Date: 2016-09-18
From: US 2 Gorham NH

To: Carlo Col Shelter
Miles today: 17.0
Weather: light rain

US 2 Gorham 7am mile 1890.8To Carlo Col SHELTER mile 1907.8 ENTER LAST STATE OF 14 .....MAINE For 17.0 miles Big Cypress & Animal slept in the shelter because they arrived late, 8 pm. Plus the weather was expected to be rainy tonight. They switched roles, Big got sleep things ready and Animal got water. They ate & went to bed by 9.Highlights of today's hike. (As tough as the whites, from other hiker reports) Mt Hayes @2555', Page Pond, Dream Lake, Mt Success @ 3565'Great at 58 (Bob)& his wife JoAnn and son Bobby, left their RV at our parking spot last night. They slept at the White Mtn Hostel next door. I chatted with them for a few minutes. It had been almost 3 weeks since we saw Great at 58. He wasn't with his family then, so it was nice to put it all together now!!I saw Sasquat before leaving Gorham at about 11:30am. He was on McDonald's mission. So we didn't visit long. I spent the morning learning how to set GPS Coordinates in truck navigation. After much struggle, I realized I could put the AWOL guide GPS location #'s in Google & it would convert it to lat & longitude degree #'s I need to put into the truck navigation. I don't know why there is different #'s or how it converts from one system to the other, but....it works!! So, now I have all the AWOL guide parking locations loaded into the truck navigation! Would've been nice to figure it out back in VT, but....at least God granted me patience to figure it out this morning. Till this morning, I was using Google & Guthook App to drop a pin on a location, that I guessed was the spot, in some cases following curves in the road & guessing. It worked for VT & NH, just took a long time. After a stop in Bethel ME for gas, water refills & block ice at Dunkin Donuts/gas station...yes I admit a donut & egg & cheese croissant too. Oliver & I stopped at the Mother Walker waterfall. Took a very short walk, didn't see much, went the other direction, seeing a sign. It's marking an old stage coach road. I got Pictures & Oliver got to mark trees! We passed the pull off for the Moose Cave. I'd rather skip it, I believe steps are involved, plus I'd rather wait to experience these things with my best friend, Big Cypress. We (WishBone)& I arrived at the parking spot at about 3. No cell phone service! Several cars & RV. So...we take a walk, take some pictures, meet Ruth, driving the RV. She's from Jacksonville FL and we spent the rest of our day & evening talking! We gave trail magic to,Safety Pin from Austin TX andWhitenoise from Norwich, Norfolk about 100 miles from London. They have been hiking together since The Smokies. Not sure if it's a trail romance, but I'd like to think so! Coffee/cocoa, Ruth gave them bananas, ice cream & sodas. We took their trash too! The cars slowly left. Ruth & I moved our vehicles closer to the trail head. Ruth invited me for chili! It was delicious & we talked until a bit after 7. Ruth is trailmom, per Turtle. She is trail supporting her daughter, Chasing freedom & boyfriend, Hipbelt. Except for a little needed RV repair, that took her off trail support for a couple weeks, she's been there since GA!! That's great! They reported it took them 2 1/2 hours to do The Mahoosuc Notch, it was wet & slippery. Fiber said for about 2 hours! But, that's tomorrow's adventure!8:22pm, I'm the only vehicle left in the parking lot. This is a first! Usually there are other cars left behind, with people off hiking. I just heard an owl. Its far away, because it was very faint. I also hear a rodent, assuming mouse, crawling around on the underside of the truck. This isn't the first time! Usually nightly...I just keep forgetting to mention it. The are fond of peanut butter. So...those type things are locked in the cooler. They have nibbled on a Cliff Bar here & there. They don't eat much & have been fond of the paper towels, just taking a little bit for nest building.