Date: 2005-08-24
From: Zealand Falls Hut

To: Mizpah Spring Hut
Miles today: 14.1

Up and gone by about 8:30. We stayed up until 10 PM talking to the guests at the Hut. We slept until about 5:30 when the Crew woke us with their preparations for that morning's breakfast. We stayed for some scraps (oatmeal, eggs, muffins as well as coffee). A little thin on the amount of food but, it indeed was well appreciated. The weather was clear and it looked like a great day for hiking this part of the trail. Waste Deep came into camp that morning. He said he saw us walk by but chose not to say anything. He was camped just outside of the hut area.    Back on the trail the AT followed an old railroad bed. Traveling went quick and easy as the miles slipped by. Moose tracks were everywhere along the trail. They were using it to get through the thick underbrush in the low lying areas. I stopped in at the Ethan Allen Campsite (mile 1827) to see if anyone was there, no luck. A beautiful pond before the campsite made you expect to see a moose along the shore line. I was walking on and off with Leviathan this day. We caught up to each other as I left the campsite and finished the day out together. There on the trail we also came upon Sherlock (the male version of that trail name), Circuit Rider and Tumble Weed. Tumble Weed and I started the trail on the same day, we just could not remember if we had seen each other before. Only thing we all recognized was each other's journal entries at the shelters.   Levi and I stopped for a break at the road intersection of US-302 at Crawford Notch. The Willey House was to the left and about one mile down the road (there was a snack bar there as well as a girl named Christine, I promised to stop in to say hello after I met her way down south). I tried to hitch but had no luck. After about ten minutes (all the time I committed my self to hitching), I joined Levi, we ate lunch and decided to move on up the trail together. We started up towards the Webster Cliff area (3330 feet). The trail seemed to go strait up. A hard climb in a short distance. We stopped along the way to take some photos. The valley where US-302 went through was beautiful. We went to the top of Mount Jackson (4052 feet) in hopes of getting a view of Mount Washington (6288 feet). The weather was still favorable for a chance at a view. We climbed up from 1280 feet to 4052 feet in just 4.7 miles. It got my attention I am here to tell you.    Levi, the stud that he is, got to the top first. Not that it was a personal challenge, I just like to keep up with the crowd. He said that I did fine with the climb and it was just a matter of the age between us. Though he is younger then me I had him laughing when I said, "It is not the age, it's the mileage". When I was his age, about 26, I thought I could move mountains. More arrogance then anything else (back then), I sure would have given it one heck of a try. Not any more though, now I move along doing what I called "The Geritol Glide".         Once on top we discovered that Mount Washington was clear and open. I quickly let Levi take my photo before the clouds covered it again (it did within minutes of taking the photo). As we were enjoying the view a blast from my past flew out in front of me. An A-10 (Warthog), an attack plane, flew over Mount Washington and then directly in front of us. Memories came back hard but I was soon able to set them aside. That was no longer part of my life, It was another reminder of "The Other Bob". That guy did not exist anymore.   Later that afternoon the rain started to come down as a fine mist. We ended up at the Mizpah Spring Hut and attempted to get another night of "Work for Stay". This was where the young lady that the two SOBO's, Justin and Theo (plus their dog named Blue), told me about (they said to ask her so I did). I asked the young lady, "do you know a dog named Blue", and she did. She thought it was nice that they remembered her so favorably, it helped us out because we got the work for stay. Also there that evening was Levi, DA, Poky Puppy, Motambo (a section hiker) and the Muppets (Birdy, Bean and Hemlock) plus two other gentlemen. Birdy is a wildlife artist who left many memorable drawings in the shelter logs. She was a fascinating person. I enjoyed her company and her stories. All three of the Muppets were hiking together from the beginning (I believe), each had dread lock hair and Hemlock's was the longest of them all. I also remember that one of the guests took a hiking stick belonging to Hemlock, he was very upset about it (he carried it from the beginning).   It rained on and off all night long. I was hoping it would clear off the next day. It seemed that by 11 AM the cloud cover over the past two days was gone by then. I was hoping it would repeat itself the following day because Mount Washington summit was coming up (I hoped it would be clear and open for views from the top). We were only 6.2 trail miles from the summit and about 3500 feet above where we spent that night. For work for stay I swept out the hut and volunteered to answer questions. The Crew was outstanding, they fed us well though the food was cold. The guests (those who wanted to listen) enjoyed our stories. Another good day on the AT.