Date: 2010-08-13
From: Jeffers Brook Shelter

To: Lincoln
Miles today: 8.4
Weather: light rain

13 August Friday ¢ 8.4 miles to Kinsman Notch/LincolnI was first to wake after a pretty good nights rest. Slept halfway in my bag for the first time in a while and was comfortable. Maybe I believe the theory that early risers get the biggest views and best weather. Perhaps it¢s just luck. Wondering how my speed will be going up the side of Moosilauke Mtn. with this huge pack of winter clothes and food. We all packed up water believing that we¢d have a gap at the top without access to water but the trail is pretty wet. I never used my hands to climb Moosilauke. I thought about SuperMax¢s online update that Moosilauke¢s view made her cry. SuperMax also mentioned a steep decent down a waterfall. I¢ll figure that out later.Today will be my first time above the tree line! The ashen colored trees begin to shrink with each step closer to the top. I keep my stride close together as I notice the trees seem to be growing closer together. As I get my first look at the summit it looks like the superfund sight on the top of Moosilauke! If it weren¢t for the huge cairns it¢d be easy to believe it¢s been bombed at some point in recent history. The views are unbelievable. Really, you wouldn¢t believe what you saw even if you saw it. Those soft blue mountain valleys and silhouettes stood out as massive structures, dwarfed only by the 4800ft of Moosilauke. The clouds couldn¢t have been kinder to me today! Perfect weather for my first official day in the Whites!SnowFox was already there when I summited. He passed me this morning when I was eating granola and drinking instant milk by one of the springs. SnowFox wears a wide brimmed hat and he has a funny looking red beard. He¢s obviously very smart and a likable character. I met him for the first time at Moose Mtn. shelter. We discuss whether several mountains nearby are those famous names. Names like Washington, Layfette, and Lincoln are mentioned but there¢s no way we can see them now. It¢s clear enough to see them if it were even humanly possible. One of the mysterious mountains in the distance catches our eye. It¢s small but the distance suggests it¢s mass. SnowFox and I jokingly claim its Washington but we know better.Standing above tree line would in theory be comfortable in nice weather. Is it always windy? Doesn¢t the sun keep you warm? I¢m putting on my jacket because I¢m drenched with sweat and the breeze is turning me into an air conditioner. The first person we see coming is wearing a blue Fleet Fuel hat. It must be Tour Guide coming over the horizon. We fist pump at each other from 14 mile away. It¢s amazing how small he looked from such a short distance away. Tour Guides movements were minimized to that of a tiny ant by the size of the clay colored rocks, cairns and lack of trees. He looked like a person walking through the desert towards us.Throughout the morning large groups of day hikers surround us by accessing the summit by another easier trail. They¢re coming up from the eastern side of the mountain and none of them appear exhausted when they reach the top. This would be a regular occurrence during my hike through the Whites. One of the day hikers seemed to be interested in thru-hiking. I get pretty excited when someone tells me that. We are happy to answer potential thru-hiker questions. Potential is a whole different category and we become more excited than answering tourist questions in general. We tried to give her all the reasons why she should do it. She was concerned about what her husband would do. Divorce, was the excuse she used. That¢s a legitimate problem for sure. Not if you¢ve got an awesome partner like Lish though! The soon to be thru-hiker lady offered us her snack bars before hiking back down. A nearby day hiker spoke up, asking for a share of the candy bar booty, but we all pretend not to hear him.The clouds progressively grew, shrank and moved from one location to the next long the horizon. The massive size of these mountains makes them cloud generators. I stayed on the top and watched as the summit was slowly covered on all sides by a precarious looking grey cloud. The views disappeared as more thru-hikers arrive later and later in the afternoon. I¢m glad I got here early! The mountain was fully engulfed by the time Tree, Hot Foot, and Stretcher arrived. Almost everyone caught their breath and then put on their jackets because it¢s so cold up here. The wind¢s rocking and I imagine these tall cairns turn into piles of rubble in the winter.A group of day hikers arrive with a young male Rhodesian ridgeback and they seemed very friendly. One of them asked us where our homes were located. After a few more questions they asked, ¢Where are you in your lives that you can take off to do this?¢ My response was, ¢We¢re currently in the Awesome Phase of ours lives!