Date: 2016-07-12
From: Dorcester Road - Lyme, NH - Mile 1,764.5

To: NH 25A - Wentworth, NH - Mile - 1,780.6
Miles today: 16.1
Weather: broken clouds

In terms of difficulty, today's hike gave us a bit more than I expected. It gave us some great views too. Beth summed it up that if we'd hiked up, down, and all around with nothing seen or experienced then that wouldn't have been great, but given what we saw, it was a pretty good day. Beth dropped me off so that I could hike the 2 miles to the parking lot that Terry drove me to yesterday afternoon. As I was putting on my pack at the road, a porcupine came down the center of the road towards me and our car. Porcupines, or at least this one, must have horrible vision because it didn't turn away until I made noise. It was an interesting start. Then came some sad news. I came to the trail turnoff to Bill Ackerly's home. For years, Bill has invited hikers to come to his house for free ice cream and a game of croquet. A sign was posted with the news that Bill died on May 23rd so the AT lost a good friend. The climb up Smarts Mountain wasn't exceptionally difficult but it wasn't easy either. After an easy start, the trail began to require selective foot placement between boulders and tree roots. Lambert Ridge provided great views, really exceptional. As pictures were being taken, we learned that we were not alone. Slug called out from above us to ask if we wanted a picture taken of the two of us. We've previously seen Slug a couple times before. Nice guy and clearly a strong hiker. There were a number of hikers going southbound. A standout was Tenderfoot. We were shocked when she said she was 75 years old. Tenderfoot is testing her strength now and hopes to hike in Maine in September so that she can finish her 3rd section hike. We were really impressed with her and were really glad we met her - such an inspirational person. When we continued, the trail continued to be challenging. It featured some unique wooden log steps and then rebar driven into rock slabs. Nothing too difficult, but steep and trail that had us going slower than usual. The payoff was the fire tower on top of Smarts Mountain. We found Slug there and we all climbed up to the expansive views. These views were "Ooh and Ahh" quality. Slug stayed as we began hiking again. The trail had some wet sections. The most notable was the one that had puncheons that sunk into the mud and muck. I barely avoided the muck. My hiking pole sunk higher than my knees. We were lucky and found an alternate path around. We stopped for lunch at South Jacobs Brook. It was a real nice setting and we were ready for a break. It was then that we knew this hike would take longer than we'd expected. The climb up Mt Cube featured what seemed to be endless stretches of 100 yards or more of steeper than normal boulder step arounds or boulder steps. This climb came after noon but we agreed the temperature today was more comfortable than we'd expected. Mt Cube continued the white quartzite rock slabs that began with Smarts Mountain. It was here that rock cairns began to be used instead of trail blazes. In a little while, both were missing and we had to hike wondering if we were still on the trail. We fortunately made the right decisions and stayed on the trail. The views on top of Mt Cube were top quality again. The descent was long and similar to what we'd hiked on the way up. It made for slow hiking but we got through with no falls, although Beth had more slips and slides than normal. I forgot a couple stories from yesterday's hike. The first was a noise, kind of a snort or grunt - the kind a bear might make. Beth didn't like it - at all. When we saw a bear footprint along with a cub's footprint she wasn't amused. No, I still haven't seen a bear. The second involves a southbound hiker. He started from Mt Katahdin on June 15th. When I heard that I told him he was flying to be here already. That's when he said his trail name is "Fly By" and after a few more words were exchanged, he took off.