Date: 2018-09-30
From: Mount Washington 

To: Pinkham Notch
Miles today: 13.5
Weather: light rain

There are some days when I cannot wait to write my journal entry. This is one of them.  Again we attempted the leapfrog up from my last exit on US RT 2 to the summit of Mount Washington. The plan is to hike down Mount Washington northbound to Pinkham Notch, then choose another good weather day to hike UP the south side. This hike will leave me with a 22 miles gap to fill in. So our day began with a quick stop in the gift shop. Hugs was looking for a ski mask of sorts. In the end we each just tied a bandana over our face. It worked. On the way out we ran into Chuckles. He¢s a thruhiker of seasons past, but he was there enjoying the Whites. He slept on Mount Washington last night and caught some amazing sunrise photos!  It was not as windy as yesterday, but still plenty windy. There was Rime Ice everywhere making the rocks slick and difficult to maneuver over. Big Kahuna lead us girls part way down where it was more safe. He checked over our gear, gave me his sunglasses, and sent us on our way. He still takes care of us. I miss hiking with him. Less than 15 minutes into my hike I knew this day would be my best hike ever! Being above tree line, the views were endless! Literally eternal 360 degrees views! I could see for hundreds of miles! Awestruck is the only word to describe it. This hike was hard on Hugs. Since her last big fall she¢s taken a few extra zeros, but her pain is obvious. She is forced to move at a slothier pace. I felt so bad for her, but she said she wasn¢t about to go home not having hiked the Whites. And so she did! Hurting or not, she soaked it all up just the same as me.  I was ahead of Hugs all day, but I kept her within sight or no more than a half mile or so behind me. When I thought I should wait, I would just sit on a rock and pick my view. This is the life!  As I was hiking I began to stare out at the vastness of the land. Lost in my own thoughts I was singing ¢This land is your land, this land is my land¢... My dad would have loved this day! I really miss him. I slowly hiked on down to the bottom of Mount Washington. It had taken about 4.5 hours. Not bad. I waited outside Madison Hut for Hugs. This Hut is closed for the season but usually offers up hot soup for a minimal fee. Today I would have a cold pork chop sandwich for lunch. There were 3 other day hikers lunching outside with me. We shivered, conversed, and ate while we looked up at Mount Madison. She will be our next big challenge at 5367ft elevation. After Hugs arrived and ate a few bites of food we began our journey UP Madison¢s steep ascent. I was surprised by how easily I managed the climb up. It¢s possible that I¢m getting pretty good at this mountain climbing business!  Big Kahuna had warned us in advance of her very steep descent. He was right. It was far trickier than climbing up. The wind and temperature changes added to our challenge. On one side of the mountain it was hot and sunny. On the other side it was windy and cold. I began a series of systematically buttoning up my flannel shirt and throwing on my jacket, then taking off my jacket and unbuttoning my shirt. This happened with every twist going down. Madison was a challenge, but since conquering Abol Slide, It felt more like a quiz than a test. Our only nonnegotiable today was that we MUST be down Madison at least into tree line before dark. We were. Darkness came fast. We had planned a 9pm pick up at Pinkham Notch but that changed quickly. Hugs had taken 3 more falls today. No real injuries, but the jolts just add to what is already injured, and fall #3 did its number. I know what that¢s like, I¢ve been there.  With headlamps on I stayed closer to Hugs, feeling bad that I could not help her. We had 5.8 miles to go and it would take every bit of 5 or 6 hours to get to our extraction point. Every move she made caused pain.  I personally love night hiking. However, it is not Hugs¢ favorite thing. All was well until we found ourselves about a half mile off trail. Losing trail does happen easier in the dark. We can¢t really look around for trail options because we use our lights to watch every single rocky step we take. It was during this misadventure when we realized our Guthook¢s apps had gone crazy!  Uh oh! This is our primary navigation tool. We hiked back UP the 1/2 mile we had just hiked down and redirected ourselves with limited use from Guthook¢s. There must have been major cloud coverage messing with the satellite. Similar occurrences happened at least 3 more times over the next two hours. One time I landed myself right in the middle of a stream because of it...well, it and my own impatience.  I¢m not sure what the temp was, but I could see my breath. Hugs stayed dry(one good thing for her) and I sloshed on in the cold with completely soaked through boots. Oddly the cold feels really good on my feet. I just don¢t like added weight from WET boots.So we continued our trek. At one point we heard Big Kahuna yelling for us. We yelled back but he didn¢t hear. He was on the wrong trail looking for us, but had not yet figured that out. We were worried that he was worried!  By now it was after 11pm. Miraculously the satellite phone started going through. I regained cell service and Guthook¢s was back on track. The whole big mess was settled. Papa Big Swig knew we were safe, Big Kahuna did too. Just 2 miles or so to go. Which makes it a very late extraction because Hugs really can¢t just ¢GO¢. Despite hurting so badly, she really kept a great attitude through it all. So we kept moving forward as we had all day. Exhaustion was setting in after 15+ hours of hiking. I would often times stop to wait by sitting on a rock. Eventually she would catch me and the same routine would start again. That¢s what happened next. She had just caught up to me. I started walking ahead and hadn¢t gone too far when I heard a grunt. Mind you when night hiking I just shine my light down and watch my steps. But this grunt made me look up. Right there beside me less than a foot away was a moose! I had already hiked past it¢s rear end and was almost up to its head! Now I¢m usually ¢G¢ rated, but some moments in life make you lose your morals! This was one of those moments! I looked up at Hugs who already saw it and yelled ¢shit!! It¢s a big ass moose¢!!! Upon her instructions I ran back to her...right past it¢s hind legs! She was sooo scared! I was thinking this is the coolest thing I¢ve ever experienced! Using our headlamps and flashlights we could see he was eating leaves from shrubs along the trail. I started snapping photos. My flash wouldn¢t work. Hugs tried to get some too. We waited for him to move on. And waited, and waited... he was happy right there. At the same time we could hear another moose off in the brush. We never saw it, but it was there making the same grunts as the one in front of us. Hugs was doubly scared! Just then, it began to lightly snow.We decided to bushwhack around the moose on the trail. I went first as Hugs was clinging to me. Every step I took she said ¢don¢t leave me¢! At one point I took a step forward just to get pulled back by my backpack! It was comical! I was having the time of my life! So was Hugs, despite being scared beyond reason! Mr. Moose grunted one more time as we passed his eating space. Other than that, I really don¢t think he even cared we were there.  We giggled the whole way to Pinkham Notch. It was well after midnight when we saw Big Kahuna waiting there patiently. We couldn¢t wait to tell our story!!! Not ONE of our photos turned out. I told Hugs nobody¢s going to believe this one! But we know!  Until Next Time Blue Raccoon (2018)Where¢s your faith?