Date: 2012-07-27
From: Lincoln, NH

To: Stealth Camp
Miles today: 10.3

Could there have been a crazier way to start the day? First I realized that I had managed to lose my debit card at some point between the last town and now so wanted to make a bunch of calls figuring that one out. This is when I realized I ended up leaving my phone behind in the shuttle ride back to the trail this morning. Ahhhhhh nooooo. Okay okay so I managed to get back to the visitor center at flume notch and wait for it to open and call back the shuttle. I was especially worried as I was still trying to arrange a meeting place and time with my friend Bev who planned to come down and hike a bit with me sometime in the next few days.   An extra hour and a half was wasted for all this and I was sufficiently frazzled but luckily managed to get hold of my phone again. Funny how so many people describe the joy of being disconnected as a reason they love the trail. Because when I lost my phone it made me realize how vital it is to my ability to operate on the trail and that in reality I consider it my top item in my first aid kit. I recall talking to some of the more experienced hikers, (okay who am I kidding, older hikers) who told me about how different things were now because of cell phones. Perhaps it¢s generational or a culture shift but they are very prominent on the trail now and I don¢t necessarily think that¢s a bad thing so long as people use proper phone etiquette.But at least there is blue sky peeking out from behind the swath of morning clouds that so filled me with anxiety this morning. I woke up and was not heartened by the atmosphere but knew I had to push on regardless of weather today. After a good breakfast with other hiker friends we set out. It started with a big big climb up slippery rocks still very wet, through lingering clouds and fog that created a less than welcoming environment. Perhaps I would have described it differently if I was not feeling the negative impact of a fully restocked food bag and slipped so many times that my bum was going to be an excellent purple color code chart in a few days. I was rater resigned to the idea that there would be no view on Franconia ridge today and so was not exactly sprinting up the mountain. But as I started to reach the top of my big two mile climb and walk along the still forested tree line, more and more patches of blue were visible. At some point a little view made by a few cut trees gave me a hint of the wonder that I was going to partake of today. The clouds still swarmed just below and around my height but valley came and went, suggesting just how far up I was and the vast landscape that surrounded me. Filled with a sense of promise, my speed increased until finally I climbed a few boulders, turned and oh my, what utter joy, what speechless basking in of the most breathtaking sight on the trail so far. A huge patch of cloud opened up around me and I saw distant peaks with still lingering clouds swirling with a mixture of reminiscent storm to their color. The peaks were green and shiny with fresh wetness. Beneath them you could tell what grand earthy upheavals had caused row after row of ridgelines to cascade in all directions. Their steep sides were covered in landslides and growth, rock formations, cliffs, everything just lending itself to the feeling of rawness. And the scope. It cannot be captured in pictures or words. All at once it makes you feel both small and on top of the world. Filled with such uncontrollable inspirational swellings of joy I let out a loud whoop and listened to it echo far and wide. Then beaming, I turned and continued to travel, eagerly hoping to reach the miles long exposed ridgeline I had heard so much about.Every thru hiker I met was beaming, we could not control ourselves. Perhaps because of the recent bad weather, or just because we felt kinship of some kind, or were all feeling the same wondrous sensations, we kept making eye contact, grinning, and looking around as if we could not quite believe our eyes. . I walked to the top of Lincoln Mountain along the exposed ridgeline, the sides of the mountain falling off steeply to both side and the distant slowly rising peaks calling me onward. I could not stop laughing and taking pictures. Unbelievable, simply unbelievable. I felt as if everything had been worth it just for this moment. This moment that went on for hours. Not a fleeting reward but something dynamic and grand that kept hitting me in wave after wave of something indescribable but good, always good. I was almost crying when I reached the top where I felt I could see all of the whites even as lower clouds settled into the valleys.A voice called out my name, sounding very clear but it took me a while to place the blue speck that it must be coming from. There were blueberries everywhere and I sat, eating them waiting for Dos to catch up. She had heard my whoop and sped up knowing that something good was ahead. Achy Breaky was soon there as well and I was so pleased to share this with them. The day was warm when the sun shown. But every now and then a cloud would pass along the mountain top, engulfing us and dropping the temperature an instant 10 degrees, reminding us of the power and unpredictability of the weather systems here. We moved on, realizing that there were many more miles to cover before we reached any kind of safe camping grounds. I traveled fewer miles than I wanted to, the open sight line belying the difficulty of the trek and its distance. I wasn't able to judge distance the same as I have in the past because the mountains were just so huge that all my practice was for naught. Finally as it was getting dark I reached Mt. Garfield¢s peak, made one last hazardous descent down a loose rock stair pile/creek and set up a stealth camp. It is good to be back in the woods and back to my purpose. Today I will go to bed with a smile on my face aware that it will take quite a lot to ever diminish the memories and feelings of today that I will tuck away and savor.