Date: 2005-09-11
From: Grafton Notch

To: East B Hill
Miles today: 10.3

start Grafton Notchdestination East B Hill RdThis section ofthe trail we have hiked out of sequence,but were able to share the cost of the shuttle,so we didn't mind.As long as I am still hiking,it matters not whether itis in order or not.Papermaker is hiking with me today.When we woke up this morning,there was ice on the picnic table. Bear has wrapped me in a warm blanket for the ride to the trailhead.He takes very good care of his hikers! The wind is ferocious as we get on the trail.We hike fast to stay warm. We are hiking over Baldpate Mountain today.There are in fact two peaks of Baldpate,then a summit overLittle Baldpate. We are pleasently surprized at the ease of this ascent.Still at one point Ijust lean against a tree and cburst into tears. I am tired of uphills. I am tired of seemingly creeping up these mountains at a snail's pace.Papermaker hugs me from behind the safety of a small tree. He is a wise man when it comes to a weepy woman. A day hiker passes us and I do not care that I am openly crying ,with tears streaming down my face. I drag my feet up and over and up and over one rock after another. Bear has asked us to carry in a roll of toilet paper for each of the two shelters we will pass today. Until you have been without toilet paper,and in need of it,you cannot begin to understand the gratitude of finding toilet paper in a remote privy.We are surprised at the pleasentness of hiking up this bald mountains.It is not that we are high above the tree line,but rather that there is nothing but mountains of smooth rock.With very little soil here,very few trees or scrubs can grow. The views are amazing even though yesterday I was tired of views and vistas! As I hike,the dark gloom that has been following me begins to dissapate. We stopped on the East Peak summit of Bemis mountain for lunch.The wind had died down,and the sun was warm on our faces.Off to the south,we could see Mt.Washington,and then we could see the smoke from the train as it lumbered it's way up to the summit. We were 75 miles away,and there is no telling how many days of hiking away we were. It was amazing to look back on that mountain,where some of the fiercest weather in our country is recorded. Someone has lit a fire under Papermaker and I struggle to keep up with him.We both stop from time to time to check to make sure our day packs are still on our backs.They are so light we forget they are there. In Maine we are told that this is not called slack packing,but rather Freedom Packing.Whichever it is I love it.At least this way we are getting more miles in than if we were hiking with a full pack. Bear is waiting for us when we hike out of the woods this afernoon and once again within an hour we are clean and sitting down to a marvelous meal. The faces tend to change very night,but a few stay the same.Bear asked us if we had gotten our mission accomplished with the toilet paper,then he turned to Hoosier and asked the same of him.His mission was to take a package of cooked bacon and fresh bluberry pancakes to the caretaker at Speck Pond Campground. I watched in amusement as Hoosier confessed,as he had to me earlier,that he did not know Bear was serious,but thought that Bear had made the packages for him to eat at lunch.This was one of those times when a picture would have been worth a thousand words.Both the expressions on Bear's face and Hoosier's. This has been one of the most enjoyable parts of this hike,staying here sharing every night with fellow hikers.   miles 10.3Bumpkin                           5 Million Steps for PolioAppalachian Trail GA-MA BumpkinMore in 2004