Date: 2008-08-05
From: Greenleaf Hut, NH

To: Garfield Campsite, NH
Miles today: 3.9
Weather: light rain

Last nite, A.M. arrived before 8 pm. She was excited to be back, and it was great seeing her again (we miss you V8!).Karen and I had eaten a late lunch, so I got hungry and decided to go to McDonalds. Karen hopped in, and I drove. I got my hamburgers and m&m McFlurry and I started the 5 min. drive back, when all of a sudden..I look down and realize I was going 46 in a 30 mph zone, and guess who else noticed....a freakin cop!People, I got pulled over! This was the third time I'd driven a car since May! Not the greatest record huh?So I wait, and Karen is laughing at me, and the cop comes up..I give him my license and explain I was hiking the AT, was in town, had just stopped for food and was headed back to the motel. He said he clocked me @ 46, and I said, "That's absolutely correct." (I don't generally try any tactics but just pure honesty when pulled over..I'd appreciate that if I were a cop).So he goes back to his car and we wait...wait...wait..wait, (I'm like going oh shit, when it takes this long you always get a ticket). He took so long, I just started eating my hamburgers while waiting! I mean, icecream isn't supposed to be liquid either! LOLFinally he comes back and hands me my stuff and just asks me to slow down! WHEEEW!! Lucked out on that one!I had a restless nite, crazy dreams where I was telling people off. I think it was residual pissy-ness from the hospital bill.We got up @ 6:30, and got everything packed up. We needed to drop the car off @ Zealand Trail and then Karen took us back to the Bridal Path trailhead. We got started @ 9:45 a.m. It was 68 degrees and overcast when we started.The Bridal Path was a tough climb today, and long. It went from spots of sun for a few minutes to dropping to 60 degres and cold rain, to no rain and wind. Crappy weather..still.We got back to Greenleaf Hut @ 12:30 p.m., and devoured our lunches. I also bought a brownie, which tasted a bit odd, but I didn't care.We left close to 1 p.m., and still had 1.1 up to the AT ad Mt. Lafayette. During lunch, it went from whiteout to perfectly clear in minutes, and then back to fog. There was a chart in the hut explaining how moisture is driven up mountai sides as if it's in a chute, and then it condenses and forms fog\clouds\rain. It's unique to mountainous areas.Ironically, it was warmer on top of Lafayette @ 67 degrees. It was windy, but warmer than it was the day we had hiked over to this point.We were officially doing AT miles @ 2:23 p.m. It was exposed for about 2 miles, and I eventually put my rainjacket on for wind protection, along with my hat. It misted at times.The trail was very rocky and bouldery with many steep slabs of slick rock that required tons of butt scooting for me, or I'd lower myself down with my arms. 1 mph pace tops for this hiker. I'm stronger on ups, but A.M. and V8 both kick my ass going down. I watch them and really wonder how they do it.There is just a lot of very steep hiking, and on wet rocks, it's slow going for me in particular. After descending Mt. Lafayette, we finally got back down into treeline. There was a "bump" of a climb, and I say this sarcastically, because in states like Marylad, this would have been a significant climb, but it is dwarfed on the topos by Mt. Garfield and Lafayette. I actualy thought it was the beginning of Garfield, and so did 2 other guys...whoops.So we realized we hadn't seen Garfield Pond yet, and knew it wasn't the last climb of the day. By this time it was very windy, totally foggy and misty, and not raining, but the forest was dripping from the moisture hanging everywhere.We finally saw Garfield pond a littl around 5:30 p.m., and started up a very steep and never-ending climb. This was supposedly about 1 mile up, but it sure seemed longer by this point. And then we met a young muscular guy with a daypack coming sobo. You all won't believe this.He (and another guy, Matt who we met on our way down Garfield) are doing something called The Hut Traverse, a.k.a. Crazy Person's Hike (ok..I made that up). These guys are hiking from Pinkham Notch (the north end of the Presidentials), hiking south all the way to Lonesome Lake Hut, for a grand total of 52 miles, and the goal is to do it in less tha 24 hrs! They'd been hiking since 2:00 a.m., and the first guy we met had 9 miles left. They said they take the shortest route, so it's not all on the AT and they avoid exposed summits as much as possible, so they don't go over Mt. Washington for instance. BUT STILL!! I would like to do 52 miles in this terrain in say...2 weeks? The huts know they're coming so they get fed as they go.Not sure what happens in the brains of these young competitive men, but I obviously am incapable of tapping into that portion of my brain. Hope they both made it.Anyway, climbing up Garfield was a lot of steep rock