Date: 2021-07-17
From: Crawford Notch

To: Mizpah Spring Hut
Miles today: 6.7
Weather: scattered clouds

Day 33 7/17 We wanted to hike hut to hut in the Whites but the huts we wanted were already booked in November when we tried to make our reservations.  We had to jump ahead to hike the northern half of the Whites first to get hut reservations for consecutive nights.  So we¢ll hike hut to hut there for six days, then shuttle back to Kinsman Notch and fill in the miles we skip.  We drove almost two hours to Kinsman Notch at AT mile marker 1846.3 with John and SusanB. We met Gene, SusanK, and Janet there.  They had driven up the last two days with Gene¢s husband Peter.  We all left our  tents, stoves, sleeping pads that we would not need as we stayed in the huts, in  Peter¢s car. Peter left to do some birding and visit his MA friends.  John left to visit the a historic Presidential spot and then drive to New Haven CT. He will have dinner with friends there, leave my truck to be fixed and detailed, and fly home Sunday.We started our Hike to Mizpah Spring Hut about 10:00.  The first three hours were all uphill, with many steep sections and many technical rock scrambles, some requiring ¢Spiderman moves¢.  I was very thankful for my long legs and how far I could reach between toeholds and fingerholds . We barely averaged a mile per hour.  It was strenuous but there were some great views along the way. The second three miles gave us a mixture of uphill and downhill at least, but none of it was easy!  In several places, I had to sit down and slid down a rock face on the seat of my pants.  At one point I complained out loud, ¢I came out here to HIKE, not to ROCK CLIMB!¢ We met a couple our age thru-hiking who was going to the same hut as us - Amy (LILO- last in, last out) and John (Sweep) from Michigan. He wears a plaid hiking kilt and has long gray curly hair and beard. We finally arrived at Mizpah Spring Hut about 5:30. When we checked in, they did not have SusanB¢s reservation. Thankfully there were not full, so we all got our bunks, unpacked, changed out of wet clothes, and cleaned up some. There are inside toilets snd dinks, but no showers here. There is a solar powered kitchen but no power in the bunk rooms or bathrooms.  Supper was served by the hut ¢croo¢ at 6:00 - curry pumpkin soup, herb bread and butter, salad, roast turkey, corn, mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce, and chocolate cake. It was all good and all we could eat.  Staples are flown in by helicopter drop at the beginning of the season; perishables are packed in twice a week by the croo on foot.  There is no road access to the huts. We had a couple named Pat and Robin at our dinner table. He¢s trying to finish section hiking the AT this year and she has joined him for this section of the Whites.After dinner the croo introduced themselves; there were five girls and two guys.  They each said ¢I use she/her pronouns¢ or ¢I use he/him pronouns¢ to show us how progressive they are I guess.  The men¢s and women¢s bathroom doors each have paper signs tacked to them saying, ¢Anyone can use this bathroom, regardless of gender identity and/or expression.¢  It is odd to be sitting in a stall and hear two guys having a conversation at the sinks just outside the stall door.  BUT we are inside in dry bunks and had a delicious hot supper so we¢re happy. The five of us are in a bunk room with Christina ¢Sheep¢ from Dallas TX.6.7 very tough miles