Date: 2008-07-30
From: Zealand Hut, NH

To: Crawford Notch, NH
Miles today: 7.7
Weather: broken clouds

A great nite's sleep, neither A.M. or V8 are loud sleepers...so that was a luxury. We slept till we woke up, which for me..I "slept in" till almost 7 a.m. I finished journaling about yesterday, and we all finally got to moving around 8. Check out was @ 10:30, but we knew we'd be out of there before then.We got everything packed up and hopped in the cars. We dropped V8's off @ the trailhead @ Crawford Notch, and then all drove to the trailhead for Zealand Falls Hut. This side trail is what the hut croo uses to pack in\out everything they need, and it's a very very easy and flat couple of miles to the hut.On our way up, we passed Anna, a croo member who had this HUGE wooden frame on her back absolutely loaded down with trash and other things needing to be packed out. See, the huts don't have roads leading to them, nor do they have trash service. It's basically rustic cabins with the luxury of real food, and a kitchen. Everything the croos need to run the hut has to be hiked in, so this is no lazy job for the croo members. Ana's "pack" was gigantic and she looked spent.I wore my new knee bands today, and they help a lot. I have to get better @ learning how tight to cinch them, because the tighter it is the better it feels, but you can also cut the circulation down too much too.The acces trail to the hut had a lot of beautiful ponds and streams with bridges and some boardwalks. Everytime I got to a pond, I'd stop and look for a moose. We saw moose tracks and scat on this trail, but no moose.Today was quite beautiful, sunny, not too hot, not too humid for most of the day, no bugs. Just gorgeous, but we knew the chances ere very high tht storms would move in this evening and tomorow.Right before the hut, there's a short rocky climb (this is on the AT too..as if you're going sobo) and then the hut appears.We were all starving as usual, so we decided to walk over and eat lunch @ Zealand Falls, instead of inside the hut. Oh wow! It was amazing! It's the kind of falls that are sliding down totally smoothed out rock, so you can crawl and walk all over the place ad sit on a rock in the middle of it all. I enjoyed a nice foot soaking while eating some fried chicken I brought for lunch, V8 preferred to sit in the shade and A.M. ended up a bit lower, stretching out on a rock slab and soaking up the sun.I always feel like a little kid at these places, playing, climbing around, exploring. It was so beautiful ad just below A.M., the falls dropped and the backdrop was green tall mountains and a pond way below with blue sunny skies. I could have just hung out here all day.We spent about 1 hr there, and left around 12:30 p.m.This, by the way would be a fantastic short 5 mile or so round trip day hike if you want totally easy trail with a fantastic end point. I recommend the Zealand Falls Hut side trail ad then back down it. I'm totally excited about the fact I get to also explore and become familiar with so many of the side trails in the Whites, because I KNOW I'll be back here with Karen, and for 1 or 2- day hikes, these side trails are the way to negotiate these mountains because you can park your car @ the bottom.We headed out, back down to the AT where it forks off of the hut trail, and I was stunned at how flat and easy this section was. When I say flat, I mean literally flat. There were great views of the ridges, ponds below, and the boulder fields ad rocky cliffs above. Stunning scenery. There were several small streams and then a slight climb up to the Ethan Pond Campsite trail junction.Before heading there, we came to the .1 side trail for Thoreau Falls and took that to take a break and eat a snack. WOW AGAIN!! Folks, there so far has been no section of this trail in any other state that offers better views or special natural wonders like these amazing waterfalls and ridges.These falls were the same slick smooth rock and it looked like a giant waterslide. The sun felt so good, the water had a golden hue, and there were what I call water potholes that were formed by the water zooming in a direction, the getting spun around ad heading back out. Over time, these almost perfectly round deep holes are formed that fill with clear water. I got a pic of an old deep hole and a new one being formed right next to it. Howie decided to go for a short swim in the deeper hole.I sat down next to A.M. and V8 and we all ate some snacks and then I needed water. Wel, as of now I have no canteens (not till Karen gets here TOMORROW!) and I just bought a 32 oz gatorade, so I filled the bottle @ the falls and then realized that the glass part of my steripen fits in the top, but the part with the sensors that need to be submerged did not. Hmmm..what to do? I had over 6 miles to go, and it was getting hotter, and I'm not really willing to take my chances on not treating. And then *ding*..the lightbulb went off.I emptied my big ziplock of my lunch stuff, turned it inside out, poured the water in the ziplock and treated it there, then poured it back into my Gatorade bottle. The ziplock had a small hole, but I didn't lose too much water. Whereas much of the ideology that is passed on via te military, I think is ridiculous and based upon something other than common sense, there was one little saying I did adopt from the Marine Corps, "Adapt and Overcome." I like that, because it tells you to be creative, to find a way to survive, to make it work..and often times, that has been an invaluable mindset out here.We tore ourselves away, oh only after V8 totally entertained us by throwing small sticks in the water so we could watch them go over the falls. They kept getting stuck in an eddy though, so then she walked over to these rocks, layed down behind them and started acting like she was hanging on with one hand so it looked like she was going to go over a cliff..and from our perspective, it totally looked real! A.M. made the comment, "So this is an example of nerds playing." I couldn't be in better company, because before all other things in life, I was a nerd first (and still proudly am).To my amazement, even though today's trail was the absolute easiest I think I'v been on, even though I had a day pack, hiking