Date: 2008-09-07
From: Kinsmans Notch

To: Glencliff
Miles today: 10.0

I slack packed south today listening to the advise of the guy from the hostel--Fat Jack. He said the trail over Mount Moosilauke was much tougher going north--that when it was wet (as it would be today) it was downright dangerous, that many people have ended their hikes there. So I decided to take his advice. I got a ride to the trailhead with a tow truck driver and his girlfriend and started up the trail. Oh, it was so beautiful! The trail wound up along a very full stream with dozens of cascading waterfalls at every step of the way. I had to stop to take a picture practially every 5 feet! The trail up was CRAZY. I cannot possibly describe it accurately so that someone who has not done it can get a good visual. My god, it seemed impossible in some sections! There was rebar set into a slab of slanted rock, and a block of wood atop that so that you had to step, in the places that they'd actually put steps, from one to the next. Some of the steps up were giant! And of course it was misty and so the blocks of wood were wet and slippery. One false step and you might fall 3 feet or 30 feet and end up in a heap at the bottom, your trip on the AT finished. Needless to say, I moved slowly. Slow, slow, slow. All up and along the stream for a long time. Lunch at the shelter-- a fairly quick one because it was cold. After hours of hiking I arrived at the top--the first time on the AT that I've been above treeline. But the mountain top was covered in fog so no views. It was so windy and cold, whipping water in my face. At the sign there was a lone person and when I got closer and said hello it was Cloud--a guy who I'd met the day before at the shelter. How funny to be hiking, to reach the top of a mountain, to run into one person and to know that person! We didn't talk long because it was frigid and I was getting pummeled by the wind. I hiked on down the mountain, the trail not nearly as difficult as the one we'd taken up. Not easy, but not as life-threatening. Lead Dog and I arrived at the road crossing just minutes before 7 and wondered if we'd be able to get a ride. It wasn't too long when a woman stopped to pick us up, said she could take us as far as the T intersection where we would take 112 into town. She was so nice! Gave us fresh apples and a trail mix. She dropped us at the intersection and again we tried to get a ride. Some cars passed. Then a guy driving a toyota yaris stopped and said he could take us into town. We hopped in and were off. He told us that years ago he worked at Katahdin and had to hike to the top several days in a row, how the reactions of people varied... the guy who reached the top, broke his hiking stick over his knee and flung it off the mountain, yelling "F---- this!" or the people who got to the top, looked around, and then started back down the trail to the visitor center, the black guy who sat down on a rock and balled his eyes out for 5 minutes.One of the biggest surprises for me on this trip is undoubtably the kindness of strangers. I am so inpsired by this, so affected by their generousity. I have so enjoyed talking to people I've never met and in most cases, will not see again.