Date: 2008-07-01
From: Crawford Notch stealth camp

To: Lakes of the Clouds Hut
Miles today: 11.4
Weather: fog

Today is July 1st, 2008. I've now been on trail for four straight months, that's roughly 120 days. Today represented the start of my fifth month on trail. I will be in my home state of Maine in 3-4 days.Unbelievable.I slept in until 5:40AM this morning knowing I was not meeting Nate until 7:00AM. I meandered along and walked back to the parking lot to wait for Nate at 6:45AM. Nate and his dad arrived at 7:10AM. Nate's pack seems to be lighter than mine, which is unfair and absolutely preposterous. After running over the game plan with his dad, we were walking north at 7:40AM. The plan is Lakes of the clouds tonight and Pinkham Notch tomorrow, where Nate's trip comes to a close.I was worried for about three seconds about Nate holding me up, that quickly evaporated. You would think that after 1,800 miles I could go toe to toe with a two section hiker, oh how I was wrong about Nate. This joker was schooling me all day long, it took a good amount of energy to stay within 200 feet of him. All day long.We spent the climb up to Webster Mountain talking about my hike and life back in Portland. Nate is the first person I've seen from Portland since I left at the end of February, it was a nice change of pace from the norm.On the summit of Webster we bumped into Floater while he was taking a break. We ended up spending most of the day hiking with him.Over the course of the hike I listened to the two of them talk about skiing, which both of them have a passion for. During this time we summited Jackson and rolled into Mizpah Hut for lunch at 11:40AM.After lunch we marched over Pierce(Clinton) and began the approach to Eisenhower. The trail does not actually go to the summit, but Nate and I took the loop to bag the summit. On the ascent we noticed a dark could looming above us, we we quickly finished our ascent, and ran the descent.At the base of the mountain we saw Floater once more. This is where we sat for about ten minutes and determined that not much was going to happen and continued marching on.What you must understand is that from Pierce all the way to Lakes of the Clouds you are exposed quite a bit, most of the time above tree line. When you think a storm is going to roll through, you have to be prepared to bail out. Quickly.We decided to not take the summit loop over Monroe, instead opting for the AT around the summit. On the other side we rolled into Lakes of the Clouds around 3:10PM.Tonight I'm paying eight dollars to lay on the floor in the hut, which is what Nate is doing as well. I've grown to hold these huts in higher regard than before I came out here, which was not very high. Tomorrow Cookie and I plan to march as far as we can due to the fact that tomorrow is supposed to be a clear day. Nate will leave us in Pinkham Notch, bringing to an end his assault on the Presidential Mountains in the White Mountains of New Hampshire.Nate seems to have held up well on his first day out, but tomorrow shall tell the tale, I hope he sleeps well tonight, he's going to need it.It's hard to believe this adventure ends at the end of the month. I only have 333 miles to go. That's it.Good night, and good luck.Kirby