Date: 2013-07-13
From: Mizpah Spring Hut, Nauman Campsite

To: Zealand Falls Hut
Miles today: 14.3

DAY 34MILES ON AT FOR DAY- 14.3MILES TOTAL FOR DAY- 14.3Woke up, had breakfast, and headed out. For the first part of the day we ended up leapfrogging with Houston a lot. We also saw a ton of NoBo's and day hikers. Apparently Crawford Notch is a popular day hiking spot. Once we got down to the road in Crawford Notch we decided to try to hitch a mile to the Willey House where we would be able to get lunch. We hitched a ride pretty easily. This guy from Qu©bec and his son picked us up. We ended up spending about two hours at the Willey house in Crawford Notch eating grilled cheese, chili, and ice cream. The woman gave me a large chili for the price of a small. Prime. We spent longer than we had planned there but it was nice. The hitch back to the trailhead wasn't as easy as the hitch in. Luckily though a couple we had met the day before on the ridge picked us up. I was shocked they remembered or recognized us. Guess it was our lucky day. After a nice long lunch break we hit a good pace. We dropped a note off to Thumb the caretaker at Ethan Pond campsite (from the caretaker at Imp campsite). Guess he was right to trust I would make it there. When I went down to give the note to her, Turducken and Sprout were finishing up bathing in the pond there. They hiked out with us to Zealand Falls Hut. From Ethan Pond campsite to Zealand Falls Hut was a super easy 8 miles. We ended up doing the 8 miles in 3 hours, the fastest that we had probably gone yet. There was a bit of an uphill to the hut, but there were beautiful waterfalls coming down next to it... Zealand Falls. When we got there, Houston was already there to do work for stay. There was room for more work for stay, but not for the four of us. Turducken and Sprout kindly let us take the opportunity because they had done work for stay twice already. I was so happy that we were able to do a work for stay at least once before we got out of the whites. One of the crew members gave us some bread and then told us we could go hang out outside until they found some work for us to do. As we were chatting with some northbound section hikers, one of the crew members came out and told me, Houston, and Nightwalker that our task was to look for the canoe they had stolen and then hide it further in the woods. Apparently some of the huts kept playing tricks and kept stealing this canoe from each other. The last thing that we wanted to do at the end of hiking a 14 mile day in the whites was to hike some more, but what were we going to do. We had agreed to do the work for stay so we headed down the one incline that we had at the end of the 8 miles just to search for this canoe and try to find a better hiding spot for it. We spent about 45 minutes looking for this seemingly made up canoe and eventually gave up. It was nowhere to be found. We were starting to think it was a mean joke they played on thru-hikers. Find the made up canoe. When we went back up and told the other crew members, they said that the canoe was in fact real and not made up. One came down with us and couldn't find it either. Apparently somebody from another hut had stolen the canoe back. I still think they were just playing a joke on us but maybe that's just me. After that was time for dinner. We stayed outside while all the people who paid to stay in the huts had their dinner and then we got the leftovers. During dinner a northbounder named Rock Steady showed up. He was a really cool guy. He was doing pretty big miles to try to finish by a certain time. Since he showed up late and was by himself, they let him do work for stay.What we ate were leftovers, but they were amazing. It was like a Thanksgiving feast. We had turkey, mashed potatoes, peas, and at the end we had a special Buckleberry pie. Whatever it was, it was good. Once we were done, it was time to do dishes. I was hoping the canoe would be enough for work for stay, but dishes weren't so bad. Overall I'm glad that I got to experience the work for stay at at least one of the huts. After dinner and dishes Houston came to me and mentioned that one of the women staying in the bunk room had done a northbound hike a few years ago and was giving up her daughters bunk since her daughter wanted to share a bunk with her cousin. Houston felt a little weird taking the bunk so he offered it up to me and I gladly took it. A stay in the huts bunkroom and dinner? What more could a thru-hiker ask for! The woman's name was Earlybird and I thanked her so much for giving me her bunk. Apparently someone had done the same thing for her when she did her thru-hike. I guess it was her way of giving back the kindness that she had received, and I highly appreciated it.