Date: 2007-07-25
From: Etna-Hanover Center Rd - Tigger's Treehouse Hostel

To: Grant Brook - campsite
Miles today: 13.6

We were all up and about by 7:00 this morning. All four of us (Widow Maker, The Beav, Bugbite, and me) were going back to the same trailhead to start today. Karen gave us a ride to the trail head and we started hiking. Widow Maker and The Beav took the lead and within 10 minutes they were gone and I never saw them again.The weather was nice in the morning. There were clear skies and the temperature was about 70 degrees. The forecast was for a hot day. I made it to Moose Mtn Shelter around 10 AM. Bugbite arrived shortly after. I had worked up a sweat climbing the hill and took a break until 11:30. Freak arrived at about 11. Bugbite left about 11:15. I started up the trail and about a mile later came to a nice lookout point. I took a picture and checked for cell phone coverage. I had a signal, so I uploaded the past two days journal entries. Freak passed me while I was doing this.When I got back on the trail it was time to climb another hill and now it was much hotter. It was only a thousand foot climb, but it took me forever. I felt like I was climbing 3,000 ft in the hot sun with no breeze. The flies were out buzzing around my head. The gnats were flying around and into my eyes and the mosquitoes were taking a bite every chance they got.What a difference between the pleasant morning hike and the miserable afternoon hike. I know from books I have read and my own journal entries, it is easy to just write about the good parts and leave out the bad. It is important to understand that every day is not pleasant out here. I had to stop about a half mile before the top of the hill and take off my shirt to cool down. I felt like I was going to pass out if I kept going. If there had been a dumpster and a bus there, I would have been tempted to throw the pack in the dumpster and jump on the bus. It was just one of those afternoons. I am sure it is the heat more than the trail, but when your out trying to get somewhere, it doesn't matter.I caught up to Bugbite at Trapper John Shelter. We were both tires and took another long break. We looked at the 2,000 foot climb up to the next shelter and knew we weren't going to make it there today. We decided to hike another 2.6 miles to Grant Brook at the base of Smarts Mountain and find a place to camp.We got down there around 6:30 PM and set up our tents. Bugbite went down to the brook and I cooked my dinner. Bugbite came back telling me how wonderful the book was. She found a spot and labeled it the bathtub. There was a place where the brook turns and the water drops over some rocks. There is a small pool of water where the water plunges down a sloped rock into the pool. The pool is a about two feet deep and you can lean back into the rushing water. I went down there and slipped on a big mossy/muddy sloped rock. All of the clothes I was wearing and my clean clothes I was carrying got muddy, so the first thing I had to do was rinse out my clothes. Then I got in the bathtub. The water was cool, but not so bad to make you shiver on this warm day. It felt great. It was a wonderful way to wash away the miserable afternoon.I am still worried about the White Mountains and the long steep rocky climbs up several thousand feet. I went through my pack again tonight to identify some more non-essential items I can eliminate when I get to Glencliff, NH. If it doesn't keep me warm and dry or I can't eat it, then I'm not carrying it up those mountains. So far I have a bag weighing about 8 lbs. of items that fit in to the non-essential category. My pack weight must be back up to 38 lbs. these days. Now it is time to get some much needed rest.