¢ Everyone giggles as the curious day hiker sighs in response, ¢Clearly you are!¢Yahtzee, Kumquat, Tour Guide, Stretcher, Hot Foot, Tree, and I all pack up to leave just as the clouds started threatening us with the chance of rain. The clouds don¢t seem to blow as much as they lose their momentum. When the vaporous masses of snow white get near they get lazy and become darker in color. The clouds turn grey hateful looking. Considering SuperMax¢s complaint concerning the decent from Moosilauke, I hope it¢s not a monsoon waterfall slide today. The last remaining view was beneath the gray canopy above as a long line of thru-hikers disappeared into the tree line.Walking down the mountain was dangerous! I would hesitate trying it in the rain. Rebar hand holds. Steel handles drilled and riveted into the flat slippery rocks. You couldn¢t get down without the assistance of metal. Ropes would be helpful. 8X8 blocks of wood attached to sheer rock faces made me cringe! How are these blocks connected to the wall beneath our feet? My hike is over if I slip once. I¢m going home today if I screw up a single step. Your knees pound like jackhammers the whole way down. Slippery rocks beside bright green slimy moss covered springs. Clear spring water pours between the plastic tread of your shoes as you hold onto tree roots and swing out on faith over the edge of a cliff. Tree bark worn smooth as glass from the hands that used them as handrails. I dangled from limbs and stretched my legs to find a piece of solid ground far below. The amount of day hikers in this area is astonishing to me. Why would you choose this path when there¢s an easier one nearby? We pass Dad carrying his 5 year old on his shoulder. The sweet smell of perfume hits me when a couple goes up the waterfall in their cotton clothing. I can see why people get hurt here in the Whites. This is a different environment. It changes frequently, quickly and even with deadly subtlety.Rock¢n¢Roll and Cowgirl are already down in the valley taking a lunch break at the picnic tables. They¢re skipping Lincoln and going up Kinsman today. Tree talked me into going into Lincoln by telling me it¢s the last town for a while through the Whites. (not true) It was easy to convince me mostly because I don¢t have any toilet paper. TP is essential hiking equipment. I¢d like to stay with the Worx until Katahdin, but I expect we¢ll have to split up eventually. They¢re in no hurry to finish. I really want to finish on the 17th of September!Stretcher and I talked about our mothers last night for the first time. Stretcher¢s mom contracted pancreatic cancer 2 years ago. He wasn¢t there when she passed away. I keep my thoughts to myself but I wonder if not being their might be easiest. Being there is hard. We don¢t say much but the air crackles a bit with curiosity for both of us. Before we arrived at the shelter last night I told him, ¢I wish I would have done this thru-hike one year after my mother passed.¢ I haven¢t told anyone my other reason for wanting to finish on the 17th of September.Tree and Hot Foot chat with two bicyclists going cross-country. I was bored with the conversation so I had a look around the parking lot. I found a bag of stale chips and questionable salsa by the concrete curb. Hot Foot and I debated whether we should eat them or not. We ended up sharing the whole jar of funny smelling salsa. The chips were so crushed up and small that we had to put our fingers into the dip.Someone who knows SnowFox is picking him up here and we¢re offered a ride to town. They take Tree, Hot Foot, Stretcher and I straight to Chet¢s house in Lincoln. We pile into the backseat and get a really good whiff of ourselves. I should have taken a shower in Glencliff. Hot Foot bitches at me saying, ¢AH, SKIPPY¢¦you¢re all moist!¢ as he snuggles up beside my sweaty torso in the 3 person bench seat. He¢s the skinniest so he gets the raw end of the deal in clown car hitches to town.Chet¢s a really nice man. He¢s in a wheelchair so he must have assistance. His hostel is donation only which means it¢s rare. It also makes this man an angel for allowing us to be here. There¢s a shower, patio, bunk beds, refrigerators, and that awful smell inside his garage! The smell of all the backpacks being indoors combines to create the worst human body odor stench I encountered on the entire length of the Appalachian Trail. I¢m excited about the idea of washing my clothes for the first time since returning. Even more excited that everyone else will be washing their stinking asses too. Everyone is up for finding a Mexican restaurant in town!We walk past what¢s referred to as ¢The Rainbow House¢ on our way into the town of Lincoln. It¢s colorful obviously, well groomed and guarded by a standard sized black poodle with the most perfectly groomed afro I¢ve ever seen on a dog. The poodle¢s looks like it would belong to Samuel L. Jackson! The perfectly shaved dog prances