Date: 2009-08-10
From: Lincoln, NH

To: Galehead Hut
Miles today: 12.9
Weather: overcast clouds

I got up at 6:30. I was going to share a shuttle with the English family, but they decided to hitch a ride instead to save money. I decided it would be worth it to get a real breakfast before I headed out to the trail, so I told Carpenter and Doublezip where I would be, packed up, and then headed down the road. Just as I was entering the restaurant, Peeps was on his way out. Too bad! I ordered a western omelet, coffee, and orange juice, and was soon joined by Carpenter, Doublezip, and Magnum, who was one of the people who stayed at Stover Creek Shelter on my first night on the trail. He was limping badly and seemed to have been staying at Chet¢s for some time. He had jumped ahead to Maine after having issues with a girl on the trail, but then got injured. He was thinking that he would hike the Massachusetts portion of the trail when he got better. The stories he was telling Carpenter made my journey look like a golden walk in comparison! My goodness! My life really wasn¢t so bad...   I tried hitching as I walked down the street, but no one seemed interested in stopping. I made it all the way back to the intersection that I was dropped off at, turned the corner, and stuck out my thumb. A jeep pulled over and a young man invited me in. He was a lifeguard at a water park and said that he wouldn¢t be able to take me all the way, as he was late for work. However, he didn¢t think it would be hard for me to find a ride for the rest of the way. I crossed the highway and stuck out my thumb again. A pick-up truck drove passed me and looked at me, but didn¢t stop. However, it pulled into a driveway up the road, turned around, and got me! And they brought me all the way back to the parking lot where I had left off yesterday! Perfect! I had to hike the 0.8 miles back to the AT before I could officially start my day at 9:36 am. I would finally begin my climb up to Franconia Ridge, which supposedly held the best views on the entire AT! For days, we had been hearing that the weather would be clearing up, but day after day, the forecast would change to clouds and rain. We all wanted a good day for this ridge, and we thought the clouds were lifting in the morning, but the skies remained gray, and the clouds low. We would have to climb nearly 4000 feet to reach the summit of Mt. Lafayette. The first couple of miles would entail climbing about 2500 feet. As I climbed in the high humidity, dripping with sweat, I wondered why thru-hikers didn¢t rank this mountain as one of the toughest climbs of the Whites, rather than Moosilauke. I thought it was much harder. I listened to my ipod for extra energy and enjoyed myself. As I was listening to Usher and acting it out, I did a head nod and happened to look directly into Pog¢s eyes! Ha, ha! They were sitting at the Liberty Spring tentsite, enjoying a snack and couldn¢t believe that I had already caught up to them! I guess climbing is still my strength. I decided to sit down with them for a bit. Then, MudD and Giddy-up came along! I was happy to see them! Everyone was eating, and I was so envious of their food! The English family was enjoying apples, grapes, cheese, and poptarts. MudD pulled out a huge bag of candy from his pack. I finally decided to eat my mocha bar, even though I felt I didn¢t really need it yet.       I was the first to take off and walked alone for awhile. I ran into an older couple and the woman told me she was finishing up the 4000 foot peaks and that what she was doing was harder than what I was doing! I kind of couldn¢t believe it...       I thought I would be caught much earlier and wondered where everyone was. Finally, the English family caught up. Zed said that I was ¢zooming!¢ They thought they were hiking fast! I let them go ahead of me and watched the siblings talk and laugh. Pog was strumming his ukulele and singing and they seemed so carefree! I couldn¢t keep up and drifted back. As we approached the summit of Mount Lincoln, we were completely enclosed in clouds and fog. MudD was not able to command the clouds to part, after all. We would not be so fortunate to have views of Franconia Ridge on this day. I took a short break on the summit, and continued on along the ridge. It was another 1.8 miles to get to the summit of Mt. Lafayette. Once there, I took a big step down some steep rocks and suddenly saw Pog! They were eating lunch beside a huge rock. They had mesclun, smoky cheese, and more poptarts. I was so sick of the tuna and beef jerky I had been eating for the entire trip, and desperately wished for something different. Meanwhile, Pog was coveting my beef jerky. After they offered me a piece of cheese, I offered Pog a piece of jerky. His father yelled, ¢No! Don¢t do that!