Date: 2008-07-03
From: Galehead Hut

To: Crawford Notch
Miles today: 16.0
Weather: fog

Day eight starts off with Ishmael getting the easy out with breakfast silverware duty while the rest of us get blanket duty. Here is a prime example of why YOU DON¢T USE HUT BLANKETS!We are charged with shaking and folding blankets. Three blankets per bunk, 50 bunks. We shake the accumulated dust of the blankets outdoors (and dusty they are) and then fold them. In the course of folding them you get a pretty good look at the residue on each one. I gotta say, some folks were either busy-busy in a guy-gal kinda way and left messes, or there was a few lonely dudes hiking in our White Mountains! GROSS!!!Ninety minutes of this and I¢m outa there. A late start of almost 10 am with sixteen miles to go, including the hellish ascent up the South Twin Trail with cold legs. I¢m supposed to get to the Ethan Pond Trailhead AND hitchhike up to the Highland Center by 7:00 pm¢¦ten hours away. It¢s time to put on the jets and go. The climb starts ok¢¦1100 vertical ups in .8 miles. In road terms it¢s like a 40% grade. In ¢Paul¢s¢ terms¢¦it¢s straight f***ing up! Halfway up I run into the slow moving body of a very nice day hiker. We exchanged names but I never remember them until the 3¢rd or 4¢th time I hear it. We talk for a few minutes while we rest and I decide to summit with him. Always nice to talk on the way up, it means your pace is good and your not going to lose the leftover breakfast which is better. So this gentleman, a 62 years young retired Army Ranger (where do they all come from???) recounts the last time he climbed this, actually he climbed and had to go back down for something a hiking partner forgot. He hurt himself severely and ended up in five months of rehab. This ascent was a bit personal to him. It makes my ascent with him all the more special. Up we go, me chattering like a freaking canary and him stopping and shaking his head every time I tell him ¢We¢re almost there brother!¢ Poor Cindy¢¦she knows this babble well!Finally, 34 of the way up he turns around after more of my babbling and tells me (with a big smile on his face) ¢Ya know, I haven¢t told anyone to fuck off yet today¢¦do you ever shut up?¢Nahhh, I tell him eight days in the woods with nobody to talk to on the trail means he gets all eight days on it at once. We share a good laugh and we continue on. I do tell him though after we summit he¢s going to get his picture taken giving his ¢favorite¢ climb the one finger salute. So after a few minutes it¢s time to put the jets back on and go¢¦.fifteen more! The rest of the stroll was pretty uneventful, me against the clock. At the end of the road is Cindy and what I¢m hoping for is any hotel with a bed and a shower. As I near Ethan Pond and the trailhead I¢m hoping the northbound train comes and saves me from hitching a ride. Not that I mind, it¢s pretty easy to get there, but I¢m afraid eight days of scum buildup will make the driver puke in his car! Not so¢¦no train. Off to the trailhead and it¢s 6:15 pm. Sixteen miles in a shade under nine hours. I¢m a virtual Airbus 340 baby!So, the 20¢th car picks me up. A minute or so after I get in the driver nicely asks me to take my shirt off and hold it outside the car. I¢m thinking either he¢s gay and curious or I really really stink. I think it¢s better than no ride and off goes the shirt. Fifteen minutes later I¢m at Highland drinking a beer on the phone with Cindy with the wonderful news¢¦she got us a room at the Jefferson Inn in Jefferson. We are styling! A few minutes later she picks me up and we are off. At the B&B she asks for the clothes to start a load while I¢m showering. ¢Damn, what a woman¢ I tell myself. I take my clothes off, stick them in a stuff sack to prevent the release of any biologically unsound smells, warn her NOT to let the clothes come in contact with her skin, and to run away as soon as the lid is shut. Upstairs she goes, in the shower I goes, and an hour later I ask if she would be disappointed if we didn¢t hike the next day¢¦I was zapped. No problemo, we are off for dinner. The rest of the night¢¦dinner, fireworks (not those fireworks pigs¢¦it was July 5¢th) and off to bed in a thankfully soft mattress.