Date: 2007-08-08
From: Kinsman Notch

To: Kinsman Pond Campsite
Miles today: 11.5
Weather: light rain

(Willie)Before we went to bed last night I was thinking that it was a mistake to flee to a hotel. At 9:30-10:00ish the skies were still clear and there didn¢t seem to be any sign of the predicted upcoming storms. Yeah, maybe it was a good idea. When we woke up this morning it was pouring and I was immediately glad that we weren¢t in the tent last night. Since it really didn¢t look like the best walking weather we decided to go back to sleep for an extra 40 winks.The rain finally started to slow down around 10:30 and we were walking by 11:15 in only a light sprinkle, which didn¢t last much longer either. Even though it wasn¢t raining, it sure had rained enough to leave its mark on the trail. In some areas the trail was a bit wet, in others it was kind of pond like, and in other areas the trail seemed to resemble a raging river. I wish the wet trail was the only thing slowing us down, but the roots, rocks, and steep ups and downs didn¢t help either. When we got to the Gordon Pond Trail and saw that it had taken us 2 hours and 45 minutes to go 3.3 miles I knew that it was going to be a long day, a very long day. From there, the climbing began as we went up and over the South and East Peak of Mt. Wolf. I thought that I had given the Whites the respect they deserved, but when we rolled into the Eliza Brook Shelter for lunch at 5:00 only 7 miles down the trail from where we started it was clear that I had underestimated them and their pace slowing ways once again. It sure was tempting to call it quits right there, but I knew that if we wanted any chance to take a day off with my parents on Saturday as planned we had to keep moving. We left the shelter at 5:30 heading for the Kinsman Pond Shelter. 3 hours of daylight should be enough to go 4 miles right? Apparently not when it includes going up and over South (4358¢) and North (4293¢) Kinsman. I guess that when the guide book makes a point of noting that the climb involves rock scrambles, it might be even harder than the treacherous trail that we¢d been all day long. There were more then a few times that the thought that we had made a mistake might have crossed my mind, especially when we were getting blown off the ridge and when we had to dawn our headlamps for the 600¢ descent into camp.The caretaker at the campground was super nice to us, even though I'm pretty sure we woke him up when we stumbled into camp a little after 9:00. He even let us come into his big canvas tent to cook and eat, which was really appreciated seeing that it was already see-your-breath cold outside. At about 10:00 we decided it was time to set up the tent, so we braced ourselves for the bone chilling wind that would hit us as soon as walked out of the caretaker¢s tent. Not only was it cold, the gusting wind also made it pretty darn tough to set up the tent. As soon as it was up, we were in it and curled into our sleep bags ready to go to sleep after a long exhausting day. If the wind would¢ve died down and actually let us get some, it would have been even better.Life Lesson: The White mountains deserve your respect. Planning on a full day starting at 11:00 might not be a good idea.