Date: 2016-06-27
From: White Mountains Lodge & Hostel via Pinkham Notch

To: White Mountains Lodge & Hostel via Rt. 2. 
Miles today: 21.2

Blerf. I am dead. Today was the toughest day of hiking I've had. I woke up around 6:30 to get ready for the 8 am shuttle. Breakfast, which was included in the stay, was some very tasty french toast casserole and eggs. I got my stuff together for another day of slack packing (damn i am doing this White Mountains thing right). Buddha did the same, but just brought his water bottle and a few snacks, while I just emptied my pack out, as I had in VA. I want George to see the whole trail too. Marni drove us back to the Pinkham Notch visitors center, and we crossed the street. Buddha pulled ahead of me through the first flat sections of trail. Then the trail began to climb. And climb. and climb and climb. Right up granite walls. Christ. Some of the ledges were beautiful, and I passed Buddha on the way up, but goddamn, we climbed 2000 feet in 1.6 miles. We topped out on the first peak of Wildcat mountain, where there is a ski lift climbing up. i searched around for a water spigot, being almost out, but couldn't find one. Buddha soon came up and couldn't find one either. We stopped by a pretty disappointing observation tower before continuing on our way, pacing each other. The trail continued more woodsy, but still pretty steep, to the top of Wildcat A, where there was a nice cliff with a view down to Carter Notch and Carter Pond, and the Hut way down below. It looked impossibly steep, right below us, splayed out.The trail switchbacked steeply but reasonably down to the notch, passing one particularly hairy rock slide that freaked me out a little, but soon Buddha and I made it to the cutoff for Carter Notch hut, which was .2 off trail. But in the hopes of free food and certainty of water, we went. Buddha had me take some pictures of him taking a dip in the pond. I did not jump in. The Croo at Carter Notch was mostly out on their trip for supplies, but the two young guys who were working there were very very nice to us. It's the smallest of the huts, and the dining room is pretty tiny and cozy. We asked if there was any food left, and they gave us a tray of pancakes that they had overcooked a bit that morning, and even gave us some real maple syrup! There was a German man named Andrei there who was sectioning. The day became overcast as we were heading out from the Hut. I pulled ahead of Buddha climbing out of the Notch, an incredibly ridiculous climb, but a little less steep and crazy than this morning. I made it to the top of Carter dome where the trail widens where an observation tower used to be, and continued on. There were nice views along the ridge of the other mountains, but it somehow felt unreal, somehow unimportant compared to the presidentials right behind me. It is also funny how big a loop the trail takes us in. Pinkham notch is only a two mile hike from the top of Washington, but the trail takes you around the summits and down through the GGW before spitting you out next to the Carters to start hiking north again. On top of Mt. Hight, Buddha caught up with me and we chatted with a few folks including a grandfather and his grandson from Alabama and a woman from north carolina. Buddha was ahead of me as I reached Zeta pass. I foudn a small creek and knowing that this was the last on trail water for nine miles, I filled up an extra liter for Buddha, whom i expected wouldn't grab any. The rest of the Carters passed quickly and uneventfully. There were a number of boardwalks over alpine bogs, but I was just trying to catch up with Buddha. The descent off of North Carter was incredibly sketchy. The trail then climbed back up along granite outcroppings to the top of Mt. Moriah, where I took a small side trail to the summit. Which was not really worth it. Now to drop 3000 feet down to Gorham.I saw that the trail began steeply and then leveled out into reasonability but it took far longer that I expected it would to do so. The trail began to follow the route of the Rattle River, and was pretty poorly maintained. i sometimes felt like I was bushwhacking along down a stream. I was probably just tired. I popped in some Lake Street Dive and all was better. I stopped in at Rattle River shelter and signed in behind Buddha and Lightning and Seal Tree and Goldie yesterday. I got a little turned around with the trail here, and ended up hiking back up from the river's edge because the trail walks right past the shelter instead.About .2 past the shelter I stopped to make a pretty momentous sign: 300 Miles to Katahdin! This is pretty crazy. The trail really feels like it's starting to wrap up. Tomorrow I am heading into Maine. A hundred more miles and I'll make it to Stratton and 2000, then a hundred and I'll be in Monson, heading into the 100 mile wilderness. Then, well: Katahdin. The trail here widens into gorgeous deciduous forest road, and I decided that walking would not cut it. I also found that the song Bobby Tanqueray matched up exactly to my running pace, so I began trail running down the length of the last two miles to Gorham. I figure Buddha must've done the same thing, and before me, too. At 6 PM, after 10 hours of crazy hiking, i was finally done. I came out onto Route 2, where a number of Southbounders were hitching a ride into town, and asked me about the hostel (which finds itself RIGHT on the trail). I went inside, saw Buddha, and got showered again. On the way to Walmart yesterday, I had seen a chinese buffet, and asked Marni if she could drop me off there. She was taking hikers to Walmart already and would drop me off and pick me up afterwards. The food hit the spot and I got a rather on-the-nose fortune cookie that told me that "A journey of a thousand miles begins with one small step." What about a journey of 2000 miles?? Two small steps, I spose. Back at the hostel, I was greeted with a few familiar faces! Wonka was there, who i had seen most recently, as was P-Stout, whom I left in Manchester, Heath Bar, all the way from RPH, and Sorority Steve, whom I'd met as Hot Rabbit all the way back in the Smokies. We regaled each other with stories, most about who knew who and where everyone was, which is basically all we talk about now. P-Stout explained how he got very sick in Manchester, and, having made the mistake of staying at a motel the first night, spent two more nights at Jeff Taussig's Green Mountain Hostel. Sorority Steve told me about the aftermath of the day I left him at Davenport Gap Shelter in the Smokies, taking a zero through the crazy snow that I avoided by being in Asheville, and the breakup of the little gang he was a part of, specifically how King Scum had essentially disappeared on them in Hot Springs after basically trying to get them to go on without him. King Arthur was apparently a while back, and Seam was still in front of us. Heath Bar took the bunk above mine. They are all planning to do the slackpack that I did today tomorrow. But rain is pretty seriously called for all day. Not really sure what'll happen. We'll call it in the morning.