Date: 2008-08-18
From: Pinkham Notch, NH

To: Stealthsite .3 before Carter Hut, NH
Miles today: 5.6

What a great day of hiking. We all went out for dinner last nite at a place called Crabby Jack's here in Gorham. I pigged out on beef fajitas, which have become my constant craving of choice out here this year. We all had a great time telling stories and laughing, and then we decided to all meet and have Karen drive us to Pinkham Notch around 6:45 a.m.As usual, not the most restful nite's sleep, seems this is always the case before I head back out. I think my mind is just churning about gear, packing everything, etc.I was up @ 6:00 a.m. and ready to go by 6:45 a.m. A.M. and V8 pulled up and we were off to Pinkham Notch. It was foggy in Gorham, but luckily, when we got to Pinkham Notch, a mere 15 min. drive down U.S. 16, it was clear and the sun was out. YIPPY!We snapped a pic and headed off around 7:20 a.m. The first mile is awesome, it follows a beautiful stream for quite awhile, and I wanted to just set up camp and enjoy it, but obviously I'll never make it home if I do this.We were at the base of Wildcat Mtn. @ 8 a.m. and started up a very steep and tiring 1.5 mile climb to the first peak, Peak E (it goes A thru E).Basically, it was straight up, rock scrambling, throwing your hiking poles ahead sort of stuff. It was ot above treeline though, so we were surrounded by the green green moss and pine trees, which is always pretty.It's hard to get the body back into hiking mode after 3 days off. I am so NOT a morning person, so it took me till about 9:30 a.m. to be halfway coherent. A.M. and V8 are sensitive to this thankfully. I just hiked in the back for the better part of the morning.It was slow going, but we finally made it to the first peak, Peak E, of course, we had totally convinced ourselves we were further, but that's nothing new! LOL Actually, about halfway up, we were on a rocky outcropping and I called Karen to ask her to check if V8 heard anything back from her reservation request with Carter Hut. She had, they said there was only 1 bunk left, and both her and A.M. were going to stay. I decided to camp somewhere, but now they may be camping too. They decided to play it by ear.You know you're @ the first peak (Peak E for a nobo) because the gondola and a ski building are up here, and tourists are riding up and down the Gondola. It was 11:15 a.m. (yes, that's 3 hrs to get up this thing!) and we decided to eat lunch on the grass. It was sunny, a slight breeze, and warm. It felt so good to lay back on my pack and take in the sun. The high was in the low 70's today and there was a breeze, so as long as you were hiking, it was great.I walked over to look @ the Gondola, and it looked like a cool ride. Karen actually rode up it sometime last week. I may have to do it too.We got going again and it was more climbing. Wildcat Mtn. has 5 peaks, A through E. Getting up to E is definitely the hardest, and now we had small ups\downs between the remaining peaks.There were some great views, and a few winding flatter areas through the green green forest. Really beautiful today.Some of the climbing was hand over hand, climbing between a huge creavace or up giant slabs of rock and boulder. I do enjoy the ups way more than the downs, my knees are never going to speak to me again after this hike.After Peak D, it's a short but steep butt-scooting down, and then about 3\4 mile climb again to Peak C. After getting up there, it's difficult to tell where peaks B and A are, because you are climbing, but it's very short. We hit a very steep hill and assumed we were coming down Peak A ad towards the hut.Yippy, it was going to be a shorter day, and I love that! The weather was great, and we would have an early afternoon to enjoy this beautiful place.The down was tough in places, but now that I've come down from Mt. Madison, everything will compare to that, and this was nothing compared to that. It even had a few nicer places of not so steep trail.We got to the trail junction with Nineteen Mile Brook Trail, and saw the hut was .3 away. This is where the signs are posted that you can't camp, but RIGHT before te signs (as in 10 feet before) were some great campsite, so we decided to set up camp here and walk dow to the hut for water. There's some places to te right, but it's a bit windier there, so I explored another little trail and to the left, there was a perfect spot for me to hang and the ladies to set up thir tarp tent, and it ws a bit more private and sheltered from the wind.It was only 2:30 p.m.! I love short days, and for us, it was either this or have to go muc further, and none of us wanted to do that.I got camp set up, changed, and walked down to get water. Luckily, there's a nice stream about .1 down, so I didn't have to go all the way to the hut.Then I went to hang a bearbag rope for us all to use. Geez, I get injured more doing that than hiking! I slipped and fell on a mossy rock, then backed my right heel into a jagged rock and cut it. All of this to throw a rope over a freakin tree branch! Geeeez.....I spent the afternoon journaling and lounging on the outside of my hammock. A.M. and V8 took short naps and we're all just waiting to be able to eat dinner.Ohhhh! I almost forgot the funniest part of the day! During lunch, agroup of about 6 guys, who have been section hiking since 1998, showed up. We passed them earlier and they were all very nice men. Well, they saw me throw my pack over my head, the way I put my pack on, and one of the men came up to me and goes, "So we're all curious, how heavy is your pack if you can toss it over your head like that?" Without a pause, I go, "Oh, about 75 lbs!" You all should have seen the look on his face! It was SOOOO FUNNY!! Then I couldn't keep a straight face, I started laughing and said, "Oh..I'm totally joking, about 32 lbs." It was classic man.So all of those guys showed up here tonight, and there's 5 of them, all trying to find a good spot of ground for their tents. It's supposed to t-storm tonigt, so there's tons of chatter about having to sleep in puddles and downhill, etc. Too bad they don't hang...It's getting cool, and it's close to 5 p.m. now, so I'm going to make dinner and crawl in to my warm sleeping bag. Wish all days could be like this. It's nice to have A.M. and V8 back too. I really enjoy talking to them as we hike.~Certain