Date: 2003-10-26
From: back in gorham

To: hermit lake shelters
Miles today: 2.4

first thing this morning i went and found mahoosuc at the mcdonalds- reading the newspaper and drinking a coffee, just like he said he would be. i asked mahoosuc if he ever stayed at the woods hole hostel just south of pearisburg, va, last year. he said that he did. i asked him if he ended up sleeping on the floor in the kitchen area. he said that he had. then, he said that i was the one sleeping on the floor beside him and i told him that was right. i knew that i'd come up with it eventually. i don't forget a face and usually don't forget a name either. i asked him if he knew any doctors in town and he said that he didn't, but i could visit the gorham medical center. i told him that i had no insurance and was a little strapped for cash.then, i went to get some breakfast. i'd had my eye on the dunkin donuts since i first saw it when i got into town on thursday. the hiker appetite is here and it is here to stay. or, as i like to call it- i'm just feeding the tapeworm. i ordered a box of fifty munchkins (the donut holes) and two pints of milk. i put a pretty good size dent in the box, leaving with only seven munchkins left. i finished those off not ten minutes later.mahoosuc was no longer in his office when i went back by the mcdonalds. so, i decided to go across the street to burger king and set up my own office there. i ordered some fries and a drink and racked my brain trying to figure out what i should do. my dad said that he would come and pick me up if need be. i didn't really want to rush into things, so i told him i'd think about it. and, if dad did come and pick me up, what would i be going back to? i have no job and no home and no direction. the thought of hanging it all up and going back to north carolina kind of scared me.i probably spent at least two hours in the burger king trying to figure things out. i had no idea wht i should do. i really didn't want to throw in the towel. finally, i decided on a plan. i called my folks and told them that i was going to hitch back to the trail and hike in a couple of miles to see how things were feeling. i had my ankle wrapped and had a heel-lifter in my boot- making it so the tendons in my ankle didn't have to work quite as hard. if things went well, then i would continue hiking south and just take it slow. if things didn't go well, i'd come back to gorham and make the call- to get picked up.i htched to where the trail crosses route 16 at pinkham notch. the amc has built a lrge visitors center there along with other various facilities. i went in and wandered around the visitors center for a while. it had some pretty good information about the whites and lots of good books for sale. back outside, i saw a guy weighing his backpack on the scales. i walked over and asked him how much it weighed and he said 51 pounds. if his pack weighs 51 pounds, i don't even want to know what mine weighs. the curiosity got the best of me, so i grabbed my pack and put it on the scales- 58 pounds (that is with 7 days of food). that's pretty crazy. when i started this hike my pack only weighed 33 pounds with 6 days of food. all this winter gear that i'm carrying now really adds up.the guy with the 51 pound pack and i started talking. he told me that he was the caretaker at the hermit lake shelters near tuckerman ravine. he said that if i wanted, i could come up there and stay the night and do a work for stay- meaning, i could stay for free if i did a little work (it usually costs $10 to stay there. i told gregg that i might do that. hiking 2.4 miles was definitely better than hiking 4.8 miles like i'd originally planned.gregg headed up the trail and i went back over to sit on a bench for a while. i wandered around in the visitors center some more. i think i was really trying to put off the hiking as long as possible. i was afraid of what might happen when i finally did start hiking. how would my ankle react? would it be okay? would it get messed up even more?i finally made myself start hiking and i took things really slow. the 2.4 miles seemed to drag on forever, but i finally did make it to the shelters just as it ws starting to rain. it was already completely dark when i got here and it ws only 5:15. this whole daylight savings thing is going to ruin everything. the sun is going to start setting at five and that will make for some very long nights.gregg pointed me in the direction of a fully enclosed shelter that wasn't being used. my ankle is feeling pretty good. if this rain stops by morning, i might head up the tuckerman ravine trail to the summit of mount washington and continue south on the AT from there. if it is still raining, then i'll lay low tomorrow and let the aankle do some healing.