Date: 2003-09-13
From: Glencliff, NH

To: Beaver Brook Shelter
Miles today: 7.9
Weather: overcast clouds

I slept sooooo much better out in a tent in the yard at the hostel. I got up once during the night to use the bathroom, and the moon was amazing...it lit up the whole yard. I could see someone sleeping out under the stars (found out later it was Librarian)...it certainly was a good night for it. I was feeling much better this morning (despite having a few beers last night), and am ready to start the Whites. It was still hard to leave...Laffy Taffy, JJ, Jersey, Puff Daddy, Espy and Bluebird are all taking the day off. Puff Daddy was trying to convince me to stay another day, but it didn't work. I can't take another 3 day break, as I feel like I'm starting all over again when I do head out. So, at 10:00 (after watching the rest of Monty Python's Holy Grail and watching parts of "Into Thin Air"...not the best movie to watch before you head out to climb mountains), I hit the Trail. Oh, yeah, before I left, I weighed my pack...50 pounds, just as I thought. I guess I'll j!ust never be able to "go light". I'll be able to get rid of a few pounds throughout the next few days by eating lots, and I don't have to carry as much water right now because it's not as hot during the day. I'll still be hard pressed to get below 45 pounds, though. What I may do is see what things I don't use at all through the Whites, and send them home. I don't think that the extra weight will be a problem, though...I was able to do fine with it hiking up Mt. Moosilauke, a 3600 foot change in elevation. The hike today was somewhat intense...not steep, but constant, relentless UP. I stopped part way up to have something to eat. I hadn't had anything since 8 a.m., and definitely needed some fuel to make it to the top. While I was stopped, Librarian, Kneepad and Big Bird passed me. They told me that we had a 2:00 summit time, if we didn't make it by then we'd have to turn around. It took me a minute to realize they were referring to the movie we'd just watched. S!ome of the people who died on Mt. Everest during Jon Krakauer's (sp?) expedition ignored the turn around time and continued to the summit. I guess you'd have to be out here to find this humorous...I said that I didn't care about the turn around time...I was summitting Moosilauke today, dammit! I guess I realized last night that hikers have reached a different level of humor when we spent over an hour being highly entertained by each others "poop" stories (Please note, I said "different" level, not "higher"). Anyway...back to the hike...this was our first foray above tree line! Yay! The only problem was...when we started out, it was clear and sunny, however, the clouds had rolled in and we had no views at all from the summit. The hike up really reminded me of hiking Katahdin, as far as the terrain went. It was great to reach the top...even though we couldn't see anything. There were lots of people at the summit...a couple of groups, as well as some day hikers. We ate lunch, got our pics taken in front of the summit sign and attempted t!o wait for a break in the clouds. It was too chilly, however, and Big Bird and I took off. We were only going another 2 miles to the next shelter, as there wasn't another place to stay for 9 miles past that. After hoofing it up Moosilauke (which took 3+ hours), I know I wasn't ready to do another 11 miles! (We did all make the summit before the turn around time, by the way!) The other guys caught up with us just before the shelter, and we all rested here. We got some water, and I decided to tent for the night. Bear Bait came in after us...we thought she might be able to break free of the hostel vortex. Then a group from Dartmouth showed up. They are camped right next to me...I'm hoping that they get quieter than they're being right now. I have my headphones on and can still hear them. I'm still glad that I'm not in the shelter, though. I heard someone else come in, which puts it at 6 in the shelter without me. It would be crowded if I had stayed there, and I def!initely wouldn't get any sleep. My feet felt good all day today, and my cold is mostly gone...I hope I'm ready to do a 15 miler tomorrow. We could see the mountains to the north beckoning to us through the clouds just after dinner... :)