Date: 2019-09-10
From: Unofficial Campsite by Beaver Brook (NH)

To: NH Route 25, Glencliff, NH
Miles today: 9.1
Weather: broken clouds

Today was SC¢s last day on the trail. When we were back taking a zero day in Gorham, she made the decision to finish the Whites and then go home. Today is the 116th day since we started. Prior to this, the longest she had been away from home was 3 weeks. She has been an amazing hiking partner, and I do not think I could have made it this far without her.I woke up this morning, and like most mornings, I had to go to the bathroom. Because we were camping close to the parking lot that had toilets, I decided to walk there rather than dig a cat hole, but it was dark and we had set up our tent as far as we could from the trail, so I had trouble finding the lot. That was an exciting way to start the day. We did our usual morning chores and got started a little later than usual, 8:10. Because it was SC¢s last day, I took the lead so we could hike together. The first thing we did was start climbing. We had one last mountain to climb: Moosilauke. I¢ve heard people talk about how difficult the north side is. Many nobos slack pack this mountain sobo so they can climb the steepest part rather than go down it. It was steep and difficult; however, there was less climbing than I had expected. Also, I had heard that you were climbing a waterfall, so I was expecting something like the climb up Garfield only longer. We were climbing *beside* a waterfall, not in it. When I needed to take a break (which was often), the waterfalls were something nice to look at, but they didn¢t make the climb any more difficult.We stopped and took a break when we got to the turn off to the shelter. Then it was time to just hike up the mountain rather than climb it, so I got my trekking poles out. Eventually we got to the tree line. A guy was coming down saying that it was a good day to be on top of Moosilauke because it was warm and not too windy. I don¢t know if the weather changed or if he just has a different threshold for what constitutes warm and not too windy, because it was pretty cold and windy when we got to the summit. It was a beautiful summit, though. For a long time we were up above the tree line with great views in every direction.Then it was time to start our descent. At first it was pretty easy. There was obviously some trail maintenance done here recently. Then we had our usual tricky Whites descent. As we got closer to our end point, the trail flattened out. It felt like we were flying!We stopped by the last shelter before SC was to get off. Sidewinder had signed in earlier today! He must have gotten on trail and passed us before we started this morning.On top of Moosilauke, SC had texted with her parents who were coming to pick her up and bring some things for me. They estimated that they would be at the parking lot off of NH Route 25 in 3.5 hours. I was thinking it was going to take us about 4. We made plans to meet them at the lot. We reached the road and at first I wasn¢t sure it was the right road. We got there faster than I expected, only a few minutes after 4pm. Also, SC¢s parents, who usually show up early, were not there. But I checked Guthook and we were at the right place. We organized our things. I got rid of some things I didn¢t want to carry and took some things from her that I would need. I collapsed my trekking poles and changed from hiking shoes to camp shoes. I worked on my journal entries. At 5pm they still hadn¢t arrived and neither of us had cell service, so I had SC stay there and I walked down to a hostel nearby. I still didn¢t have service, but the hostel had WiFi. I called SC¢s mom, and it went to voicemail which says the mailbox is full. I then called her dad and left a message. I then called Spike¢s Dad. He then started texting and calling. He finally got through and gave them some information. Just before 6pm, I get a text from SC¢s mom, and a few moments later, they pull into the hostel¢s parking lot. I got in and we drove down to pick up SC and our stuff. Apparently they were using driving directions on one of the phones and then accidentally got out of navigation when they didn¢t have service. They were on the right road but kept turning around before they got far enough north. We go back to the hostel and I pick up some food and other supplies they had brought for me including a one person tent. I hug SC good bye, and then they leave. I teared up a little bit, although I thought I would ugly cry. I think the stress with her parents getting there late made the good bye less sad and more stressful.Now I¢m sitting here at this hostel feeling kinda lost. I had a plan for how and when we were going to get here. I guess I will get on the trail tomorrow and start hiking.