Date: 2015-08-18
From: Garfield Ridge

To: Stealth Camp Near Shoal Pond Trail
Miles today: 12.5
Weather: light rain

As you can see from the mileage, today included some easy trail. It didn't start out that way though!I left camp at 6:50 and almost immediately ran into a Sobo who told me he had lost the trail for a little bit. The reason? Well, the trail went up a waterfall and didn't much look like it would be the actual trail. So of course it was. And I had to go *down* the crazy trail. Admittedly, waterfall was a big word but a) there definitely was a stream, b) the stream bed was the trail, and c) it was insanely steep. Good Morning!I managed to survive this craziness but I found it mentally very taxing. That things are physically hard here in the Whites is pretty much a given, but when you constantly think you are one slip/false step/misplaced pole away from a hike-ending injury, it wears you down. Or at least it did me.After that first downhill, the profile looked pretty benign to Galehead hut, which was only 2.7 miles from the camp site where I had stayed. It was a deceptively hard section though, and took me two hours to complete.Galehead Hut was in a beautiful spot, and since most guests leave to go hike after breakfast, it was very peaceful. I got some hot water for tea from the croo and sat outside for a while. To my surprise, I had also spotted an outlet inside, so I stealthily plugged in my phone to charge.After a while, Uncle D arrived and we agreed that the Whites in general and this past little section in particular were kicking our asses. I also met Snowta, who is one of the many mid-twenties guys out here (at least I think so) and he too has seen his daily mileage annihilated. So I think we can safely say that the Whites are hard. The local guy who had told me about the pond not being accessible yesterday arrived as well, with his beagle. He hikes here a lot and gave us the story on the next section to Zealand Falls hut and beyond the hut, to Ethan Pond camp site. He mentioned the ridge that we could see from the Galehead hut was easy hiking, and that the trail after Zealand was so easy, it was like a highway.First though, we climbed South Twin Mountain (I keep wanting to call it twin peak). 1100 feet in .8 miles, or in other words, steep. Still, better up than down as far as I am concerned these days, and the downhill on the other side was shorter and not that steep. It also led to the easy ridge walking, which was wonderful and over too soon. Halfway on the ridge, the AT veered left and went up and over a small mountain (Mt Guyot) before going down to Zealand Falls and the hut next to it. I ran into Road Runner and his friend (whose name I didn't get, again) and they told me they had seen a moose at Ethan Pond. This stretch took me a long time, so in the end I didn't get to the hut until 3pm. I didn't think I'd make it all the way to Ethan Pond, but there were supposed to be several stealth options , so I figured I'd do that. The Zealand Falls hut had soup for sale, so I had a bowl as an early dinner, and some lemonade as well. Snowta, Uncle D and another thru hiker I just met named Rain Check were all shooting for Ethan Pond.As promised, the trail was a hiking highway. I haven't gone this fast in over a week! I had just decided I would go to Ethan Pond after all, when I spotted this marvelous stealth site. It's an established camp site next to a fast flowing brook. Since there are only 5 tent platforms at Ethan Pond I was worried they'd all be gone by the time I got there. Which would mean sleeping in the shelter, which I don't like. So, I decided to put up my tent next to the brook, and here I am. I had a great sponge bath (where I had water access the water was moving too fast to get in completely) and I feel semi-human again.So today had a rough start but was unexpectedly nice overall with one of the nicest camps of the hike. The next few days look frustrating though. Shelters and huts are very inconveniently spaced for the kind of mileage I can manage here, but it is unlikely I can find stealth camps, judging from the terrain. So that will probably mean I'll have a crazy short day in the next couple of days, to position myself to get over Mt. Washington. The weather was again beautiful today, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed it stays like that until I'm past the Presidentials. Which, incidentally, I have not started yet. Things move slowly here but with this great weather we do have amazing views all the time! An average page of my guide book has two or so icons for 'view'. The next page, which I will probably get to tomorrow, has 14! Woot (or whoot)! Open map in new windowWant to add a map to your journal?