Date: 2015-08-04
From: Pinkham Notch

To: Gorham, NH
Miles today: 21.1
Weather: broken clouds

I was hoping to get a good night's sleep but that wasn't in the cards. We had found a place to camp last night but it was close to the road. We had noise from cars going by. We also had some rain during the night that woke us up. I was planning on getting up at 0530 but woke up around 0500 and decided to start the day a bit early. We had some breakfast and then I packed everything up for the day.    I am planning to do 21 miles today over some tough terrain. So, an early start will help. Lavender dropped me off at the trail head at 0545 and my day of hiking started. I am using one of Lavender's hiking poles today since mine snapped yesterday.    It was a nice first mile of fairly flat trail around a small pond. Then it was time to climb. The trail became very steep and rocky and lots of areas you had to pull yourself up over the rocks. The trail climbed 800 feet in just 0.4 miles. I continued climbing a total of 2000 feet to the top of Wildcat Mt. Peak E.    Next was Peak D, real descriptuve names, right? On the climb up to Peak D, I came upon a hiker sleeping right in the middle of the trail! It was Sonic, another thru-hiker.   I apologized for waking her up and we talked a bit. Then it was back to hiking up hill, well not a hill! I made to the top of Peak D and this area was the top of a ski gondola ride. There were fantastic views from here. The sun was just coming up and it looked like it was going to be a nice day. I took a short break here and then continued on hiking.    The trail dropped down for a while and then started the climb up to Wildcat Peak C and finally all the way up to Wildcat Peak A. This was the last of the Wildcat mountains. I took a short break here and watched a mother grouse and her two chick's for about 10 minutes. They didn't seem at all bothered about my presence. Try googling AT Wildcat Mountains. You can see the trail and its ups and downs.   Now it was time to descend down to Carter Notch. This was a 1100 foot descent in under 1 mile. It was very rocky and a bit scary. I had my first fall of the day coming down the trail. I had one bloody knee and a bruised right hand trying to break my fall. The rocks were still wet from last night's rain and that makes them very slippery. I finally made it down to Carter Notch and walked by a beautiful pond with water lilies. The water was very still and the reflection of the mountains in the background was breathtaking. I stopped here to admire the handiwork of God's creation and had a snack to refuel a bit. Now it was time to tackle the Carter mountains. The trail went up over 1500 feet to Carter dome. After some serious huffing and puffing, I finally made it to the top. I was drenched in sweat even though it was only in the sixties. Over the next 4 miles, I summited South Carter peak, Middle Carter peak and finally North Carter peak. I saw Sog at the last peak and decided to stop there for lunch. He was also having lunch. We caught up on how each others hike was going. I first met Sog at Delaware Water Gap and last saw him about a week ago on top of Smart Mt. It was good to have someone to talk to since I'm hiking silo now. Lunch was soon over and then it was time to hit the trail. The trail dropped down over 1400 feet and then started the climb up to Mt. Moriah.   I was about half way up when I heard the first boom of thunder. Shortly after this I came to a view point and what I saw wasn't good! Serious dark clouds were heading my way. I was hoping to summit Mt Moriah before the thunderstorm hit but that wasn't the case. The storm hit just before I made it to the top. The wind was howling and rain started coming down hard and then a bit of hail also. As fast as the storm appeared it quickly moved on past the mountain. It only rained for about 30 minutes so I wasn't too soaked. I now had to hike down more than 3000 feet over 5 miles to the next road crossing where Lavender would be meeting me.    The descent started down very steeply for the first couple of miles. Of course, rocks on the trail and they were wet. This is where I had my second fall of the day. I bloodied up my other knee this time and again broke my fall with my right hand. I didnt want to face plant! Now my hand was really bruised. The last 3 miles of trail were some of the nicest trail I've walked for quite awhile. I made really good time on this section and before I knew it I met up with Lavender who had hiked up the trail to meet me.    Soon we were at the car and I was sitting down and relaxing. Lavander also had a busy day being a trail angel. She spent the day shuttling hikers to/from the trail and to stores for resupply. She had a good time helping others today. We checked into a hotel. So, I'll be getting a much needed shower tonight and a good night's rest.