Date: 2007-08-16
From: Gorham

To: Lincoln, NH
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Yay! New Hampshire! 297.7 miles! Sore knee! Sore foot! There's so much to be excited about!!!Anyways, things are going well, except for the sore knee...I think I did a bit more damage than I thought to the left knee jumping into the rock, but I'll survive. I may just have to cut it off, though, not sure, jury's still out on that idea. Luckily my knife isn't rusty, so I shouldn't get tetanus.I finally made it to New Hampshire, which is refreshing. Unfortunately, there was a sign for the NOBOs that said "Welcome to Maine; The Way Life Should Be". New Hampshire wasn't so excited about my arrival, and there was no welcome sign, but I got over it, and kept hiking. I must say, the trail is in pretty good condition, except for a few bog bridges that are no longer bridging, and instead sinking into the muck, but I have been making good time. Due to GI issues, I have decided that I do not recommend to anyone attempting to gain 12 pounds in 3 days--not a good idea! Regarding my experiences, the trip to Gorham from Andover was rather uneventful. I did have the pleasure of coming through the Mahoosuc Notch nice and early in the morning, and took a few pictures with the moose. To everyone who complains and talks about the moose: get over it--it's a moose, it's dead, and you can hear the maggots munching on it! I thought that was pretty cool, and in all actuality, it smelled better than the outside garbage can at home, or some things that I've come across working on the ambulance. The pictures that I took with sir moose are quite good, I think.Also, I had the pleasure of receiving lots of free food from people between the dead moose and the next shelter where I stayed, Gentian Pond (excellent view). Thank you to Dave for the Clif Bar, Bill and Catherine for the handfull of trail mix, and a mega huge shout out to Deb and Sandy for the cheese, summer sausage and trail mix (gourmet trail mix, might I add). Deb and Sandy were pretty cool; it was great being able to talk to them about their experiences, and I can't imagine that it would have been anything but a great time to hike with them!I'm not quite sure where Numskull is at--he was going to leave The Cabin a few hours after I did, so I expected him to catch me the next day...four days now, and I haven't seen him. I think I should call The Cabin and check to see if he has even left yet (yes, the food is that good). I was able to replace the bottom section of my Leki pole (which I bent back before Monson) at the outfitter here in Gorham, which was good. Apparently, there is a Patagonia outlet somewhere in New Hampshire, so I'm planning on going there to pick up some warmer bottoms. My 45 degree sleeping bag isn't quite enough on some of the cold nights...last night I could see my breath before the sun even set! I did stay in a shelter last night, and the mice did not give me too much trouble, which was good. It's on to the White Mountains, and then the Presidentials and all of that jazz, so the next few days should be rather exciting. It just started to pour down rain, and I'm at the library, which is about 1.5 miles away from the hostel that I'm staying at, so the walk back should be exciting...I'm pumped. Hopefully someone else staying there brought in my shoes, which were drying outside.Note about future adventures: I think that I'm going to go to Nicaragua and Costa Rica when I'm done...hone the Spanish and see if I can't make myself into a more attractive potential employee of Backroads!