Date: 2012-07-17
From: Ethan Pond Campsite

To: Crawford Notch
Miles today: 2.7
Weather: fog

In the morning I got up and started walking on down to the notch. It started out sunny, but within a few minutes it started getting dark and a little sprinkly. I didn't mind. I've had too many hot days on this hike anyway.The hike down was unremarkable except for a few lost dayhikers. They weren't really lost, they just didn't know where they were, if you get the distinction. I showed them a map to help orient them but I'm never sure how much that helps. It seems like a lot of people don't really get maps.When I got down to the notch I was happy to see Bippity Bop, and even more happy to see Rockdancer! He was set up at the notch doing trail magic. Bippity Bop was just getting going. I took off my pack and opened up a cold soda from Rockdancer's cooler. I didn't know what was happening with the rest of my day, and right then I didn't care. I just wanted to sit for a few minutes and catch up with Rockdancer.It started to rain, and then to pour, so I put my pack in the back of his car and we sat in the front. We talked about my plans for getting home (incipient, but so far minimal). He offered to take me with him to Boston, as he was driving down at the end of the day. That was a really nice offer (I mean wow!) but I desperately wanted a shower, a few good meals, and clean clothes before I attempted public transportation. Which is what I would take home from Boston, of course.Rockdancer drove me to a store with good breakfast sandwiches. I was able to get a really tasty egg bagel sandwich, and a hot coffee. The coffee was especially nice, as I had started to chill. While you're walking it doesn't matter if you're damp, but as soon as you stop.. sheesh. Stupid internal thermostat.After that he drove me to the AMC Highland Center, and waited to make sure there was a room available for me before he left. What a great guy! I mean, I generally love trail angels, but Rockdancer really goes out of his way.The room was only theoretically available. First the maids had to have their way with it. But the AMC staff didn't mind me sitting on their comfy leather chairs in my hiking gear, so I set myself up near an electrical socket so I could charge my phone, and I surfed the internet for a while. At lunchtime I went to the cafeteria and got myself an a la carte lunch of bread, soup, and salad. Weirdly, I couldn't finish it. I had a good time talking to Silver Streak, one of a group of female hikers who were dayhiking from the center.When the room was ready, I went up and had a pack explosion. There were no laundry facilities so I used the room's sink and a few drops my supply of concentrated liquid soap to do the best I could. That is to say, I squished and rinsed my clothing in the sink, one piece at a time, until the water ran mostly clear through them. The room had towels for four, and it was beastly hot, so I figured that I could drip dry everything by the morning. Also, I had the best shower ever.Stripper stopped by for a few minutes to make dinner plans. I had to scramble to find my sarong so I could open the door, as every other stitch of clothing had just been washed. After she left my room phone range - Lazerlegs was downstairs! He said he'd come up, but I informed him that we already had dinner plans and also I was nude. I chuckled to myself a little as he couldn't get out fast enough that he WASN'T coming upstairs. Lazerlegs is a bit conservative. I met them on the dot at six. We sat family style at a table with some other hikers. I was mostly there for the social aspect, as my stomach was becoming less and less happy. I had a little broth, a couple of tablespoons of mashed potatoes, a few bites of bread.. not standard hiker amounts. Stripper gave me the hairy eyeball. But I enjoyed hanging out with them, and the couple sitting across from me volunteered to take me to a town with a bus station in the morning, so that solved the first part of my transportation issue. After dinner I went on up to my room and tried to sleep, but my stomach was still unhappy and it was still terribly, terribly warm in the room. A fan would have been very nice. I said as much in my comments when I filled out the "How are we doing?" card.