Date: 2008-08-23
From: Gorham, NH

To: Gentian Pond Campsite, NH
Miles today: 11.8
Weather: clear sky

Last nite we all went out to a fantastic Italian place called Saladino's, in Gorham. I, as usual, ate enough for 2 people, but they had great tiramisu.We (A.M., V8, Karen, and I) enjoyed a great conversation and all turned in around 9 p.m.As usual, didn't sleep all that great. Never do the nite before I hike out. We decided to leave @ 7:30 a.m., and my non-morning self hit snooze till a bit after 7..whoops, made me a bit late.Karen drove us to the trail head and it was a foggy morning and already quite warm. Looks like great weather, with possible rain Monday a.m.Said goodbye to Karen...again (getting REALLY tired of it) and we were off @ 7:54 a.m.First was a 2 mile climb up Mt. Hayes. Finally, back to hiking for 99% of today instead of rock climbing like in the Whites. The climb was long, but on the way up we got above the fog and man did I get a great pic of the fog-filled valley below. It was gorgeous.The gradient of this climb wasn't totally straight up, so it was better than most climbs recently.We made it to the top, sun shiking warm, a slight breeze and already in the 70's. Ahhh...to have a day where keeping warm is not a concern. We took a break, I leaned against my pack and ate a great new snack I discovered...Caribou Coffee Mocha Granola Bars....mmmmmm.We probably sat there for close to 30 minutes and talked, a really great moment today. The top of Mt. Hayes is a rocky bald, but not quite out of treeline, but the trees are short.We moved ahead and now it was down and then back up for another climb up Cascade Mtn. This mountain had rolling peaks, so we weren't quite sure where the top was @ first. Took another break here, and again..enjoyed that wonderful sun.Now it was a steep down, and we planned on getting to Trident Col Campsite and stopping for lunch. This down was hard on my knees today.We finally made it though, and went the .1 to the campsite. V8 was sweet enough to fill my waters for me, so I sat in the grass with the sun on me again. A guy, Chowder (CO) and his adorable dog, Buddy showed up. A.M. and V8 got back and all of us ate lunch. I noticed the totally energy-less expression on everybody's face..including mine. It was sort of funny but was also an indication of how tired we all were.Ate lunch and headed on. It was 79 degrees in the shade today, pretty warm.Next was our last sgnificant climb of the day up to Dream Lake. We seemed to be climbing forever, but finally got to Dream Lake, which we were all considering as a possible stopping place. We all decided we'd rather have a long day today, making the next 3 days very short.With that decided, we headed on the last couple of miles to Gentian Pond Campsite. The trail was pretty fantastic today, some muddy and rooty spots but it awas hiking trail, which made me optimistic.Of course these last few miles seemed to drag and much of it was downhill. We figured we'd be @ the campsite between 5:30-6:00 and we arrived @ 5:40 p.m. after stopping to get water.There's a college group here, another woman out for the weekend and several thru-hikers in the shelter. Gentian Pond is quite small but beautiful.So A.M. brought V8's hammock for this leg, so we found 2 spots to hang and I helped her put her hammock up. She's a quick study so no doubt she'll have this down by the time we get to Grafton Notch. We had to be ceative though, there's a a JRB Shenendoah quilt, but I forgot to ask (before we left) if they had the suspension (which is how it hangs from the ends of the hammock) for the quilt, and they don't, so we're using the shock cord to tie it up for now...not pretty but I think it will work.I got camp set up, and man did today wear me out completely. I made dinner, but my stomach wasn't feeling so hot, not sure why. I carry prilosec, so I took one hoping it would do the trick.We've all decided to just go 5 miles to the first shelter past the MAINE BORDER tomorrow and we've decided to not leave camp till 10'ish, so we can enjoy our incredible weather and get some good sleep after a very tiring day (not so much hard hiking..just long).Oh, it's 9:30 p.m. and I just had to go tell that college group (a group of freshman in an orientation led by a junior) to be quiet. Geeze, the things they talk about, and they don't realize how much sound carries out here. They were very quiet after I yelled at them...just kidding, I didn't yell.My stomach is killing me so I'm going to listen to some music and try to go to sleep. Tomorrow....tomorrow...I enter my 14th and final state of this OH SO LOOOOONG journey. I'm glad A.M. and V8 will be here to celebrate with me. I got us all one of my childhood favs to celebrate..strawberry poprocks, this fun candy that pops and fizzles in your mouth. I bet they've never had them before.It's 69 degrees right now..I'm loving it.~Certain