Date: 2009-09-15
From: Campsite South of Wildcat Mountain (Pinkham Notch)

To: Imp Campsite
Miles today: 12.1

Highlight: Unbelievable views from the Wildcat Mountains of the Pinkham Notch area and the Carter Mountain Range. Last night, there was a fox running around our campsite. I thought that it was just a small chipmunk, but Big Camera and Buttchinz had confirmed that it was much larger. I woke up to hear something jumping around close to my tent and I thought I heard it make a lunge at it, but I didn't feel the impact. I had been camping with my food inside my tent and midway through the evening, I decided to put it outside and hang it on a tree to avoid mice and other critters or animals from continuing to disrupt my much-needed sleep. I left the campsite around 10:00 am and took my time climbing up the first Wildcat Mountain. I was overly impressed by the views of Mt. Washington and the surrounding area that I stopped to take a plethora of pictures. I am sure that if my fellow thru-hiking friends had been with me, then they would have been annoyed at my picture taking, so I was happy to be hiking on my own and enjoying capturing each moment in time and view. I only recently developed a love for photography from a friend in Switzerland and, since returning to the States, I have continued to pursue this passion by capturing images. As Neal from Aberdeen also told me, he enjoys taking photos, but he also wants to ensure that taking photos doesn't take away from enjoying the moment and being present. Sure, photos can capture so much, but there is nothing like putting the camera away and breathing and tasting the air, feeling the coldness, and enjoying the other senses besides sight and sound. The first Wildcat Mountain was an absolute doozy. It was very steep again, but this is where I happen to fly. I love the rock scrambles and rock faces and I especially enjoy jumping from rock to rock during ascents or flat land. I find that it is a combination of 'urban walking' and hiking. I stopped on several occasions to turn around and look at the changing colours of the sky and of the mountainous terrain above and below my elevation. Trees were starting to turn yellow and the colours were magnified as the sun fought through the clouds. Essentially, I hiked on my own all morning until I arrived at Carter Notch Hut. I was surprised to see everyone there, but they all were tired from the climbs. Fortunately, there was some leftover pea soup, which I heated up on the caretaker's stove and began to chow down on as much food as possible. We headed out soonafter. Leaving the hut, I met Mozzie and Desperado, from England and Northern Ireland, respectively. Being Southbounders, they are leaving late in the season, but they will also have the chance to experience the most beautiful fall foliage as they continue their way down south. They also do not have deadline (like we do on October 15) to end their hike, meaning that they can take as long as they would like. I explained to Desperado that I know one Northern Ireland song and it is a song about George Best, the great Manchester United player and Northern Ireland international. I broke out into the song and he was so impressed that he took out his N. Ireland flag and we sang the song together. We both fumbled the words, but man, what a great connection out on the trail. Somehow I remember this song from all the soccer tapes that my dad and I used to watch when I was a kid. Some of them have just stuck with me over the years. I wished them the best of luck and it was just wonderful to see good-spirited people out on the trail, ready for adventure and a thirst to explore the mountains. Best of luck to you, Mozzie and Desperado, as you continue your trek towards Georgia. I didn't catch up with the others until one of the northern Carter peaks. I probably would have caught up to them earlier, but they had taken an inadvertent blue-blaze trail that bypasses Mt. Hight. I continued to follow the white blazes on the AT, which took me to the peak of Carter Dome and then up to Mt. Hight, where I was given an above-treeline view of the surrounding area. It had become so incredibly cold, however, due to the wind and I had to climb down the mountain within minutes, as I didn't want to begin to chill from my cold sweat. On the way down, my shoes continued to rip more and I developed three holes in my wool gloves, a result from all of the rock climbing that we had been doing. I caught up to Jungli and made it to Imp Shelter, where I met Houdini for the first time. The temperature had been dropping, so we quickly cooked our food, caught a mouse in a peanut butter jar, officially naming it as our 'MOUSE-COT' rather than mascot. Again, I hiked on my own for nearly the nearly the entire day because the others made an inadvertent