Date: 2013-09-06
From: Stealth camp @ Pinkham Notch, NH 16

To: Stealth camp atop Mt Hight
Miles today: 8.0

It got COLD last night. I slept so well and so hard. I woke up a little after 4 am, and I was so pleased to know that I had 2 more hours to sleep. I finally crawled out of my tent at 6:30. Hobo and I decided we would forego breakfast and coffee at the visitor's center and hit the trail immediately. We skirted alongside Lost Pond. The mountain across the road reflected so boldly in the surface of the water. I tried to take a photo, but it looked washed out. I was telling Hobo about Tom's photography talents when I wrong on a HUGE rock and twisted my right ankle. I gasped and collapsed into a heap on the side of the trail. Oh, it hurt so badly, and for a second I couldn't catch my breath. I struggled to get my pack off, and then I laid back against it with my foot propped up on the rock. I dug out an ace bandage and wrapped my poor ankle. Tears pooled in my eyes, and I found myself wiping them away on my knee brace. Hobo sat quietly and compassionately beside me, waiting for me to pull myself together. He asked if I needed a hug. Initially I said no, but then I relented. Of course I wanted a hug. The climb up Wildcat Mountain was pretty hardcore. Several times we collapsed our poles and strapped them to our packs so our hands would be free for the insane climb ahead of us. There were several times I. Felt like Spiderman climbing rock faces that very easily could have required ropes and harnesses. My heart pounded and my adrenaline pumped. All I have to say is thank goodness we were climbing up because I'm not sure I could have convinced myself to climb down some of those faces. There were a couple of shear rock faces that seemed to drop down to nothingness. There were more than a few toe holds that I thought, if my foot sleeps, I'm toast. It took us 3.5 has to cover 3 miles. At noon, we walked to the top of the ski lift. It wasn't running. Tough Cookie and Pressure-D were already up top chatting with some section hikers. We had lunch at one of the picnic tables and gazed up at the perfectly cloudless sky. It was a nice lull, but we still had a lot of mountain to cover. We spent the next 3 hours crawling up and down the craziness that is Wildcat Mountain. Honestly, I don't think the mountain could be more aptly named, but I do suspect there has to be an easier way than the way we came. We stopped at a vista that looked down on Carter Notch Hut. I groaned. We had a down coming up, and it hurt my knees just thinking about it. Luckily, there was dirt and stone steps that lead us down to the quaint little stone and stucco hit. It had the feel of a rustic isolated cabin, set next to two perfect alpine ponds. One had Oaks and Sweetpea sitting beside it strumming their mandolin. The other beckoned me for a swim. It's been way too long. I waved my group on to the cabin, and I shed my clothes on the soft sand beach. The pond was small, and its bottom was a soft mud. I strolled in without the handicap of the usual hobble. The cold water enveloped my aching, tired body. The coldness was a soothing shock. My muscles tensed and then unraveled as I lifted my feet and skimmed through the frigid water. I turned back towards the shore, and the sun lingered just over to top of the ridge. Its blinding light made the mountain and water appear as a single black wall, with little distinction where one ended and the other began. I ducked my head under water and ran my fingers through my hair. Its starting to get long. I started to get cold so I swam back to the shore and climbed out. Oh the mud was such a comfortable surface. I ran my hands down my legs trying to wipe the excess water off. I was too lazy to dig out my towel. I dressed quickly and put on my Crocs to walk to the hut. We ate baked goods and refilled our water. It was so tempting to ask to stay, but its taken us so long to get through the Whites that we knew we needed to keep moving. We're supposed to meet Hobo's sister, Becca, tomorrow in Gorham, so we don't have much choice but to hike on. By the time we headed out, the sun had slipped below the ridge taking the warmer temperature with it. We headed up towards Carter Dome. It was as steep as Wildcat but with more dirt and fewer opportunities to fall to your death. But I was tired and my ankles were feeling sore and weak. It took us a full hour to climb a mile. Having the three others there makes the time pass quicker and makes the misery seem a little more fun. We laughed and laughed though I'm not sure anyone else would have found our warped sense of humor very funny. We got to the top of Mt Height. The sun was 25 minutes from setting over Mt Washington. Pressure-D took a seat on the tip top and said that we should stay for sunset. I liked the idea of watching the sunset, but I hated the idea of having to hike the half mile down in the dark. So we found some flat spots and set up our tents. We're in an alpine zone so we're really not supposed to camp here, but it's too perfect of an opportunity to pass up. We watched the day's finale with front-row center seats. It's dark now, and even with my headlamp on I can see the sky filling with stars. The sides of my tent are flapping pretty hard in the wind. Hopefully the pegs won't pull out of the ground, and hopefully it won't get too cold.