Date: 2017-07-26
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Here is another multi day recap. I am done hiking ¢ now full time doing trail magic with Elizabeth. Sunday while feeding the 30+ hikers that came thru, we met Monkey Man. His package had not arrived by Saturday when he walked thru Hanover, so he was planning to hitch the 25 miles back on Monday morning. The forecast was for rain all day, so we offered to pick him at a road crossing and drive back to Hanover and wait while he completed his chores. Sunday night we stayed in Lyme, NH and ran into Hunter again. I met him at the Inn at Long Trail last week. We had dinner with him and another local gentleman. Monday morning it was raining as predicted and we headed off to find Monkey Man. He was at the road crossing right on time. After dropping him off in Hanover we drove over to Norwich, VT so Elizabeth could visit her mother¢s grave. It was then off to resupply. We also bought a big tarp so we could be outside and not get soaked. It worked very well. We dropped Monkey Man back where we had picked him up and headed up the trail 5 miles to another road crossing. We set up our tarp by a beautiful stream. It was pouring out and quite cold ¢ 55 degrees. We did have 5 hikers stop by, but all moved on after a quick break because they cooled down quickly once they stopped. We did not stay long ourselves. We then headed off to Lincoln, NH and the Holiday Inn Express. Just after receiving our room keys the fire alarms went off. Instead of waiting we decided to just head out for dinner. All was well when we returned. Tuesday morning we figured we would get a leisurely start and get to the Kinsmans Notch trailhead about 11, go for a short walk and expect hikers about noon. We figured most would be hiking over Moosilauke so noon would be the first arrivers. While eating breakfast we noticed 3 obvious hikers hanging out in the lobby of the hotel. Of course we go and talk with them and they need a ride to Franconia Notch. We can do that. Elizabeth thinks no way can we fit 3 big guys with packs in our rental. When thru hikers need a ride it is amazing how many can fit in a small space. The normal drop off spot requires a 1 mile walk just to get to the AT. Fortunately I knew this spot so we literally pulled over on I93 at an overpass that the AT goes under to save our hikers the extra mile of walking. We ended up driving 5 miles north to turn around to head back south. They were very appreciative. We then headed over to the Kinsman trailhead. As we are setting up we realize we forgot food in our room¢s fridge. Oh well, back to the hotel I go. Our first hiker arrived at 11:55. He is a triple triple crowner. He has hiked the AT, PCT and CDT 3 times each. This is his 4th time up the AT. This year he started in Key West Florida at midnight New Years Eve. He walked the Florida Trail to the Benton KcKay Trail to the AT. Quite a journey. He has almost 40,000 miles hiked on various trails. Soon after he arrived it was a steady stream of hikers. We had a great time. It soon became obvious we did not have enough food, so Elizabeth drove the 8 miles back to town to load up again. We had several repeat hikers from our previous stops. Again we had 30+ come through over a 4 hour period. At one point we thought we were done and cleaned up. Monkey Man was the only one there so we were just chatting. Just as we were about to load the car a couple brothers I met on Saturday rolled up. Then another few stopped so we brought everything back out and cooked some more eggs. Today ¢ Wednesday we moved up north a bit into the heart of the Whites ¢ Crawford Notch. I was not too sure how many thru hikers we would have. Turned out only 3, but it was great having more time to chat. They all stayed for quite a while enjoying the food. Last night we had gone to Dunkin Donuts at closing time, so they gave us a 2 for 1 special, so we bought 2 dozen and they gave us another 2 dozen. The hikers today enjoyed the cold milk, donuts and eggs. Elizabeth brought one of them up the road a few miles to pick up a package he had delivered there. We packed up at noon and then drove up the auto road to the top of Mt Washington. Today was a perfect weather day ¢ clear, almost no wind and the temperature was 54 degrees on top. Elizabeth appreciated getting back down the road as it¢s a very curvy, narrow 8 mile drive up with lots of drop offs and no guard rails. The top was packed with people. I already miss the simplicity of trail life.