Date: 2015-09-11
From: The Hiker's Welcome Hostel

To: Kinsman Notch - Mark & Jeff Secord's House
Miles today: 13.9

I was up before light and ate a hearty breakfast of two breakfast sandwiches, a Danish thing and several cups of coffee. Soon my feet dragged me from the hospitality of that wonderful place and I was soon on the way. On the way by I was stopping, grabbing and filling my pockets with some tasty apples from the trees outside of the hostel. The bridge over Ore Hill Brook had washed away so this was supposed to be our first fording on the trail, but I managed to cheat and get across by rock hopping and made it with dry feet! It was a challenge to find the trail at one point as there was a road walk and I accidently took a side trail to a cemetery and had to turn around, luckily it was a short delay. The trail up Mt. Mist wasn't very challenging and was very pleasant. I passed the Jeffers Brook Shelter where I stopped for a quick snack break before moving on. Soon it was on up Mt. Moosilauke. The climb was very challenging. I could feel the elevation change as my ears were telling me by their popping that I was rapidly rising. After some time I was at the Dick Sanders memorial plaque marking the former summit camp of Dartmouth College. The views from the top were obscured by clouds and heavy mists, but it eventually started clearing up and the views expanded and I got peeks of beautiful vistas. I found Spiderman holed up in a concave shelter pile of rocks cooking lunch to warm up. The ridge of the mountain was covered by stunted pine trees, only getting about 4' tall in average, that gave the trail a beautiful scent to enjoy. After the Beaver's Brook shelter I began to see alarming signs warning of the dangerous hike ahead. The sign read "This Trail can be extremely slippery when icy or wet. Be cautious and consider an alternative route! Well, there wasn't an alternative route to Kinsman Notch so I began my descent along the Beaver's Brook Trail. The sign was very accurate as it was not only extremely steep, slippery with bare stone and blocks of wood and rebar anchored in the stone as steps. The spray from Beavers stream had everything so slippery that I was crawling ahead at a snail's pace. At one spot I stepped off the trail onto a rock ledge and instantly began slipping. It was only the fact that I had my hiking poles that stopped me from sliding the 3 foot and then off a 30' drop down to jagged rocks below! I was exhausted mentally and physically by the time I had reached the bottom and I had to admit that it was the most dangerous section of the trail that I had encountered! There was another sign at the bottom of the trail which read "This trail is extremely tough! If you lack experience please use another trail. Take special care at the Cascades to avoid tragic results!" It is a very appropriate sign if you ask me. I had been trying to call Mary Ann but I couldn't get service so when I reached the parking area I asked several people to use their phones but no one else had service. One couple on a motorcycle told me that they would call her once they had service and let her know that I was waiting. It was on and off drizzly rain so I had my rainsuit on for that and because it was extremely cold. While waiting I walked over and read the plaque about an Army Air Corps B-18A crashed in the White Mountains. The pilot had gotten off course in a storm and didn't realize that they were on a collision course with the mountain until it was too late and two of the crew perished while the other three miraculously survived. It took 30 lumbermen and members from the White Mountain Forrest personnel. It took 5 hours from the crash to get the survivors to the ambulances. I spent some time in the outhouse just warming up and getting out of the cutting wind. Feeling conflicted, I didn't know if she got the message and if I should push on to the next shelter or wait, so I waited for a couple of hours. I was just at the point of giving up and pushing on when a car drove up and out came Mary Ann and two other gentlemen - Jeff and Mark, her long time friends. They had gotten my message and had started as soon as they could. We threw my pack in the car and we were off to Mark and Jeff's house. Mark Secord and Jeffry Jones are a wonderful couple who often helped thru-hikers. They were kind enough as they offered to put me up during my stay. They have a beautiful farmhouse that looks over the Presidential Mountains and they pointed out all the peaks to me from a better vantage point on the hill behind the house. The stunning view included the mountain that I had climbed that morning. They served a great meal and I washed my clothing and did my laundry in a daze. I went outside for a quick safety meeting and just soaked in the majestic views. Returning, I visited for awhile before having to stumble off to sleep. Man, what a comfortable mattress they had in the guest bedroom! I listened to the iPod before drifting off to sleep.