Date: 2014-08-26
From: Liberty Spring Tent Site

To: Pinkham Notch
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

Update....Monday, August25: Up and in the trail by 7:15. Beautiful morning... A nice climb up to Franconia Ridge! Wow!!! Just a great view!! My cell phone was out of power and my Mophi wasn't working so I couldn't take any pictures! BUT there was a young guy, Dave, up on the ridge hiking and he offered to take a photo and email it to me!! Awesome!! Thanks Dave!!! The hike across Little Haystack, Lincoln and Lafayette was so cool! The best yet on the AT! After that there was a very tough down! It's hard to explain how difficult the downs are here. Every step must be measured and the pounding on my knees and feet takes it's toll. It takes so much time to make the miles. A mile an hour is about all one can do here. Then the climb and was cent from Mt. Garfield was equally pain full. I had planned to stop at the Garfield tent site but decided to move on to the Galehead Hut. Another 3 miles that took almost two and a half hours. Along the way I met up with SAYBAK and Smokefish. A great view from Mt. Garfield back to the Franconia Ridge I had just walked... We reached the hut at 4 PM. A 9 hour day covering 10.3 miles.. I asked if there was a bunk available but none were so I did some work for stay which means I would get to sleep in the dinning area and eat leftovers from the evening and morning meals... RW and Movin' On showed up and hour later and did the same... This is a beautifull location with great views of the mountains! We didn't get to eat until 8 PM. The food was ok and we had plenty. Movin' On and I did dishes for our work... Not bad.. The stars were awesome from this hut. We hit the sack, bench, around 9:30. <p>Tuesday, August 26I actually slept well despite people getting up all night long to use the bathroom. They didn't seem to care how loud they were... Got up at 5:45 and packed my bag... We had coffee and decided not to wait for breakfast as we would not be able to eat until 8 or 8:30... On the trail at 7:10. Another gorgeous day. The first mile was a 1000 FT. Climb and then a stroll along a ridge. RW led me down the ring path at one point but Movin' On who was behind us yelled that we were going the wrong way... RW apologized but I told him that I would have done the same thing! Then came a long downhill with lots of rocks and a pounding to our knees... I cursed a lot!!! Just when I thought the down was done, there would be more and more!It was a 6 mile walk to Zealand Falls Hut that took us almost 5 hours! We had soup at the Hut and still had 5 miles to go to Ethan Pond Tent Site... We knew the terrain profile was to be flat but were still worried about rocks and roots... A very welcome surprise was that the trail was smooth for the most part, an old railroad bed! What a relief!!! We cruised the last 5 miles in a little less tha 2 hours! Ethan Pond was really cool! The pond reminded me of a small lake in northern wisconsin. We sat by the pond, cleaned up, and soaked our feet in the water. And M, the campsite host offered to make us Mac and Cheese as she had to deplete her supply because she was leaving Friday! Nice! Movin' On and I shared a platform tent site and we were in our tents by 7... I left the fly off my tent and had a great view of the stars...Wednesday August 26Got up at 5:45, made some oatmeal and coffee a we were out by 7.. I needed to make the 3 easy miles to Crawford Notch by 8:45 to catch the AMC shuttle to Gorham.. It only took an hour to get there! I said my goodbyes to RW and Movin' On as they were headed up to the Presidentials. I don't have to do that 26 mile stretch bea cause my son , Ryan, and I did them in 2005. The shuttle driver dropped me off at the White Mountain Cafe and I downed a breakfast burrito and a cream cheese bagel with several cups of coffee! I finally got my phone charged and sent messages to friends and family.. Then I called the White Mountain Lodge and they sent a driver to pick me up 20 minutes later. This is one awesome place!!! So I'm going to do a resupply and head up from Pinkham Notch tomorrow for two days and then come right back here on Friday. It's right on the trail! Almost done with the Whites!