Date: 2020-09-18
From: Pinkham Notch

To: US 2 (Gorham)
Miles today: 21.1

Today I planned a slackpack of the Wildcat-Carter-Moriah range east of Mt. Washington. It's 21 miles and tough. But commonly done in a day. Last time I came through it took ten hours. I'm figuring more like eleven this time. Two thruhikers drove in to the hostel early to join me on the shuttle to Pinkham Notch. Poncho (AT '18, '19, '20) and Won't Get Up (AT '19, '20) are both multiple thruhikers. This year they started in March and eventually flipped to Katahdin. They missed this section and are back to fill it in. Both are very energetic and free-spirited, and both appear to be pushing fifty. I could hardly get a word in edgewise with Won't Get Up. She's a mile a minute and seems to say whatever crosses her mind. Poncho is of fewer words but always has a broad grin.Driving down Rt 16 I could see the fall colors now unmistakably creeping across the lower slopes. It was a clear, cool, and sunny day, looking like perfect hiking weather. I'm not complaining, but yesterday's hike over Washington was the only day in the last four or five that it wasn't in the clear. Instead I got a far more interesting - and less crowded - experience.The day started with a huge, steep boulder scramble up to the Wildcats. No surprise - this is my new normal. Not the first or the last or the worst climb. Soon my sweat was dripping on the boulders like rain drops. I took it nice and easy. Eventually I heard someone with a trekking pole gaining on me. Crazy! I haven't been passed by anyone - not a soul - since Sunshine back in Virginia. When he caught up we hiked together over the four Wildcat peaks. It turned out to be a thruhiker named Muck Fichigan who I recognized from Instagram. He's attempting to yo-yo the trail in a loose definition of the term. He's been more or less on trail since a year ago September flipping around to hike the entire AT both north- and southbound. His name comes from being an Ohio State fan. Once he reaches Katahdin he still has 1100 miles in the middle to hike northbound. He's had more than his share of bad weather. He hiked through January, took February off, and by April was hiking in Vermont. What he didn't expect was for it to be still covered in deep snow. He had to posthole through it. At one point he ran out of food, was cold and wet, and had nearly a dead phone battery, but couldn't get to a motel or hostel because the governor had shuttered all the businesses. He gave in and called his brother for help. Muck is forty-nine.7 miles in to the hike I met Hercules going southbound. Paul had mentioned him, that he was doing this section in two days and coming back to the hostel tonight. So I'll catch up with him later. He hikes in sandals, hence the name. Though he also beard a passing resemblance to the Disney version, with wild curly locks.In a random stretch of forest I noticed a critter jumping between the trees. It was the size of a small fox, gray/brown with a yellow neck with dark flecks. It made "rmmf rmmf" noises. Maybe a pine marten?Of all the dozen or so peaks in this section Mt. Hight offered the best 360 view. On such a clear day I was probably able to see a hundred miles in all directions. Except to the west, which was blocked by the Presidentials. Incredible that Mt. Washington is now behind me. I'd been gazing at it on the horizon for days, and now it will be receding in my rear view mirror.For the third time I crossed paths with Speak Up and Lana, this time near Mt. Moriah. They've been slackpacking themselves with two vehicles, and have moved north from the Presidentials. We'll likely meet again in the Gorham to Grafton Notch section in a couple days. Muck Fichigan took off ahead of me to make a 6pm shuttle at Rattle River hostel. I stopped to take a short but steep side trail to the summit of Mt. Moriah, then flew down trail after him. The last two or three miles I was doing 4 mph or better as the terrain was dirt trail with a slight downslope that followed the valley of the Rattle River.At the trailhead on route 2 an Asian lady eating spaghetti in her car called out to me asking about trail conditions. I finagled a ride to town from her. Her hiking friends call her Crazy Kim. She's hiking Maine with a large group and planning next to hike the Mahoosucs just to the north. The other 11 hikers are staying in Rattle River hostel while she sleeps in her car. Incredibly she's bagged all of the 115 4000-footers in the Northeast (46 in the Adirondacks, 48 in NH, 5 in Vermont, 14 in Maine), all on weekend trips from New York. Pretty impressive to squeeze all that peakbagging in. Back at the hostel I let myself in through the lower barn in the rear since Paul was still away. Hercules didn't get to Pinkham Notch until after dark. Paul was unhappy about driving down the moose corridor but picked him up anyway. He is very devoted to helping hikers. I spent the evening hanging out with Hercules, who's actually a flip-flopper who started out intending only to hike from Georgia for two weeks then kept on going. He started in mid-July, then flipped from Roan Mountain to Katahdin. A fellow software guy in real life, we had some common experiences. Ordered pizzas and binge-watched Cobra Kai on Netflix. I'm apparently a sucker for an 80s-homage series.