Date: 2021-06-24
From: Kinsman Notch

To: Glencliff NH
Miles today: 9.4
Weather: clear sky

Today *should* be another lesson for me about the uselessness of worrying about six different outcomes when only one thing is going to happen. (Read on if you want to see if I have learned a lesson!)My sister dropped me off at Kinsman Notch which is the northern end of Mt Moosilauke AT trail at 6:15 (she¢s been awesome, by the by, it was an hour drive each way for her).  Hiking up from this direction put me next to the Cascades almost immediately. It¢s about a mile stray here that goes severely uphill next to a waterfall and is known to be slippery and dangerous if considering are wet. There is sign posted that reads: ¢This trail is extremely tough. If you lack experience please use another trail. Take special care at the Cascades to avoid tragic results¢.  That¢ll fill you with confidence!  Thankfully, it had been dry all day Wednesday and I found the climbing had been dreading to be very manageable. It was easy to see from my eyes that coming down that trail in the rain would not be an easy task. As it turned out, I fairly flew up the 3.7 miles to the main summit by 8:30. There was only one other person up there, a New Hampshirite who hikes to the summit every year and she told me she had never been up there without at least a dozen or so people being there as well. The 360 degree views were just more White Mountain magic and the lack of wind was surprising.  I apologized for spoiling her alone time and hiked on.After crossing over the South summit it was down down down for the last 5 miles of the hike. I bumped into True Grit for the second day in a row and he was the first of three thru hikers I saw who asked how the Cascades were today (apparently I¢m not the only one with falling on the brain). The descent down the south side of the mountain was very manageable, although I did bark my shin of a protruding rock, leaving a scrape and a bruise for my troubles. I texted my sister that I was going to finish an hour earlier run my noon prediction and then enjoyed a nice morning walk to the road crossing. Today¢s hike completed all the miles for me up to the start of the Mt Washington climb. I keep looking at the weather forecast for my planned Saturday summit and it¢s now calling for 40- 50 mph winds. I¢m trying not to worry about it as the weather up there is so unpredictable it could be snowing or sunny one minute and the opposite the next. This is fine. I spent the afternoon cleaning my pack, doing laundry, and reorganizing my gear. I¢m sending some clothing and various and sundries back with my sister in order to further cut weight. I am keeping my long hiking pants through the end of Maine due to the mountains and wild weather. But I think I¢ve eliminated another two pounds of weight. That¢ll be a little less for the Mt Washington wind to blow around. My sister and niece will be taking me an hour and forty five minutes to the furthest point north I have hiked, then it¢s goodbyes and thank you¢s.I can¢t fully express my gratitude to Patricia and Michael for hosting me for the last week and feeding me as well. They are true Trail Angels and have been perfect hosts to an imperfect and sometimes odiferous hiker.  A fella could get use to taking a shower every day!