behind the black iron fence while wearing a rainbow colored t-shirt. Weirdest dog I¢ve ever seen!We couldn¢t find the restaurant that Chet told us about so we went to the one beyond the Subway. Horrible restaurant! Terrible service! The waitress would barely give us water refills despite the complete lack of patrons besides us. The margaritas ($6.95) didn¢t seem to have any tequila in them. Thankfully I anticipated this and only ordered water. I¢ve learned a few tricks about ordering drinks from Funk along the way. Funk is extremely pushy with the bartenders about the amount of alcohol in his mixed drinks. ¢If you don¢t question the bartender them, they¢ll rob you¢ is the ¢Funk¢sh¢way (Fung-shway).The chicken cantina was my choice. The topping was fruity salsa. The chicken was moistly grilled but the proportions weren¢t enough to settle the debts in our stomachs. After a long wait and a ridiculous debate with the waitress we practically have to beg her for our checks so we can leave.We walk to the liquor store close by the Subway and the towns only Outfitter. I looked for ginger beer but couldn¢t find the equipment to make ¢Dark and Stormy¢s¢. I stick up my nose and refused to purchase anything from the liquor store. The rest of the group all chipped in to purchase some cheap Black Velvet and Canadian Mist.I saw Six Course outside the outfitters! He¢s gained weight and looks older. He looks happier also! All the food that guy eats finally started sticking to something. His hair is longer and bleached blonde from the sun. I wasn¢t prepared for him to appear so differently than before! He was hanging around with Lowrod in town today. Lowrod is stuffing his face with doughnuts.Tree, Hot Foot, Kumquat, Stretcher, Yahtzee and I walk to the Price Chopper. They¢re all resupplying here but I don¢t need anything in particular. I decided that I needed to get an 8pc container of fried chicken for some ungodly reason. I even thought it¢d be a great idea to wash it down with orange juice. I would pay dearly for this transgression later in the night. I practically ate the entire box of greasy chicken before leaving the store. We loitered outside the grocery store for at least an hour.When we returned to Chet¢s hostel there was a loud commotion of rowdy voices. Michigan was there! When Michigan recognizes me he yell¢s, ¢SKIPPY!¢ and leapt into my arms! Haha! We briefly caught up and made plans to meet at the tavern and then to find somewhere to sing Karaoke. Chet allows people to draw or sign their names on his refrigerators. Poundtown¢s various notorious members signed the fridge earlier and Michigan did me the honor of adding my name to the list of members. I guess it is official¢¦¢Where do bad dogs go?¢¢¦¢TO THE POUND!¢We hang out laughing at the loaner clothes box contents. Tree tried on a size 9 pair of jeans and looks like a rock star. Hot Foot puts on some cheesy black cotton t-shirt and looks like a bad guy from an 80¢s karate movie. I¢m wearing purple corduroy capri pants and a tight black shirt. I¢m thinking about singing Prince songs at the Karaoke bar. Speaking of, it¢s really late before they finally go to the bar and all the greasy chicken in my stomach wants to go to bed. After they loathed and pestered me about going to the bar, I gave in and followed along. The bar is 1 mile away and it¢s 10pm. The long road walk made me impatient and grouchy. I didn¢t stay long at the bar. Strider sang, ¢I think I¢m Crazy¢ by Gnarls Barkley while Michigan tried to convince the other members of Poundtown that I was cool. I¢m not feeling very cool right now. I feel awkward because I¢ve never liked bars. I can¢t hear and that means I can¢t converse. There¢s not much else to do at a bar besides yakking away at each other.I left the bar and got lost going back. I made quite the detour and walked a long ways in the wrong direction. I left around 11pm. I stopped at McDonalds for some reason and had some more chicken. Chicken is a term used very loosely at McDonalds. 16 nuggets of Frankenstein meat and I¢m ready for some nightmarish sleep at Chet¢s hostel!The road walk back to Chet¢s made me full of disdain for civilization. Neon signs everywhere. Road signs tell me when, where and what to do. Moose sighting tours for the tourists. To your right you will see an expensive movie theater and if you look to your left you will see nothing but concrete! Cheesy baseball parks where rivers and streams once ran wild. I should in the Whites tonight and asleep in the woods. Here I am again on this sidewalk waiting for traffic so I can pass.I slept at Chet¢s house on a wooden deck beside a propane grill. Safari is nearby snoring through his tent so loudly that I have to get my ear plugs. Good thing I have this loud crinkly plastic backpack liner to keep my ear plugs nice and dry. I finally find them in the bottom of my pack after I¢ve successfully stopped the snoring¢¦briefly.