Date: 2005-07-31
From: Franconia Notch, NH

To: Near Kinsman Notch, NH
Miles today: 16.6
Weather: light rain

16.6 miles todayNear Kinsman Notch, NH. I kept waking up last night wondering if it was getting close to breakfast time yet. It finally got light out. I started packing up at 5:45am and left about 6. I had already walked .8 miles off the A.T. to near the trailhead parking, so I only had 1 mile left to get to Indianhead Resort. When I got there, I went into the lobby and sent in some journal entries and answered a few emails. Last year they opened up at 7am, but it was getting close to 7 and not much was happening, so I went up and asked about the buffet...7:30 this year. That was ok because I answered a few more emails. At 7:30 I started eating. :-))) I ate for a whole hour. I didn't know I was that hungry, but I must have really run up a calorie deficit in the last few days. They even had a guy that was making omelettes to order...I ordered two!!I had lots of fresh fruit, watermelon, pineapple, strawberries and grapes. I also had lots of bacon, sausage, eggs and toast along with some orange juice and lots of coffee...oh, my stomach hurt. ;-((( I left and walked the 1.8 miles back to the trailhead and started making a few hard miles on the A.T.  They really were hard because it was uphill and I felt like I ate too much. About 1/2 mile in, I saw a hiker sitting on a big rock that I recognized...the hiker, not the rock. ;-)) It was Fubar who I had met in '03 and again last New Years on Springer. He was '03s bad boy, but has really tried changing his ways since then. I sat down and we talked about half an hour before we hiked on to Lonesome Lake Hut together. I was still a hurtin' pup from having eaten too much for breakfast. I drank alot of water while I was there and sat around for a while. Fubar hiked on and I left about 10 minutes later. That's the last hut in the Whites. I was hiking up Kinsman Mountain and it was another beautiful, cool day. I smelled some cologne and thought to myself, Skeemer must be back on the A.T, but I was wrong...it was a day hiker. Sorry Skeemie, not sure why I thought of you when I smelled cologne in the woods. ;-))) I had gotten to the summit of South Peak of Kinsman Mountain at about 1:30pm before I saw the first 2 nobos of the day. They were Brittanica and Crocwalker. We talked about 15 minutes before I hiked on. It felt really good on the 2 summits of Kinsman Mountain. There was a brisk wind and cool temperatures which felt very refreshing. I hiked on and got to Eliza Brook Shelter. It's good to be back to shelters again. I signed in the register for the first time since the shelter just out of Gorham. I was sitting there thinking that I was finally feeling better after that BIG breakfast when another sobo walked in. His name is Rooster. I left the shelter about 15 minutes later and ran into a nobo that really dragged my spirits down. He was the unhappiest person I think I've ever met on the trail. Even his name stinks...Dump. I hiked away from him pretty fast and started feeling good again real fast. Sorry Dump, hope you were just having a bad day and aren't like that all the time. It was a very steep down off Kinsman. Near the bottom I ran into another 2 nobos by the names of Mellow and Jazz. In another 15 minutes, I ran into the last nobos of the day by the names of Slips and GG. I feel sorry for all the nobos today, because I talked to each of them for quite a while...except Dump!! I had planned on a short day today and was going to get water at Olesons Brook, but the water was almost black so I hiked on down to Kinsmans Notch. I didn't want to climb Moosilauke until tomorrow morning. It's one of my favorite mountains and climbing it early in the morning and watching the waterfalls is how I wanted to see it this year. I walked over to the trailhead parking area and found one guy that was willing to talk. He and his wife were waiting on another hiker, so they couldn't leave. ;-))) I talked to them almost an hour while I wasted some time. My plan is to sleep at the base of Moosilauke and climb it early tomorrow for a short 9 mile day into Glencliff. I yogied some water off the guy and that's all he had...was water. I was hoping the request for water would bring about an offer of a coke. ;-))) The hiker they were waiting on finally showed up so when they left, I hiked in the woods and found a nice soft flat spot to sleep tonight. I can't believe how nice the weather has been lately. I hope it lasts at least one more day so I have some views on top of Moosilauke.