Date: 2019-09-01
From: Unofficial Campsite on Wildcat A (NH)

To: Osgood Campsite (NH)
Miles today: 9.7

I had trouble getting to sleep because I was cold. I thought that because it was supposed to be warmer and we were staying in the tent which is warmer than a shelter. But I finally had to break down and get out the space blanket. I slept pretty well after that although I was awake enough around 3am to notice that the wind had died down. I woke up about 5:15 and got up to check the viewpoint. We were still about 30 minutes away from sunrise, but the sky was already changing to bright reds and oranges. I went back to the tent to wake up SC. She had asked me to get her up so she could see the sunrise, but she complained she was cold and stayed in sleeping bag for a while longer. It was another cold morning. We started hiking about 8 and I wore my jacket for the first time hiking. The first 2 miles were the uneven ridge line of the Wildcats. We had camped on A and crossed C, D, and E (B must be off the trail?). On D there was a observation deck. We sat on top and had snacks while admiring the views of the Presidentials. We saw a couple of hikers there that we had met just before the roller coaster. Today we had clear views and could see the buildings and towers on Mt. Washington. It would have been a great day to walk across those peaks. However, we are at least a day away from there. Between Wildcats D and E was a gondola. There were a bunch of clean-smelling people hanging out there. SC wanted to take the gondola down because so many people had comments on Guthook about the descent from Wildcat E to Pinkham Notch.It was about 3 miles down. We put our trekking poles away in anticipation of using our hands a lot. I will say it was difficult. There were lots of places where it was exposed. In one in particular I had to crawl down this rock face and then there were wooden steps bolted into the rock when it got very steep. I¢m so glad we were doing this on a nice day. But like all things, it eventually came to an end. I actually had a harder time when we got down to the Notch because the elevation profile looked flat when in reality it was climbing up ten feet and then down ten feet over and over again. We did run into a couple hikers we had met just south of Catawba, VA. We made it to the road and saw cars parked along the road as far as the eye could see. The parking lot had a sign saying it was full. I was dreading going to the visitors center because I figured it would be packed. However, we went in and there was hardly anyone there. Apparently they are all out hiking. We headed straight for the bathrooms, then went to the pack room to charge electronics. While they were charging, we went to the gift shop and I got postcards. They had a thru-hiker special of soup and bread for $2. I had the zucchini coconut soup with gluten free bread and SC had the chili with white bread. Next we went back to the pack room and I tried to clean my food bag. I had a bottle of olive oil that somehow leaked on everything. After about 90 minutes it was time to get back on trail.Osgood Campsite was 4.8 miles and they were supposed to be relatively easy miles. We crossed the Washington Auto Road, and then ran into a guy we had first met in Maryland and hiked with for a while in Pennsylvania. He had hiked from the Delaware Water Gap to Vermont previously, so he had skipped up to Vermont once he finished Pennsylvania. Anyway, he had hiked across Mts. Washington and Madison today with this beautiful weather. We pressed on to the campsite. I got there about 7 and it was starting to get dark. SC and I hung out with some other hikers by the fire and made dinner. Before we went to the platform to get ready for bed, I went to the bear box by the first tent platform because Sidewinder had texted SC to check the bear box. Inside was a note and some trash compactor bags that SC could use because she had lost her packcover!Anyway, it¢s a late night here, but we have a tent on a wooden platform with a bear box and privy nearby. And we don¢t have to pay to stay here. It¢s supposed to rain tonight.