Date: 2016-07-15
From: Stealth Camp Near Galehead Hut, NH

To: Crawford Notch, NH
Miles today: 15.5

Day 8215.5 miles in 12.5 hours Stealth camp prior to reaching the Galehead Hut (1828) to Route 302/Crawford Notch, NHWeather: Sunny, humid, 80s-90s, threatening thunderstorms Dinner: Pasta with kale and Italian spiced lamb sausage, salad, peas, blueberry cobblerHikers: Lots Unlike yesterday, today felt like work. And due to cell coverage, particularly the lack thereof, made it even more stressful. Ray and Hilda, who live near Gorham, NH, are friends of a friend of mine. Many months ago, they offered to house me when I got close and we had been coordinating a date. They even extended the offer to come as far as Crawford Notch, an hour away from their home. With projected storms and working around their vacation plans, we had arranged to meet tonight. At Crawford Notch. I had a description of their car and an idea of what they looked like. I'm not sure if they had yet seen a photo of me. Up until today, I always had cell coverage and intended to follow up with additional details¢such as my pace. All they knew is that I had 15 miles to knock off with what I estimated to be an arrival time of early evening. But 15 miles is a big day for me¢especially in the Whites. I had another over 4,000-foot summit to first cover early in the day. The plan, in my mind, was to send them an update once I reached the Zealand Hut. But I had no phone reception for the entire day. In order to make more than 15 miles, I was on the trail by 6:00 a.m. I reached the Galehead Hut, my original destination the day before I was delayed by awesome trail magic, at 7:30, just as the guests were finishing breakfast. I filled up my water bottle, bought a cup of coffee and clandestinely finished off a serving bowl of cold scrambled eggs that were still left on the table. Then I summited 4,902-foot South Twin Mountain well before the predicted t-storms. All good thus far.Next was the interesting Guyot Mountain area with Krummholz, stunted subalpine vegetation. It was blustery by the trail sign wedged into the rock slide. Rocky, yes, but still all good.At some point, I made a mental shift to not-all-good. Might have been due to my inability to get a text update out to Ray and Hildy. Or because my knees were beginning to talk to me on the now mostly downhill trail. Or because I hadn't taken a real break since my leftover breakfast at the hut. I reached the Zealand Hut at 2 p.m. where I finally did take a break, buying a cheap bowl of soup and talking to a few other NOBOs¢which turned out to be fortuitous. Again I had no success texting Ray and Hildy. Now the real dilemma: Would they make the hourlong drive based on a loose plan? Should I take a shortcut trail to the AMC Highland Center where the Hut Croo said I would have cell coverage? I decided to stick to the plan and head to the pre-arranged meeting place. I was tired, hot and not at all sure what to do if I continued to have no cell coverage. One thing I did know is that there was no way I wanted to camp out that night. I continued to check my phone over the next four hours only to see ¢No Service¢ the entire time.Lucky for me, Ray and Hildy are hikers who are familiar with the Whites and the time it takes hiking the trails. Also lucky for me, I had spoke with a few hikers who knew me and had heard me lament that I couldn't get ahold of these new friends. Ray and Hildy had arrived in the parking lot at 4:30, the earliest they figured I could make it based upon the assumption I had been at Galehead Hut. When other hikers emerged from the trailhead where they were parked, they were able to learn when I had been at the Zealand Hut and that I was on the way down. Meanwhile, I was increasingly frustrated with my inability to have thought of a contingency plan or just plain better planning on my part. Plus, I was stumbling more than once and one NOBO even passed me freaking running down the trail. (We hates them.) And I wasn't sure what I'd find once I reached the notch.What I did find was still no cell coverage. As I was cursing at my phone, I also saw the silver Subaru with two slightly familiar looking faces. It was 6:30 p.m. To say I was relieved beyond belief would be accurate. Also contrite. They had patiently waited two hours.I am now fed and listening to the storms finally pass while clean and in a bed on a beautiful farm. A second day of epic trail magic.