climbing. Sometimes stepping up on ledges\rock walls that were like steps, but you're sideways and the ledge is 6" wide. Oh..and it's all wet! Seriously the toughest hiking I've done, reminiscent of our descent to Eliza Brook going sobo.I kept looking ahead thinking the top was next, because how could it take so damn long to go 1 mile, but it took forever. Feet totally soaked, and you are mentally exhausted because you have to "think" about every step you take.We finally got to the top, and saw some wonderful rock outcroppings with views of FREAKIN WHITE NOTHINGNESS! It was not quite above treeline, but almost, so the wind was wicked strong and cold.Oh, for hangers, once getting down from Lafayette, there were possible stealthsites for sure before the top of Garfield.We now started an almost straight down descent for .4 miles, which again felt like 10 miles by now. Water is running down the trail as if you're choosing to hike in a fast running stream. I'm having to constantly throw my hiking poles down, and hang onto trees and lower myself down backwards at times. I almost fell 4 times, and have managed to slide on my palms down a steep rockface, which resulted in tearing up the calluses on my left hand that have formed from using hiking poles all day for months. Boo Hoo! I need a thesarus, I know I've sed the word grueling a lot lately, so pick your favorite similarly meaning word.We got to the sign for Garfield Campsite..YIPPY! It was 7:00 p.m. We both got water, and headed UP the .1 side trail to the site. I met John the caretaker, and he advised us on a tentplatform that we could probably both share.We went down past the privy where there are 2 platforms. These are the most remote, so it's quiet. John was right, I hung where I basically was right next to the platform diagonaly, ad I anchored one corner of my tarp on the platform with 2 rocks, so A.M. had tons of space.She learned how to set her non-free standing tarptent up last nite using tie outs for the first time, as opposed to using stakes in the ground. Granted, you don't really enjoy learning new things in these conditions and exhausted, but she did it, and I was impressed because I know she was totally spent.John walked down and we paid him $8.00 each, and he told us the rules. Nice guy, and he had a cute black dog named Goober.Oh...A.M. had a startling realization halway thru the day..she forgot her sleeping pad! OH NO!! Ok, so all you "conformist die for the cause ground dwellers" (ESPECIALLY PERSISTENT AND SHERI) listen up. You all know that I don't believe in chance happenings, so who just "happen" to be carrying her new Big Agnes Air Core sleeping mat, because she wants to be prepared for any sleeping condition? Huh? Huh? Ohhh...well Certain of course! Now did Certain have to sleep on the ground? NOOOOO! So guess who hooked up one of YOUR people? See, us hangers are giving people, we just want everyone to be happy, but realize you can not achieve total happiness unless you learn the hanging way. (oh I love this feud).We made dinner and by now it was misting pretty heavily and was almost dark. While my pasta was cooking, I threw a bear bag rope and invited A.M. to hook on to mine.Finally @ 8:30 p.m., I crawled into my hamock. It was in the mid-50's, windy, now raining lightly, and it was nice to be dry. I am wearing thermals, long sleeved shirt, fleece lined under armour shirt, fleece pants, socks, knit cap ad gloves. Still a little chilly, but I've learned I have to give my body a chance to warm up the air in my bag.Man..what a day. I have made a descision though. I've come to realize that if I'm going to exhert myself for this many hrs and it was 8 total miles today but only 3.9 AT miles, then I want them all to be AT miles. The side trail\dayhike strategy works great until you are having to spend more than half a day just getting back to the AT, so maybe on lower sections, I'll do it, but it cuts down a lot on your horizontal progress, and today, it didn't take long before I was facing how much I want to be back in my home, with my family and kitties, and bed, and neighborhood. I really miss my home and being in it with Karen, so I feel like I just need to suck it up (one of A.M. and V8's favorite phrases) and hike the miles with my pack. I can't say I'm any less tired, and honestly, after this long, a pack with 3 days food doesn't feel that differently than a day pack because I bring a few extra pieces of gear for safety and survival out here. I don't know if this will affect A! .M. or V8's decision to hike with me, but if anyone understands the HYOH mantra, I know they do. So once we're finished with this leg, I'll talk to A.M. and see what she thinks.Long freakin day...it's 9:45 p.m. waaay past my bedtime. I tried calling Karen, but now she has no cell service. Go figure.... At least I'll see her in 2 more days. That makes all the difference to me.~Certain