Date: 2004-09-06
From: Eliza Brook Shelter

To: North Woodstock NH
Miles today: 8.8

09/04/2004GatherLeave out of Eliza Brook Shelter and head north. Climb South Kinsman Mountain (4,358 ft) This will give you a good workout. Go over north Kinsman Mountain. Pass by Kinsman Pond Campsite. We take a break here. Beautiful weather so far. This would not be fun in the rain. The whites are really bad, kind off like the PA rocks, straight up with the Vermont mud in between. Like rock climbing for several miles. We walked 12 miles above tree line back a ways.Go by Lonesome Lake Hut, keep on going. Shooting for North Woodstock tonight. There I will re-supply and try to find a place to sleep tonight.Get to trail head leading off to town, 5.8 miles into town. Hitched a ride. Got into town, no rooms anywhere.Night-Ryder Kip and I were in a store wondering just where we were going to stay tonight. Then we bump into a couple of local¢s. Lady-P and Diamond Girl. We start talking, mentioned we couldn¢t find a place to stay. They tell us they need some door¢s painted. If we will paint the doors we can spend the night at their house. Cool guys always figure something out when things go wrong. (grin)We paint the doors, while we¢re painting Lady-P and Diamond Girl are cooking dinner for us. Best food we have had in a while.Thank you Lady-P and Diamond Girl for the food and everything, great ending to the start of a very bad night.Before leaving the next morning. I call home and talk to mom. Tell her I need a mail drop in Gorham NH by next Wednesday, Sept 8th. Here it is Sunday and Monday is labor day, hope they can pull it off.I called dad on his cell phone, he¢s at Wal-Mart getting Slimers film developed. I tell dad to send me,Food (already gave mom food list)Brass-Lite alcohol stove w/ fuel bottleUltra-Lite Tarp, 6X8 ft, weighs 9 oz2 pairs of Smart Wool socksPair of Solomon Low top Hiking shoes Last issue of Denton OratorMom and dad can do anything, they have one whole half a day to get this done and shipped to me, at least I¢m hoping they can pull it off.Tent, stove and some more things are headed back home if they can get the mail drop to me. No UPS drops in Gorham, has to be USPS again. I sent some stuff home from North Woodstock. Water filter, rain pants, fleece pullover, pack cover, water bottle, birthday card and candles from Rob Bird¢s birthday party he gave me, and letters mom had sent me along with some more junk. Gotta lighten up more, pretty soon I¢ll be in my birthday suit.Looking forward to going across Mount Washington, heard so much about it.Here we go heading north, putting one foot in front of the other flashing my wicked grin.Gather 9-5-2004Eliza Brook Shelter ¢ to ¢ North Woodstock NH 8.8 milesMiles hiked to date: 1801.4Miles to Katahdin: 372.709/04/2004 Slimer called from Crawford Notch hwy 302 @ 11:16 amSlimerI left North Woodstock 9/2/2004 after re-supplying and stuffing myself with food. Headed into the green, I will sleep under the stars tonight again. My knee is still bothering me. I have to push hard to make Katahdin before they close it down.Wipe-Out will stay here tonight in North Woodstock.I have heard they can close it at anytime, depending on the weather this month. I¢m really worried about making it in time. Several people have asked why I don¢t do a flip-flop, that is to get off the trail, catch a bus and go to Katahdin and then come back south bound to where I left off. I just don¢t feel like that¢s a true thru-hike, so I¢ll just keep heading north.Pass by Lafayette Place campground. Keep digging, come to Franconia Notch , hwy 3. Stop and take a break. Keep moving, caught up with ¢One-Way¢ ¢Hans¢ and ¢Pop-Up¢.Make it to top of mountain, getting late, worn out. Decide to stop here. Wind is howling and it¢s quite cold up here. Having trouble cooking with my alcohol stove with the wind blowing so hard, finally get it done. Eat and crawl in my bag hoping it don¢t rain tonight as I don¢t have a tent.09/05/2004SlimerWake up, slept good, eat, pack up and hit the trail. Make it to Crawford Notch and Hwy 302. Meet up with Paparazzi there, we talk a while. I get me something to eat, re-supply. I call home, talk to mom. All ok at home . Mom tells me Gather called from North Woodstock just a few minutes ago. Said Gather is moving slow because of an injured knee. I hope he¢s ok, mom said he was with Night-Ryder and Kip. Those two are good guys, makes me feel a little better about Gather. I¢m worried about my knee also, hope it holds up.I hang around here a while people watching and then move on back up the road to the trail. Go by the Saco river, across Mt. Webster (3,876 ft) and Mt. Jackson (4,052 ft). Very brutal climb, very tiring.The Presidential Range is the highest section of the trail in NH. Nearly 25 miles of ridge line walking above tree line from Crawford Notch to Pinkham Notch. It provides the most awesome views in New England. Very cold and windy. Food for the huts through here is back packed in or by helicopter, mostly back packed in, wouldn¢t want that job.From the trail chatter I¢m hearing, I won¢t be able to sleep under the stars much longer. The rain from Hurricane Frances is headed this way. Better schedule my days and schedule them good. This is no place to get caught out in the rain without a tent!Come to a tent site, call it a day, completely worn out ¢¦..09/06/2004SlimerWake up, eat and pack up. Hit the trail, weather still good, wind is blowing , but not howling.Pass by Mt. Pierce, go by Mt. Franklin. Mount Washington is coming up. I¢m told it has some of the world¢s worst weather where there¢s a person to record it.At 6,288 feet, Mount Washington claims the title of the Northeast's highest peak. While its height may not be especially impressive by global standards, Mount