¢ before asking his son for half of it... Then Pog opened a sleeve of poptarts and offered me some. I took a tiny piece (too tiny!) and watched as Pog offered the rest to Zed. She saw me looking and asked if I wanted another piece. My eyes lit up! ¢Oh, look at her,¢ she said. ¢It¢s like Christmas!¢ It was! I so appreciated a different taste!   Drive said, ¢Guys, I¢m out of water! What should I do?¢ I was extremely amused, as he had hiked most of the trail in 1981 and should have been leading his kids, but seemed to be looking to them for guidance in this moment.    We all left together, and soon the clouds began to disperse. We could see some of the valley below, but the clouds still hung low and obscured most of the view. The English family hurried away, and I was left to myself again.       Soon, I came across a party of three, carefully navigating the descent. They urged me to be careful as well. I began talking to one of the guys who told me he was impressed that I was out here alone. ¢Aren¢t you scared?¢ he asked. ¢I was just thinking that I wouldn¢t want to be out in the forest alone.¢ I told him that it didn¢t take long to get used to. When he found out I was coming from Georgia, he was even more impressed and had a lot of questions for me, including how I funded my trip. He said that his two friends thought you had to have rich parents to do this, but he told them that you just have to want it enough. I told him that was exactly right! We caught up to his two friends and they asked me how they could get out of the ¢locked-in¢ cycle of working to pay rent, etc. They really wanted me to camp with them (¢We have food!¢), but I said I wanted to try to get to Galehead Hut for work for stay. Just then, I looked up to see MudD and Giddy-Up scampering down the rocks! No! My chance for work-for-stay had all but evaporated in that moment. (Most huts only take 2 thru-hikers for work- for-stay, and we had to take into account the southbounders as well). The people I was talking to urged me not to try keeping up with them as they were moving too fast. It wasn¢t even a possibility for me. I asked MudD to hold me a spot. ¢You¢ll be fine,¢ he answered.    As I climbed up to Mt. Garfield, dark clouds once again took over the sky, threatening to storm at any moment. A few drops began to fall and I moved on. When I reached the Garfield Ridge shelter and campsite turnoff, I found Zed and Pog collecting water. ¢We made good time!¢ Zed said when she saw me! They said they had just arrived themselves. I collected some water and told them I was moving on to try to stay at the hut and that I hoped I would see them the following day.   I was not prepared for what lay ahead of me! The next section of the trail was descending a waterfall! I could not believe this was the trail! It was extremely treacherous and it took me so long to get down a few hundred feet! I still had nearly 3 miles to go, and it was after 5 pm.    When I caught my first glimpse of the hut, way off in the distance, I just had to laugh. It looked so far away and I was moving at the pace of an inchworm! Slowly, slowly, I made my way toward it and reached the side path just as the last light was fading. It was now 7:30pm. All of the patrons had finished their dinner and were socializing outside. A woman told me there were still plenty of spaces inside, not realizing I was hoping to stay for free. I went inside and went straight to the kitchen where I found a member of the croo, as well as MudD and Giddy-Up. They said they had just finished washing dishes. The worker asked if I was here for work-for-stay and gave me a smile and the thumb¢s up. I was so relieved! She said they were just getting ready to eat themselves, and that they would find me something to do after dinner. We didn¢t get any of the salad that the croo was eating, but did get some leftover chicken and rice, as well as some soup. I was thankful for the real food. Then, they put me to work! I was to wash all of our plates, as well as scrub the stove parts. However, more and more prep dishes continued to pile in. I was so exhausted from my long day of hiking, that I just tried to hold myself together until after this work was finished. I had to re-stack the dishes that I washed, and was told by one of the workers that I was placing them incorrectly (when no one told me how they were to be put away in the first place). Finally, my work was done, as everyone was getting ready for bed. MudD and Giddy-Up had been journaling and looking through their guidebooks as I was working, and I wished so much that I could do the same. But there was no time. We spread our sleeping bags out on the dining room floor, washed up and changed, and went to sleep.