Date: 2017-07-31
From: Pinkham Notch

To: Stealth site 
Miles today: 9.8
Weather: clear sky

Last night I tented on the back lawn of the Libby House (aka the Barn) because I preferred the privacy of my tent and accompanying freedom to snore over the upstairs bunkhouse.  Besides, the lawn was flat and mown nicely. I had also decided to leave the fly off the tent so I could gaze at the stars in the night sky. What I did not know was that a nearby church rang its bell every hour on the hour throughout the night. I heard every hourly set of chimed bells, from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m.  I also did not realize US 2 was such a heavily trafficked road, by roaring, barrelling 18 wheelers, at all hours of the eve. Lastly, I had not noticed the two lampposts that illuminated my flyless tent so brightly that the night sky was not to be seen. Needless to say, it was not a restful night. Hence my day started with some trepidation; I had the Wildcats and Carter Dome ahead of me, and I was already exhausted.Shop Teacher and my intentions for the day were to hike the aforementioned mountains and camp at the Imp Campsite. Then on the following day we would return to the Barn for another night in Gorham.  Paul, the proprietor of the Barn and our shuttle driver, drove us to Pinkham Notch by 8 a.m.  We bought an AYCE at the Visitor Center, a breakfast prepared by the AMC. It was not worth the expense. The pancakes were rock hard discs and the pan of potatoes was empty and never refilled. We enjoyed the coffee, however, leading to a late hiking start, for which we could never make up.The climb up Wildcat E was bruising, another NH treat. The views along the ascent though were fantastic.  The sky was cloudless blue again - we've had an astonishing streak of ideal hiking weather.  As Shop is fond of saying, "Somebody has paid the preacher".The Wildcats D, C, and A were also challenging (no Wildcat B), again hitting us with the difficult rock scrambling, up and down. Carter Dome was more of the same, a brutal heart-pounding climb. Up to this point, our rate of travel was just over 1 mph.  As a consolation, it probably was the last of the toughest Whites (though I subscribe to the opinion that the last toughest White is the one I'm currently climbing, no matter its height). On the Dome's summit we sat for lunch, but soon heard thunder and saw rainstorms in the distance sweeping the mountaintops. Since we were on an exposed crest, we thought it prudent to move the banquet below treeline. This took some hustling, however, because the trail remained exposed all the way to Mt. Hight, about a mile distant. Fortunately the thunderstorm held off until then, giving me time to put a pack cover over my rucksack and to don my raingear. It rained for a short while only, but long enough to make everything soaked (raingear keeps the rain out, but traps the sweat, so you are just as wet). Eventually, we recognized we would not be able to reach Imp Campsite before nightfall, so we chose to stealth camp at our earliest opportunity.  This only meant we would have a longer hike back to Gorham tomorrow, but it did not have as many formidable mountains to go over as today had.  In two more days we should be through NH. Incomprehensible!