still continues to be painful. Even at the end of (it was closer to 10 miles with the side trail) this leisurely day,I was fatigued. I think it's just an indicator of how month after month of this can really break your body down in some ways, and yet, build it up in others.We got to the parking area just before 5 and hopped in the car to go get A.M.'s car and then head to the Highland Lodge. Their reservations included dinner and breakfast, and we weren't sure yet where I was staying.We got there, and this place is full of vacationing people, it is not at all geared towards long distance hikers. There's all of these people decked out in their trendy hiking clothes, and a gift shop with some rain gear and tons of AMC coffee cups books, and other hiking supplies.It is a TOTALLY different side of the AT and the Whites. It is for those people that can not or maybe don't want to hike for months on end, but allows them to hut hop and experience maybe a short hiking trip.I feel totally out of place here. This feels almost commercial, and the trail and hiking life that I know does not involve gift shops and clean clothes with little white tennnis shoes while carrying around 1 nalgene bottle for water.I'm horrible about eaves dropping, so I've been hearing people share their hiking stories with others who are heading that direction the next day.Expertise is defined by where you were the day before as opposed to the # of months you've been living out there.To me the lesson here is NOT one of "us versus them," though, as in long distance hikers versus weekend or vacationing hikers (you do see this attitude in some thru and section hikers unfortunately, and it's sad to me).I am not feeling out of place because I think I'm somehow better, I feel out of place because this trail and my time on it has served a much different purpose in my life, and I don't know if the people around me could ever "get" what I mean. They aren't stupid, but they are still fully plugged in to the real world, and I am not, and that is the biggest difference..and a huge one.To me, the lesson to really learn is that putting a pack on your back, facing these mountains, leaving the safety of a lodge, and even if for a few days, facing the elements and rugged terrain and then finally arriving at the next hut or maybe your car...this experience changes you, it makes you feel alive, it gives you a sense of accomplishment, it makes you proud of yourself, it gives life meaning even if for only those few days when you've managed to escape from the real world. The people here are only getting to dip their toes into the lush pools of experiences the AT and other trails have to offer. Me? Well, I'm fortunate enough to be able to submerge my entire body and being into these pools, and it IS my real life.I don't feel disgusted by the people, I actually almost feel a little sad for them, because they only get a tiny chunk of time in this life, and for some, I suspect it makes them feel more alive than anything they've done in a long time.So enough of that, while A.M. and V8 were checking in, I sat in the lobby and then A.M. walked over and said the most hilarious thing I've heard in weeks. She's a soft spoken and gentle (yet strong) woman, and she walks up behind me and softly says, "For entertainment tonight, they are showing a 70 minute movie on....Beavers." It was the way she said it, but man did I die laughing. I thought, "Really? 70 freakin MINUTES about Beavers?" I saw the sign, and apparently it's a documentary. It just seemed so totally out of place here, because it would be like you going to a Hilton Hotel and being told that tonight's entertainment is a movie about how money is made. I'm still laughing about this.This lodge has a library in it with all sorts of books and a journal the AMC puts out. You can take what you want, and then put it back. No checking out.I ended up just sharing a room with them. It's an interesting mix of rustic and modern amenities here.There's 4 bunks in the room and a community bathroom with showers. Pretty sweet set-up.They went to eat dinner and I took A.M.'s car down the road to Catalano's Pizza, of course, I first turned the wrong way and took a 20 minute "tour." I got turned around and this place is across from the crazy huge hotel that is at the base of Mt. Washington. I sat there, devoured my salad and pizza and watched how the clouds blew away from every mountain peak except for around Mt. Washington, where they swirled around in a circular pattern. It was hard to believe I'd be hiking to that mountain top in the coming days.So I left to drive back and then IT HAPPENED! I SAW A MOOSE!! Ok, so not as romantic as seeing it while hiking (and I'm sure I will) but this young moose didn't care about all of us that had pulled over to take its picture while it grazed by the side of the road (U.S. 302). I ran across the road and started snapping pics.I got about 50 ft away and zoomed in for some FANTASTIC closeups. It's such an awkward yet beautiful animal with its long legs, strangely colored duo-tone coat, and long pudgy nose. Now, I want to see a full grown male with antlers, but this was exhilerating. Howie has done his job at least once now..he's earned another few weeks in my pack.I got back to the room all excited and showed V8 and A.M. my pictures. They were excited for me.We were all pooped, so I crawled onto the top bunk..don't remember the last time I slept in a bunk on top, and fell asleep while journaling.Just waiting for the storms to roll in, as we think they will. In the meantime, there's a large group here from Canada that brings special needs kids out for cool experiences like this. They are going crazy with excitement right now, so it's a bit noisy, but I'm sure it will calm down soon.Tomorrow, oh, what a day it will be. My final reunion with Karen, V8 and A.M. are staying 1 more nite back @ the Autumn Breeze where we'll be, so we can all have a good time, and then they will go back to Maine for a few days while Karen and I take a few days. Then they will drive back down, we'll finish that 13 mile section betwen Mt. Lafayette and Zealand Falls Hut, and then head into the Presidentials! I can't wait to have some good views here. This IS the most amazing hiking yet!~Certain