Date: 2018-07-27
From: Lincoln NH (mile 1817.8)

To: Stealth spot at Gale River trail junction (mile 1830.1)
Miles today: 12.3
Weather: scattered clouds

I spent some time figuring out food and my schedule for the next few days and realized that the Whites are hard to plan for! Mileage is limited by the difficulty of the trail, ridgelines are hard to cross on stormy days, I wasn't sure about whether to reserve any AMC hut spots or try to do work for stay, I had to decide between stealth camping and staying at some paid campsites, etc.While hiking from a trailhead to rejoin the AT, Bear Bait and I ran into Sassafras and her friend Bramble and caught up with them.I made the steep climb most of the way up to Franconia Ridge in a rainshower before stopping to eat at a nice covered area in Liberty Springs campsite. I passed a couple on their first hiking trip on the way up - that must've been a crazy introduction to backpacking! The storm cleared out and some SOBOers came down who had to hide under rocks since they got stuck on the ridge in the thunderstorm. After talking with them and looking at the clouds, I decided to try to get across the ridge myself. It was somewhat clear at first but got very foggy once above treeline. It felt extremely solitary - it seemed that no one else wanted to try to make a run across the ridge and I only found two other people headed in the opposite direction. Additionally, the fog whisked away the views and even the sloping ground on either side of the ridge. Thunder rumbled once in the cloud I was in, so I got a bit scared and kicked it in to gear since I was in the middle of the exposed ridge. However, as I hiked along, I stopped to pick up a piece of trash, and suddenly I reached the edge of the clouds. The last half of the ridge was perfectly clear and sunny, and I finally got great views of the Whites! It was an incredible contrast. I could even see as far as the mountains that the Long Trail goes over way to the West in Vermont! The changes I made in the hotel room have definitely helped my body feel better hiking. The only problem is that I think something on the fabric of the new police shirt yesterday caused my skin to react, because sometimes my pack shifting positions would inflame my skin and send shocks of pain up my back.After descending from Franconia ridge, I stopped on top of Mt. Garfield to cook dinner and enjoy the sunset. A rainbow even appeared! I enjoyed watching the city lights and far away lightning as night fell.At my last restock I bought spray cheese as a bit of a fun snack item. Well, I realized that I shouldn't have trusted the lid in my backpack as it fell off at some point while getting squished around and unleashed cheese all over that outside pocket of my pack. I spent at least 30 minutes licking much of my gear clean before continuing on.I showed up to my planned stealth spot pretty late and panicked a little bit when I realized a tent was already set up there! Thankfully I was able to make another spot work, but it's a bit close to trail...I finally got to camp early enough and without it raining in order to do my full routine for the first time in a while. It's starting to rain as I fall asleep, but it's a good feeling knowing that I'm already all set up and cozy.