Date: 2006-06-19
From: Beaver Brook Shelter 

To: North Woodstock NH (Carriage Inn)
Miles today: 17.9

8:19 p.m. Yesterday was crappy. It was perhaps my hardest day on the trail mentally, and that fact that we're getting into some of the toughest terrain on the whole trail didn't help. In addition, it was a hot day. So most of the factors that determine the quality of a day were working against me. Weather (very humid, too), difficulty of terrain (2500-ish foot climb up the Kinsman peaks that was some of the steepest and roughest trail we've seen), physical "on-ness" (I was fatigued and it felt like hard work), and mental "on-ness" (this is the most important of all. Having a mentally rough day can be brutal. Time drags, and it is hard to remember why you're hiking anyway). We had a very early start, my earliest yet, I think. At 6:20 a.m. we left the shelter and started walking. By the time we had gone 5 miles and stopped for water, we all knew that the day was going to be one that you have to just suck up and deal with. After lunch, 4 miles later, we tackled the Kinsman mountains, which like I said before, were some of the most daunting we've faced. Finally, we descended down equally rugged terrain to the road crossing. By the way, the descent from Beaver Brook was very steep and tiring. It would have been very dangerous in the rain. As it was, it made me a little nervous. There was a brook (Beaver Brook, I assume) that ran down next to the trail, however, that was probably the prettiest water feature we've seen yet. In fact the whole day was filled with terrific waterfalls, streams, creeks and pools. It's a pity we couldn't enjoy it more. When we got to the road crossing, it was an interstate. So we took a random path that we thought would lead us to the part of the road that merges into the interstate but isn't highway yet. In the end, we walked probably at least an extra mile and were kind of lost, but ended up on the road, from which we called a shuttle. North Woodstock turned out to be a terrific town to stay in. We stayed at the Carriage Motel, a cute little place with nice people and everything we needed. Across the street was a gas station/market that had everything we needed to resupply and snack. Right down the street was a lovely Greek restaurant, where I had one of the best meals of the trail. Swordfish steak, broiled, and mashed potatoes. Baklava for dessert. Back at the motel room we lay in bed and watched the Last Samurai, which was just what I needed. Nevertheless, I had a pretty unhappy night. Walking up every morning for the next 22 days and hiking seemed daunting. I didn't talk to Lockjaw. I went to bed. This morning I woke up feeling slightly better. Still, I was hardly chipper as we ate our delicious blueberry pancakes and packed our food bags. We took the shuttle back to the trailhead, this time walking a bit along the interstate to get back to the trail. First thing, we began a 3500-ft ascent to Mt. Lafayette (5249 ft). It was long and hard and sweaty, but easier going than yesterday. It was fairly steady, which is a nice thing in a climb, because it allows you to develop a rythym. It was worth it. The view from the top was spectacular. We were above tree line for several miles and we opted to do fewer miles today and more tomorrow, which landed us at a hut (Galehead Hut). It's been great here. They're letting us "work for stay", which seems to consist only of washing a few windows and sweeping out the bunks in the morning. We'll get breakfast in the morning, and we got dinner tonight and chatted with the "croo" of the hut, who are all very nice. We talked to Lockjaw, who plans to hike out tomorrow probably.