Date: 2022-07-24
From: Osgood Tentsite

To: Pinkham Notch
Miles today: 4.8
Weather: clear sky

Nanny kicked her red boots together idly.¢Well, I suppose there¢s no place like home,¢ she said.¢No,¢ said Granny Weatherwax, still looking thoughtful. ¢No.  There¢s a billion places like home. But only one of ¢em¢s where you live.¢¢So, we¢re going back?¢ said Magrat.¢Yes.¢But they went the long way, and saw the elephantI¢ve asked each of the boys if they miss home. We¢re on day 55 today and it seems reasonable that home would be missed by now. ¢Not really,¢ they¢ve replied. They miss the cats. They miss their friends. But no one has mentioned missing home. Joni feels the same way. Me, too. I¢m sure the day will come when we just want to be home. The adventure, however, is alive and well. We are seeing the elephant for sure. Our goal today was Pinkham Notch. Dad would pick us up there and take us back to the camper. He couldn¢t be at the notch until 2:00 so we had ages of time to manage. We didn¢t get packed up until 8:30. Sleeping in felt great for everyone. The hike out was gentle and well worn. Several of the miles followed an old roadbed. Roadtrip 2018 took us to New England with the Moores and the Harpers. We have fin memories from the White Mountains with them. Mt Washington auto road was one of the highlights. The At crosses the auto road low on the mountain. We had pulled the vans over at one of the several pullouts on the road. It happened that the AT ran through the pullout. I gathered some kids (Jasper, Grayson, Emma, & Clare I think) and we hiked the 1.8 miles to the visitors center at Pinkham Notch. Today was the day we recalled that same section in the same direction. Grayson nor I remembered many particulars about the path but the forest, with paper birch and hemlock sharing the fern-and-moss covered forest floor was what impressed us on both hikes. We crossed two larger creeks and many smaller rivulets all emptying out the western slopes of Osgood Ridge. We soon found the notch and its visitor¢s center. Joe Dodge Lodge is here along with a cafeteria. We bought Thru hiker cards from the caretaker at Garfield Mountain last week. One of the perks is $2 soup and bread at the Pinkham Notch Cafeteria. Grayson wasn¢t sure he wanted soup so I took his card with me to the lunch counter. The two choices were Tomato and Cold Gazpacho. I didn¢t understand what he said for the second option so I replied ¢one of each.¢  Cold Gazpacho is my new favorite. I got my share of tomato soup as well. We checked out the gear shop, talked with the other hikers, and napped under the hemlocks outside. Dad showed up at 2:15 to haul us all back to their new campground close to Crawford Notch. We piled in for the 40 minute ride that essentially ¢unwound¢ our hike. The presidential range is a horseshoe with the low end to the south. Washington is on the bottom left (southeast) with Pinkham Notch on the bottom right. We had hiked the horseshoe clockwise. Now we were driving the road widdershins very nearly back to our starting point. We replayed the hike out the drivers side windows for the full 40 minutes. Rain was in the forecast for the evening. We set up tents underneath a tarp I slung to hep shed the rain. Mom and Dad have a collapsible screened in gazebo that we use as a ¢pack room¢. We were all showered within the hour. Tomorrow¢s plan is to zero here. That let us relax a bit through the evening knowing that most of the chores could be left for tomorrow. Bacon Cheeseburgers were for dinner - awesome. I¢m hoping for a hard rain tonight. I sleep great in a tent in the rain.