Date: 2015-07-16
From: Galehead Hut

To: Saco River
Miles today: 14.9
Weather: clear sky

I slept surprisingly well on the bench! Better than most of my nights in a bed. It was really windy and gusty and one of the hut croo members said the thermometer read 38 degrees probably because of the wind. So a good night to sleep in. Phil and I ate our own oatmeal for breakfast since we would have to wait till 8 am if we wanted breakfast leftovers. We both wanted to head out early so we left a little before 7 am.I shed my jacket and changed into a short sleeve shirt halfway up South Twin Mountain since I was now protected from the wind and climbing. It was steep and rugged and windy at the top. The mountain had been covered in fog but it had burned off by the time so reached the top. It turned into a perfect hiking day! Clear sunny blue skies. Cool in the morning. I descended and hiked for a few miles leaving the trail to check out Zealand Mountain only to come to a dead end with no view. When I returned to the trail, I saw someone had written "no view" on the sign. Oops! I stopped and chatted with a couple of day hikers. The woman had thru hiked in 2005 when she turned 60. Her trail name was "Sleeveless". She said I looked too clean. Normally my legs are covered in dirt from splashing through mud but I had not encountered very much mud yet. The man worked on Mt Washington Sun - Wed. I moved on and took the side trail to the cliffs view which was incredible. I sat down and enjoyed the view, chatting with a man who had been taking photographs. 4 day hikers came by and it turned out to be the same day hikers we had met before Lonesome Lakes Hut a couple of days ago. Apparently they saw us hitching on the parkway and would have stopped for us had another car not already stopped. They are hiking the 48 4,000 ft peaks in NH. I moved on and descended down to Zealand Falls Hut. There was hot water available so I made some couscous for lunch and ate it while I soaked my feet in the falls. It was warm in the sun but not too hot. Very pleasant. After an hour, I decided to move again. After a steep Rocky 0.2 miles, the AT followed the Ethan Pond Trail which was surprisingly flat and only had an occasional rock jumble to navigate. You could see the Ethan Pond Trail from Zealand Cliffs so from the Ethan Pond Trail, I could see the cliffs and the roof of Zealand Falls Hut. It was a pleasant trail for about 3 miles and I made better time than I had been. Then it got Rocky again. I made it to NH302 Crawford Notch by 4:30. I crossed over to check out potential campsites. I debated about climbing to the top of Webster Cliffs since it was only 2.8 miles but I knew it was a really steep and tough climb with rock scrambles. Not something I wanted to do at the end of the day and it would exceed my 15 mile cap. I didn't have any cell service so I could not communicate with Crafty who had camped 3 miles behind me last night and we were supposed to try to meet up. So I crossed back to the parking lot and decided to wait for awhile. After a couple hours I cooked dinner. Uphill and Wookie's dad Bill then drove back into the parking lot. Uphill told me Crafty and the group were camping up by the falls. I put my gear in the back and jumped in and we drove back up to the parking lot. I met Wookie's mom Phyllis. We agreed to meet at 6:15 the next morning and they left. Uphill, Six Strings and I went to a campsite I had passed by earlier. Mouse and Wrecker were already set up. Blodge was also there. It was a small campsite and there was no way 7 of us could fit, even if we all cowboy camped under the stars. After we talked for a bit, I decided to find a flat spot near the trailhead. Fortunately I found a spot and was setting up my tent when Crafty and Sugar Magnolia came over to set up camp. We found some spots and set up while we chatted with Uphill. He then left and we settled in for the night.