Washington rates as anything but an ordinary mountain. For one, its climate is similar to that of Northern Labrador, hundreds of miles further north. Three major storm tracks converge over the mountain, forming harsh and turbulent weather conditions. Above tree line , alpine conditions prevail and only the hardiest plants and animals survive. The combination of the extreme wind, fog, wet and cold have dubbed Mount Washington "Home of World's Worst Weather".Observe the following statistics for Mount Washington.The average year-round temperature is below freezing, at 26.5 degrees F.Winds average 35.3 miles per hour on an annual basis.104 days out of the year there are hurricane force windsFog frequently limits visibility to 100 feet or less.The average annual precipitation is 86 inches, including 21 feet of snow!The world's highest recorded surface wind speed, 231 miles per hour, occurred here.I am not normally a lucky person, but these last two days the weather has been very abnormal reaching near record high¢s around 52 degrees. I want to get across that sucker before it changes it¢s mind. I hope Gather can get across here before the Rains from Hurricane Frances hits. Lots of things going through my mind as I make my way towards the mountain. From here I can¢t see the summit, all I can see are the clouds below the summit.Pass by Lake of the Clouds Hut (5,000 ft), it¢s midday, I¢m thinking maybe I should stay here? Too much daylight left, I push on. Claw my way up Mount Washington (6,288 ft). Now I¢m looking down on the clouds, getting colder, but not freezing. Fact is I¢m sweating. Finally make it to the top, lots of tourists up here. There¢s a snack bar and a Post Office here. It¢s around 4 pm, I walk inside. First thing I see is a sign that reads ¢Absolutely No Overnight Stays, No Exceptions¢!! Now here I am on top of this mountain, there is nowhere to stay up here. I¢m not going back down the mountain, back the way I came to the Hut! The next Hut is 6 miles further up the trail, I won¢t have time to make it unless I night hike, and thick fog is rolling in.I wander around some, then call home. I tell dad I have really screwed up this time. He asks what I¢m going to do. I tell him I don¢t know yet, but after 1800 miles of hoofing it I will figure something out. One thing is certain I cannot sleep out on the ridgeline, it¢s too cold and windy up here at night. Dad asked me to call him back to let him know what I¢m going to do tonight.I go in the snack bar and get something to eat, talk to people. Met a girl who works here, Susan is her name. She is a ski instructor in the winter, and drives the shuttle bus in the summer. She has also thru-hiked the A/T. I explain my predicament to her and that I have a problem. She says there¢s no such thing as problems, just opportunities. I tell her I have one hell of an opportunity then. She laughs, I don¢t.She then explains to me there¢s a lodge at the bottom of the mountain. Good news is, it only costs $43.00 a night and that includes an all you can eat Family style dinner and breakfast the next morning. Man I said you can¢t beat that! She then said, ¢now the bad news, the shuttle costs $24.00 each way!!So I take the shuttle, seems to take forever to get down there, lots of switch backs down the mountain. On the way down she explains to us about the hundreds of people that have died on this mountain. Most of them died from exposure, some from avalanches, ski accidents and plane crashes in the ravines. By the time we get to the lodge I¢m feeling real good about all this.Get to Joe Dodge Lodge, check in. Dinner is at 7 pm. We all sat at the same table, food is served family style, everyone is passing plates. Food is great, wonderful food, I pig out. Lady beside me said she had never seen anyone eat that much food. I tell her where I have come from and she looks at me like she don¢t believe me. I really don¢t care at this point what she thinks or believes. All I know is there¢s tons of food in front of me, and I¢m going to get my fair share.Go call home, dad was glad I had a place to stay. He tells me Gather hasn¢t called in since North Woodstock. Dang, that Gather is moving awful slow! I told dad I had slowed up hoping he would catch up. Hope his knee is ok. Maybe I should wait on him. Dad told me to keep pushing, WAIT is what broke the wagon down, he says!! Keep heading north he says. I tell him I¢m worried there¢s not enough time. He tells me every night to plan the next day, set a schedule I can meet and stick to it. He tells me ¢whatever I do, plan it so I don¢t get caught between shelters¢!! He says I have time to make it.Dad asked me if I still had the two heavy duty leaf trash bags and the candle he sent me, I say yes. Dad told me if it got really life threatening cold, or if I felt I was going into hypothermia to put the trash bag over my head, pull it down to the ground. Cut a hole for my face to get fresh air. Light the candle holding it between my knees and in 5 minutes it would be 95 degrees inside the bag. He says the trick is NOT to catch the trash bag on fire!! He also advised me to avoid any gastro-internal releases while performing this procedure.Transcribers note / WARNING:I learned this trick from Danny Hartsock from Castlewood VA, Danny is part of a cave rescue team there. They use this technique down in the cold damp caves when people are going into hypothermia. This is not something you want to play with, or try at home!! It is not to be used by deer hunters either!! This can save your life, but is very dangerous!!!!I tell dad I¢m tired , I need some sleep as I have to get up early in the morning. The shuttle leaves at 9:30 am and I don¢t want to miss it. They only have two shuttle runs each day, turn in and go to sleep ¢¦¢¦¢¦..