Date: 2015-07-13
From: Manchester Center

To: Green Mt Hostel
Miles today: 17.8
Weather: overcast clouds

7/13, slack pack out of Green Mountain Hostel, 17.8Slack packing, or hiking miles with just a day pack, is one of the ways to still cover miles, but get a slightly restful day. The logistics are to get a shuttle ride to a distance away from hostel or town, then hike back with plans to get the same ride the next day. For us Jeff, the Green Mountain Hostel owner, shuttled us 18 miles north and we hiked back to Manchester, where we could buy groceries, make dinner and have another good nights sleep. Slack packing is also a good way to hike miles while nursing minor injuries, like Bill's knee and my achilles. Our day started when I pressed the brew button on the Mr. Coffee at 5 am. I poured a quick bowl of cereal, had some orange juice and fresh fruit and by the time I was finished I poured a cup of coffee and headed up to my room to dress and pack my day pack. When slack packing we carry water, snacks/lunch, privy bag and some first aid but otherwise its hiking poles and go! We loaded Jeff's Suburban at 6:10 and headed for the trailhead. We stopped off on the way at the post office to get our parcels. I was expecting a four day resupply from home, Bill had several packages with different shoes, socks and a different knee brace, and we had sent a box of extra supplies forward to ourselves, that ended up in Albuquerque last week, but we forwarded to here. As sometimes happens with the USPS I received my box, Bill's shoes and knee brace arrived, but his new socks and our forwarded box were not in. Something to worry about later so off we headed to hike. We were on trail at 7 and started hiking so fast I wondered if we were just going to run the whole way. Not to worry though, the rocks and roots did their part to slow us down to a reasonable pace and soon we were comfortably moving along. With one minor exception the rest of our hike was uneventful. We had good weather, met lots of north-bounders, since we were hiking southbound, and talked a lot about reducing our pack weight for the White Mountains, known as "The Whites". The minor exception to our day was a moment brought to you by yours truly. I have mentioned before my propensity to get focused on the trail and footing, and walk into low hanging branches. Today I really stepped up my game. We were cruising pretty quick and enjoying a period of quiet, when we all just hike without talking as we each think about whatever we like. During times like his I often have a chance for some prayers and thoughts as they come to mind, but today I am not sure what I was thinking when I found a fallen tree with the top of my forehead, striking it hard enough that it put me down on the log below that I was stepping over. Aside from the immediate embarrassment the pain was more than other times, so I was pretty sure I cut my head. I felt around my scalp and did not have blood on my fingers so after a few self disciplining statements about getting my head off my feet we hiked on. My head was stinging pretty good so a few minutes later I lifted my hat and felt my scalp again, this time verifying that I had indeed cut my scalp. It wasn't bad enough to do anything about right away so we hiked on. A few miles later as we were hiking uphill, and sweating heavily, I noticed that the sweat from my forehead was showing some blood so from then on I kept my hat in place in order to apply a little pressure until we were done hiking. We finished the 17.8 miles at 3:00, caught a couple hitches back to town and were at the pub enjoying a pint by 4:00. My head had stopped bleeding by then, but my sweaty hair was matted with blood so I kept my hat on as a courtesy to others. We ventured over to the grocery, bought dinner fixings, and called Jeff for our ride back to the hostel. There I was able to shower and clean my head, verifying a half inch cut that had already scabbed over nicely since I have always been a good healer. I decided to have bratwurst, steamed vegetables and potato salad for dinner while IB and JP made a huge mess in the kitchen preparing a salmon dish over a bed of vegetables and salad greens. We really enjoy having a kitchen to prepare decent meals. Otter helped me with my brats and veggies, and had a couple egg rolls from the Chinese resturant. After dinner we cleaned the kitchen, packed our packs and re-laundered our hiking clothes for tomorrow. We leave again at 6 am so Jeff can drop us at the same place as today, but this time we will head north with all of our gear. Making things interesting though will be the company on our ride north. Maps, Moxie and Penguin had zeroed in Manchester today and we ran into them at the pub. As we talked about our slack day, they decided to call Jeff and see if they could do that tomorrow. Sure enough he made room and the three ladies will liven up our ride in the morning as we all cram into Jeff's Suburban to head for the same trailhead where we head north as they head south. We hope to meet them again up the trail as the seven of us seem to end up laughing hard and long at each other whenever we meet. For now I am headed to call Kathy, and then into bed for some rest. Silverback