Date: 2007-08-22
From: Lincoln, NH

To: Hanover
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: few clouds

Wee! Made it over Mt. Washington and throught The Presidentials, in the most most absolutely, unbelievably amazing time I have ever had in my life!!!!!To start, left Gorham and made it to Imp Campsite and met Jarod, another SOBO who I have been tailing for a few weeks. We ate tons of food, bummed some more food that was donated from some weekend hikers and had a great time sitting around and talking with Roy and Rachael, who showed up after dark. Woke up in the morning to naaaaaasty rain and weather; it was not fun. Went over the Carters and Wildcats anyways...had a few times where I had to always be holding onto rocks to keep from being blown sideways; it was not nice. Made it down into Pinkham Notch and caught up with Roy. We stealthed in an amazing spot, in a bed of falled leaves that had to have been six inches thick...it just kind of swallowed me up. Needless to say, I was not miserably cold like I had been the night before. I'm in Lincoln, NH today, and just purchased some long johns to hopefully get around the recurring problem of night time cold.Got up the next day and decided to tackle Mt. Washington, despite forcasted summit highs in the 30s and winds in the 40-60 mph range. Left town in shorts and a t-shirt and made it over Mt. Madison, which was socked in with clouds. Walking the ridge was rather interesting...the wind was just as bad as they said it was going to be, and I almost got blown over a time or two. Ate some soup at Madison Springs Hut, and decided to push over Mt. Washington. The weather moderated a bit, and I stuck with the t-shirt, but added my shell jacket and zipped the legs onto my shorts. Made good time to the summit. Came across an old dude who thought my ultimate triathlon idea was a good idea, and said he was going to do it. (Hike the AT, ride a bike from San Diego to St. Augustine, FL and kayak from St. Paul to New Orleans down the Mississippi). I did pass the cog railroad while I was hiking, but due to the sub-zero temps, decided to keep my pants on. Everyone in the little heated train was waving and taking pictures of me like I was some sort of freak show exhibit, so I waved and farted a few times and then moved on. Arrived at the summit to 120 mile views, which was amazing. It was cold enough that there weren't any other people standing at the summit sign, so I was able to take my picture undisturbed by other people. Made it to Lakes of the Clouds Hut that evening, where I got work for stay, and had the pleasure of being kicked in the head by a guest looking for the bathroom in the dark while I was sleeping on the floor.Left the next day and pushed to Zealand Falls Hut, for another work for stay. For some reason, some dude from New York felt he needed to flip me off when I was hitching on NH 302 to the campground for Ben & Jerry's. It took quite a bit of will power to not return the gesture, but I didn't. Not sure what possesses someone to flip a hitch hiker off. I am working on perfecting my hitching method, and have decided that dropping the thumb and looking discouraged when people are about 50 yards out seems to work pretty well I did get an easy hitch back to the trail head with two girls who were seniors in high school (I can't imagine that their parents would have approved, but their little Jack Russell dog was rather vicious, and I had to fend off a few bites). At Zealand, came across Coffee (Nate), another SOBO, and we got work for stay by folding blankets and sweeping floors. Coming out of Zealand, we made pretty good time to Galehead Hut for lunch, where we came across Baltimore Jack, a trail legend who has nearly 10 through hikes under his belt. We were advised of a great stealth site just past Garfield and rolled in in around 6, and this is where I got my trailname! After setting up camp and cooking dinner, it was decided that a camp fire would be nice. Not wanting to mess around with any proper fire starting techniques, I decided that about 4 ounces of white gas (gasoline), would do the trick. Having never started a fire with gasoline before, I stuck my hand and lighter into the middle and let it rip...minor explosion ensued. There was a bit of cursing as I looked down to my right hand to see the last little bit of hair that remained after the last liquid-fueled fire starting experience gone, and then more laughing than you could shake a stick at. Nate decided that "Firework" would be a good name, and we decided to sleep on it; the next morning it was official. We tossed around the idea of getting up in the morning at 4 am to hike to the top of Lafayette to watch the sunrise, but ditched it thinking that it would be too cold...this ended being the best decision of our lives!Woke up the next morning and it was surprisingly warm, so we set off for the top of Lafayette. We marched on and arrived on top of Mt. Lincoln, and somehow we were talking about the big hot dog eating contest that happens every year. I made some comment about a fat American winning this year, after being the skinny little Japanese dude. This guy with an external frame pack with a big American flag flying off of it, walked up and told us that it was all in the mind, and it was will power that let the American dude win, and that he was not actually fat. We blew the dude off as some strange day tripper, and when he said that he had something for us after confirming that we were through hikers, we were kind of expecting Old Testaments...not true. Trailmix (the dude), said "How about a margarita." Apparently, he treks to the top of Mt. Lincoln every year on August 22nd with a battery powered blender and makes margaritas for through hikers. Needless to say, it didn't take us long to drink a few, take tons of pictures and when enough other through hikers had shown up, he busted out french bread and hot sausages and grilled peppers. Quick light of the stove and we were drinking margaritas at 4600 ft, eating sausages and peppers and having the time of our lives! The randomness of the whole thing was amazing...I still have trouble believing that it actually happened. We stumbled down the hill and made it into Lincoln, and then plan is to be in Hanover, NH by Monday morning. Nate is going to stop in Glencliff in order to get some work done on his pack, but it's been a blast hiking with him, we're having the time of our lives, no questions asked. Also, the Simpsons movie is really good. Life is amazingly good.