Date: 2015-08-22
From: Hikers Welcome Hostel

To: Stealth on Wolf Mountain
Miles today: 14.7
Weather: broken clouds

8/22/2015 Day 142 - I ate a good breakfast of pancakes, eggs, and bacon at the hostel before getting back on the trail. I really didn't know if my recent injuries would hold up on the big climbs we're coming to here in the Whites. Mount Moosilauke is a pretty big one and it's what I came to first thing in the morning. I climbed the south slope since I was going north and it wasn't bad at all. Including the approach to the base of the mountain, it took about 4 hours to get to the peak. I figure it's just under a 4000 foot elevation gain over 5 miles or so. When I finally got to the top the view proved to be more than I hoped for. It was huge, and I could see mountains for miles. I ate lunch on top while I enjoyed the view and chatted with other hikers. Steel Foot, Peaches, Chewy, and Tex were there as well as quite a few day hikers. As I was going down the other side I passed a lot of hikers from the hostel who were slack-packing. Slack-packing is when you take a day pack instead of your regular backpack and hike for the day to a location where your pack with all your gear will be. It's either dropped off where you want it to go, or you get picked up and taken to a hostel or someplace else where it's being kept. There's nothing wrong with slack-packing and quite a few people do it. It's not for me though. I would feel like I was cutting corners or something.About half way down the mountain a lady with a French accent offered me a beer and a kiwi. I wasn't really in the mood for either so I declined, which is unusual for me or any other thru hiker. A little later, 2 boys from the French speaking group, one about 10-12 years old and the other likely in his mid teens caught up with me. I let them pass and a young woman from the group caught up as well. They started going fairly slow because the north side of the mountain is pretty scary in spots. There are built in steps near a brook/waterfall that are pretty slippery. They let me pass, but the younger boy was confident and was going fast, then waiting for me to go, then going fast again. I sped up and he kept up until I think the young woman told him to slow down. I kept going pretty fast, having a good time the rest of the way down the mountain. I'm lucky I didn't take a spill. The French speaking group caught up while I was getting water from a brook and the lady offered me a kiwi again. I got to the bottom of the mountain at 3:30 and decided to keeping hiking and try for a stealth camping spot in a couple of hours. It was up Wolf mountain this time, but it's less than half of Moosilauki's elevation gain. At first I didn't stop and camp at a decent hour because I needed to find a stream for water. Then after I got more water, i didn't stop because I wanted to climb to the top of Wolf mountain first. The problem was, I couldn't find anyplace to camp after I reached the top, and it was getting dark. I ran into a group of SoBos who found a site and told me there were a couple of single sites a little further down the trail. I found one and set up my tent right as it was getting dark. I cooked and ate using my head lamp. The site isn't very comfortable, but I think I'll be ok. I should have camped much earlier. I did have a good day though. I hope I don't wake up too sore. I hiked 14.7 miles today and stopped at mile 1805.2.