Date: 2004-08-29
From: Hanover, NH 

To: Goose Pond 
Miles today: 14.2
Weather: haze

8/30/04¢Day 1 Start: Hanover, NH @ 9:30; Stop: .5 mi. s. of Goose Pond @ 4:45Mileage: On Trail:14.2 Cum: 14.2 Off Trail: 0 Cum: 0Weather: Hot, hazy, humidMajor Landmarks: Moose MountainMajor Milestones: Starting my last sectionDay one of what I hope will be my last section hike on the AT. It was a real summer day, unlike most of our summer, and it didn¢t take long for my clothes to become completely sweat soaked. The trail was dry and wide open, much different from the northern section of the Long Trail with Hammock Hanger: I hiked a couple of weeks ago, where we mostly walked through and had to fight brambles which obscured the trail. But there was no problem with water supplies, unlike the AT here in New Hampshire, where all the brooks are mostly puddles. So, as usual, you take the bad with the good.        Nancy dropped me off in Hanover where we said our goodbyes and I headed up the trail, while she took her mother and her young friend Ryan to the Montshire Science Museum. After walking through the town, the trail entered a beautiful pind forest, passed Velvet (? note: spelling hard to read) Rocks Shelter and went through many easy ups and downs before reaching Three Mile Road where the trail began a 1.6 mile climb up Moore Moose Mountain. There were no signs of moose all the way up the mountain, across the top and down the other side. On the Long Trail we had seen many, many signs of moose but not one moose. I¢m bound to see one in New Hampshire or Maine.        After reaching the south summit of Moose Mountain, the trail headed down to the side trail to Moose Mountain Shelter, and then another 0.3 miles to the trail to the new Moose Mtn. Shelter. The old shelter had been my destination for the day, but rather than hike the 12 mile down to the shelter, I decided to go on to the new one, which was made of large logs and quite nice. The only problem was, the water supply was just a mud puddle, instead of a flowing stream. After a nice break there, I decided that rather than hike the 1.6 miles round trip back to the old shelter, I would continue hiking north. The map and the data book both showed a stream less than 2 miles ahead where I could get water and then find a tent site. Wrong again. This stream was dry also. What¢s up here? Didn¢t New Hampshire get all the rain we got this summer? Apparently not. I did finally find a small section where the water was barely moving with a tent site nearby. So, that¢s where I¢ve stopped for the night.        I returned to the trail today after attending another wedding yesterday. It was great to see our friends the Goldsmiths there from Georgia. They had started me out on the trail 3 years ago, picking me up at the Atlantic airport, putting me up for the night, feeding me a hearty breakfast and then delivering me to the trail. They even hiked the first mile up to the top of Springer Mountain with me, not from Amicalola Falls (?sp? N.), but from USFS 42. So, even though they were in town to attend the wedding, it was great to have them here as I begin my final push to Katahdin.Photos: #1 Through the marshes of NH; #2 From Moose Mountain