Date: 2015-08-01
From: Imp Campsite

To: Gorham, NH
Miles today: 8.1

I'm not a huge fan of tent platforms but I made it work last night. The three legged nature of my tent means the two back corners sag unless I can stake it out. I rolled over one of the corners around 5:45 and woke up. Today is town day so I decided it was time to get moving. The impending rain was quite the motivator as well. When I started moving my things outside I saw Poboy had the same idea. We were off at 6:30.The initial trail took us straight to rbw summit of Mt Moriah, our last summit in the Whites. The trail hit a ton of false summits before finally catching the peak and heading into the valley. Nobody has time for false summits on town day.Once we hit the Rattle River the trail flattened out and it was time to cruise. I threw some tunes in and flew the remaining three and a half miles to the road. I got to the bottom around 9:45 and Poboy and I decided to check out the White Mountain Lodge and Hostel right on the trail. As luck would have it they had two spots left. Unfortunately that meant Clank and Jeopardy had to head to the hostel in town.We checked in, learned the ropes, and cleaned up. Trudge, Poboy, and I wanted to hit the Chinese buffet and luckily one of my amazing trail journal readers, Cindi, offered to take us. I'm still amazed by the people I meet out here. Cindi, I hope your hike goes great tomorrow. Thank you again.We grabbed a ride back after we ate and a bunch of us sat and watched The Big Lebowski (my favorite movie) until it was time to go resupply. I'm guessing that it was my last Wal-Mart so I bought far too much. I know it will be hard to get certain stuff going forward so I bought a few extra things.Since getting back we've just hung out. A few folks are in from Pinkham to slack pack over the Wildcats. It's been good to catch up with Doc and Forward as well.Tomorrow I'll catch breakfast here then head out.   Hopefully I'll finish the day in Maine. We'll see. 298.2 miles to go.I wanted to add one extra thing I was thinking about on the trail today. When I thought about hiking the trail I had always pictured it being me vs. the AT. I've always tackled everything alone. It's a product of my upbringing. Ever since I started telling my friends and family that I was doing this I've had nothing but support. It's been overwhelming and something I traditionally haven't been great at accepting.Then I started hiking. People I didn't know wanted to help and be a part of it. I still clung to my nature of doing it on my own for a while. State after state, mile after mile and more people jumped on. One thing I've learned out here is to let people in. It's been a tough lesson for a stubborn guy like me. I struggle out here every single day. Some people are born long distance hikers. I'm not one of them. Most of the people around me aren't either. I haven't mentioned it since Georgia but I read every single comment posted in my guest book, the Facebook posts, and anything someone sends me. Those things mean the world to me. They drive me to keep going. I can't say enough how thankful I am for everyone that's chosen to somehow be a part of this with me.I woke up to a Facebook video of one of my favorite musicians dedicating one of my favorite songs to me last night. It's so humbling. But in the same vein, as a thank you to the crazy cast of characters that have been a part of my dream, I'd like to dedicate the next 298.2 miles to you. Your support and encouragement has gotten me to the end of New Hampshire. Let's crush it to Katahdin.