Date: 2006-07-29
From: Grafton Notch- Northern Peaks- Gorham, NH

To: Maine/NH Border
Miles today: 16.5

I woke up at 5am and got my electric coffee brewing machine going, then started packing up.When the coffee was ready, I sat down and had a bowl of cereal too.I started taking things out to the truck. When I was leaning on the tailgate, I leaned against my key chain and it started the horn honking at about 6am....ooops. :-)))It wasn't long after that when Artful Dodger and Red Dane came out of their room.We all talked a while, then took a few photos.I finished getting ready and surprised Shortcut with a 6am call.She sounded groggy, but said she was glad I called. :-)))We locked up the room and headed for the trailhead.Mrs Gorp hadn't eaten breakfast, so we went through the drive through at McDonalds and she got a couple egg McMuffins.We got to the Gorham trailhead, parked the truck and headed north on the AT at 7am.We have 31 miles that we're filling in between Gorham, NH and Grafton Notch, Me.We climbed to the summit of Hayes Mountain and while we were sitting there enjoying the breeze, Blain came walking up.He was in a hurry to get to the PO before they closed today. He said he started walking at 4:20am to make sure he got there on time.I was getting near the summit of Cascade Mountain and saw some nice sized bear prints in the mud.I drew a circle around them just so Mrs Gorp would see them when she walked by.I ran into Grits, another sobo, when I was descending Cascade Mountain.I ran into another sobo by the name of Drew next, just before Wocket Ledges.I finished climbing to the summit and Mrs Gorp and I sat down and ate lunch.It's still so humid out that I've been soaked all morning.I took my shirt and shoes off and layed them out in the sun to dry a little while I was eating.We walked on and got water just before Gentian Pond Lean-to. We sat there and took another break.The view from that lean-to is an excellent one. I should stay there sometime.The trail between the lean-to and Gorham has been the worst I've ever walked on in all the miles I've walked on the AT.It was overgrown last year, but this year, you have to push your way through the overgrowth on lots of the trail. It's too bad that this stretch of trail has been neglected.It's so bad that Mrs Gorp came walking back at one point not knowing if she was on the AT or not.Mrs Gorp fell just before we got to the lean-to.I was walking in front of her and heard her going down, so I turned around real quick. In answer to whether Scots wear underwear under their kilts, Mrs Gorp does. :-)))When I turned around her legs were in the air. :-)))I was climbing Success Mountain and ran into Wrong Foot '98 and Wrench. I stayed and talked to them until Mrs Gorp came up, then shortly after that, a nobo by the name of Mercury came up.I walked on and finished climbing that mountain. It was very windy when I got up there...maybe 30 mph or so.We were going to take another break up there, but it was much too windy, so we kept on walking.We got to some bog boards...or at least where there used to be bog boards. The muck was deep. I'm not sure how deep, but when I stuck my Leki in, it went half way without touching bottom.We worked our way around that mess, then ran into Mercury again.He said he went in the muck up to his crotch....yukkk. :-)))He hiked on and we caught up to him again at the border of Maine and NH.We took a few photos and talked a while.Mercury walked on and we finished eating dinner.I saw a couple tent sites nearby and told Mrs Gorp they were there. We were both tired.She said that sounded great, so we set up camp right there at the border.The black flies drove me into my tent in a hurry.I smell like it's been a while since I took a shower because of all the humidity, but I just had one last night.We worked hard walking this section of trail. It's always a tough section, but it was even harder because of the lack of maintenance.My right heel was also bothering me again. I know I'll take some abuse from some friends for saying this, but whenever I carry my full pack, my heel hurts much worse....maybe I should continue slack packing. :-)))