Date: 2006-08-08
From: Eliza Brook Shelter

To: Woodstock, NH - Carriage Motel
Miles today: 8.8

Bright SunshineHigh 77oLow 55oWaxing Gibbous Moon (nearly full) Bad storm last night and though my socks and shorts were spared, my shirt blew off the clothesline I rigged, into the mud ¢ very thick ooey, gooey mud ¢ the kind of mud you can¢t ignore and requiring that I walk, in the dark with my headlamp, about 200 yds. to the creek to rinse it out. And, it was almost dry, before flying into the thick mountain muck. Funny sight indeed¢¦me, bent over, in the dark, my headlamp reflecting off the water, nothing else around. I thought: if I slip and fall into this creek hitting my head on the rocks and losing consciousness; they won¢t ever find me!                                        Jack, without Jill, went down the hill                  To rinse his shirt in water                  Jack didn't fall down and break his crown                  While Jill was home sleeping in her comfortable bed! On 8-8 I walked 8.8 miles and want the world to know: ¢ ¢The Whites¢ are tough¢¢¦DO NOT let today¢s mileage reflect in any way, shape or form ¢just another day on the trail¢¢¦the geography would challenge ¢best in class¢ hikers!                      Tough, tough, tough       S   followed by tough, tough, tough, D   P                                                               OU                                                W                                                                                            N                                                  SGrueling, physical, strenuous, tiring, exhilirating, rewarding, marvelous miles!I am grateful for the opportunity to ¢feel¢ each step along the way and equally grateful for this day¢s end¢¦¢It is not the mountains that we conquer, but ourselves.¢ (Sir Edmund Hillary) These hills are ALIVE¢¦and, though they don¢t talk, manage to communicate an exhausting ¢physical¢ message with each ensuing step! I feel like I just did ¢stadiums from HELL¢ - more like hiking Tuckerman¢s once or twice a day! My legs are tired, but no pain. Continuing yesterday¢s preparation and conditioning for The Presidentials and Mt. Washington I climbed South Kinsman Mtn. (4,358¢), North Kinsman Mtn., and walked on to Kinsman Pond Campsite and Lonesome lake Hut (2,760¢) where I enjoyed a delicious lunch (with some good hot soup) before walking the final 2.9 miles to Lafayette Place Campground (1,450¢) North Woodstock, NH.And, as if that wasn¢t enough, I¢m pissed that I couldn¢t get a ride into Woodstock after an hour of hitch-hiking at US 3/93. So¢¦I adjusted my sails and decided to walk the 6 extra miles to town. And, within 34 of a mile, I was picked up by a young woman who said, ¢Sandman¢ right? It was Lifesaver¢s girlfriend who had just dropped him off and was on her way home to Philadelphia. And, she was my "lifesaver".  Trail Angels everywhere¢¦ I bought the paper and something to eat and drink at Wayne's Food Market and Deli. I have a room at the Carriage Motel right next door to Afterburner and his wife. She will return home tomorrow after dropping us back at the trail at Franconia Notch, US 3/93.Plan to have dinner around 8:30 in the pub and will go to breakfast tomorrow morning at 6:00. Will be back on the trail between 6:30 and 7:00 and don¢t know where I¢ll land at the end of tomorrow. I haven¢t looked at the data book to figure it out yet. But, this much I know: 9-11 daily miles from next step forward will be my plan of attack.Tomorrow will be my last day of antibiotic. I haven¢t been taking my vitamins but, have taken my glucosamine (for joints) and acidophilus (to combat a side-effect of the antibiotic). Tomorrow I will start my vitamins again¢¦Too many pills; too much to remember; too old, too busy¢¦to-da-loo!Footnote: I met Baltimore Jack at the Hiker Hostel Glencliffe, NH. He, along          with many others, was present for hostel manager, "Phat          Chap's", birthday celebration. Told him how much I appreciated his         resupply information "every step of my way". It certainly made          easy my decision-making.If you don't go after what you want, you'll never have it. If you don't ask, the answer is always no. If you don't step forward, you're always in the same place.       ¢ Nora Roberts ¢