weather coming up and saw that there is lots of rain predicted for tomorrow. I decided to do a short day up Kinsman tomorrow and into N Woodstock the next day before hitting the Presidentials after that. I'm still trying to go as slow as Liteshoe did when her and Clyde walked the Long Trail. She wrote about it in her book which I read just before starting this walk on January 1st. I decided I was going to walk slow because of how they walked. I've been able to walk slow....but I found it impossible to walk as slow as they did. ;-) I washed my clothes in a real washing machine. I know Mrs Gorp is reading this and smiling with approval. :-) I hung those out to dry and spent the rest of the afternoon sitting around and talking to other hikers. Rain, Barley and Hell On Bad Wheels decided that they wanted to buy stuff at the grocery and grill out tonight. Phat Chap gave me his car keys and I drove everyone to the store. I bought some sweet sausage to grill and had them on hotdog buns with mustard. Turned out great! I'm resupplied with enough food to get me the short distance from Kinsman Notch to Franconia Notch. Bring on the rain tomorrow! (that was just in case my ol' buddy Chief is reading this) (actually, I'd prefer it stayed dry. Ha!) Another great day on the Appalachian Trail. :-)