Date: 2005-08-16
From: Beaver Brook Shelter

To: Kinsman Pond Campsite
Miles today: 13.1
Weather: light rain

Oh how I wish I could describe the sight before me now. It is 5:30am on a very cool, clear morning on Mt. Moosilake. Bug and I slept at Beaver Brook Shelter last night, where Fig and Just Visiting saved us a spot in the shelter.I have been watching the sky change from an orange glow on the horizon to a series of pinks, yellows, and blues above the purple mountains below. There are fluffy clouds of white hanging in the valleys almost as if they are still in slumber like most everyone else here. These northern mountains of the Appalachian Mountain Range are amazing and difficult to describe in words. They have taken my breath away, both literally and figuratively. I am not sure I am ready for my first full day in the Whites, but I guess I had better be since it is upon us. Time now to enjoy the rest of the sunrise and a bit of hot tea. More later...It is now the late hours of the day and what a day it has been! The Whites are kicking our rears and we have certainly gotten a reality check! As soon as we left the shelter we had an extremely steep downhill climb. 3,000 feet down to be exact. The downhill paralleled a series of waterfalls and at times the trail was steeper than the cascades beside us. There were steps bolted to the mountain to assist the climb and in places even rebar to grab hold of so as not to slide all the way down the mountain. I personally thought the morning was fun, just time consuming. We hiked down with Fig and Just Visiting and I think they enjoyed watching our reactions to this new territory (territory they are very familiar with since they are from Maine). We saw Buzz hiking southbound and stopped to talk with him for a brief moment. He seems to be in great spirits and in great health and it was good to see him doing well with his hike.Next, we reached Kinsman Notch, our first big notch to climb out of. Essentially, a notch is the same as a gap, is the same as a valley, is the same as a hollow....just different names in different places. From Kinsman Notch to Eliza Brook Shelter wasn't too bad hiking, the temperatures were perfect!!! Sunny, 70 degrees, and low to mid humidity. We stopped for a bit to have a lunch break at Eliza Brook and then decided to take on the mountain ahead. It wasn't too bad starting out, a little steep but not worse than anything else we had come over. After crossing the brook for the last time it got considerably worse as a climb. Fig had warned us that it was tough and not to expect a fast hike....how right he was. As we hiked around this beautiful mountain pond over bog bridges, we looked up from the clearing to see this massive mountain that we had yet to climb. What we had just climbed was nothing compared to what lie ahead. Bug and I looked up to see this rock faced mountain staring down at us. Up we went.Up and up we went. It's hard to describe the terrain except that it was straight up, lots of hand over hand rock scrambling, with two or three false peaks along the way. Physically, this has probably been our toughest day on the trail, but luckily we are in shape for it. Even though we are in the best shape of our lives, we still were only able to walk 1.3 mph (our usual pace has been between 2 and 3 mph). It is a tough mental hurdle to get over.Although it has been a hard day, the views from the top were amazing! Fig showed us what Mountain Cranberries were and we each tried one even though they aren't quite ripe. They are still tasty. We enjoyed the views from the top with our friends, Mud Pumpkin & Stats and Fig & Just Visiting. The wind started to pick up and it was getting later so we headed for the campsite.Here we are at Kinsman Pond, and the caretaker here, Dingle, is great! He is a former thru-hiker and has offered us a work-for-stay so that we don't have to pay $8/pp to tent. Bug and I have decided to stay in the shelter and Dingle is going to let us do our work-for-stay in the morning. His dog is so cute...her name is Tiger Lilly. She is still a pup and I think she is a cross breed of german shepherd and beagle; she reminds me of a dog I had when I was younger. Well, it has been a tiring day so I think I will eat the tasty quesadillas that Dingle made for us and head for bed. I am sooo happy to have my soft, down sleeping bag back! =o)