Date: 2005-08-25
From: Carter Notch

To: Gorham, NH (North Peaks Motor Inn)
Miles today: 15.3
Weather: fog

How to begin? It has been an extremely eventful day! Teams Hairbunny and P-Bug awoke and got on the trail early. The guys stopped off at the hut of the "lovely" caretaker we spoke with yesterday for a morning pit stop before heading up Carter Dome. She made a point to apologize for her rude behavior yesterday and whereas I would like to believe she was sincere, somehow I think she feared for her glowing references. We made our way up the mountain which was pretty tough. It was a 2 mile climb in which we gained an elevation of 1,442 feet. It just never seemed to end. At times I began to get a bit excited when I saw blue sky peeking through the trees, only to realize we were rounding the mountain and climbing so far I could see nothing but trees, rocks and steep trail before me. At the top we stopped briefly for snacks before pushing on. Typically this is supposed to be really pretty, but it is clouded over this morning.The climbs across the mountain range weren't so bad once we made it up the Dome. We chattered amongst ourselves as we continued to place one foot in front of the other getting ever closer to the goal which is Katahdin.This is where things get bad. You know I wrote about the spill I took yesterday....well, that was child's play compared to what I did this afternoon! North Carter Mountain is a very steep, sketchy descent with lots of slick rocks with an almost complete vertical pitch. Amazingly enough, with some fancy footwork I made it over the worst of them. There was just one "easy" rock left to get down. I got distracted as I heard Team Hairbunny ahead talking with a SOBO and I misjudged my footing. I had turned around to climb down the rock backwards and as I turned, my foot slipped. The next thing I know, I am trying to eat the rock and smacked my chin fairly hard. From there, I slid the rest of the way down on my bare right leg. Ahhh, takes me back to my childhood days, when in 4th grade I tried to eat the concrete when playing chase with a boy in class. Once I got my bearings and Bug had shimmied down the rock safely, the first thing I did was open my mouth so he could check to make sure all my teeth were still there. They were and once I knew that, I started checking everything else out. There were some pretty big gashes and scratches on my leg, but nothing some peroxide and neosporin can't fix. My chin was pretty tender, and I may have quite the shiner on there by tomorrow, but other than that I was just a bit shaky. I teared up out of shock & fear just like a toddler does when they fall and I had no desire to hike anymore today, but the problem is that I wished to be in town, and it was still a few miles away. By the time we arrived at Imp campsite, I had gotten my tears under control, but just barely. It must have been evident because the moment Snowbunny and Hairball saw me they wondered what in the world was wrong. By the time we finished our lunch and I had time to sit and wash the scrapes, I had calmed down quite a bit and was itching to get to town!Our next stop of the day was the Carter-Moriah Trail. Here Team Hairbunny dropped their packs to go tag the summit of Mt. Moriah one of the 100 highest in the NE and one of the 4,000 footers. Bug and I walked up a bit farther, because he was in need of a privy break. I sat and enjoyed the views from the rocks while he took care of business. Soon we were on our way once more and we talked away the afternoon. After a descent of rock steps that turned our knees to jello, we had a wonderfully flat 5 miles of trail into Gorham. Snowbunny found a wonderful granite pool in the Rattle River in which to jump in and swim and Bug and I hiked on to the shelter. There we caught up on the register entries and listened to a huge tree come crashing down in the woods, Team Hairbunny saw it fall right into the river in front of them. As we readied ourselves to leave and hike the last couple of miles, we were greeted by a group of medical students from Harvard out for the week.It was a wonderful walk to the road, and when we got there Bug and Hairball made such a picture in their kilts trying to hitch, Snowbunny and I had to get our cameras. The only problem is that ours was missing. Bug told us to go ahead and hitch in, and that he was going to go back to the shelter to check for it. We got a ride into town, went to the grocery, and checked into the Northern Peaks Motor Lodge only to greet Bug who had not found the camera. I know he is stressing out and he thinks he may know where it is, but it will entail taking a day off the trail tomorrow so he can hike back up into the area we were earlier today. We just finished eating dinner at Yokohama (over-priced and not very good), but Bug seems to be in better spirits. We are now in the room (which we are sharing with Team Hairbunny) winding down, and watching The Hogan Family (a reality show about Hulk Hogan's family). Man, the things we have been missing out on the last 5 months! Well, looks like it will be a busy "0" day tomorrow. Nite!