Date: 2016-06-20
From: Ore Hill Campsite

To: The Notch Hostel via Kinsman Notch
Miles today: 17.0
Weather: clear sky

Cosmo was up and at em when I rolled out of my tent this morning, but Atlas was a little slower. It's funny how few times I've set up my tent over this entire trip. I made a trip to the crazy nice privy at this campsite, then packed up and headed out. It was about a ten mile section from the campsite to where the big climb of the day, Moosilauke began. I think that in my head I forget about these sections that are not particularly challenging and think they will just pass like a breeze. But this one took a serious while, over some smaller peaks. But something amazing did happen on the way! As I was passing along a ridge, I thought I heard a crunching noise to my left. I turned around, and there was a moose about fifty yards off the trail. It was quite small, probably adolescent, and without antlers. I think this is karma paying me back for being literally the only thru hiker I know who has not seen a wild bear. I crossed NH Route 25, and decided not to head to the hiker hostel that is nearby, thinking that I didn't really need anything. Just past the road was Oliverian Brook, which is just slightly too deep to want to try and rock hop, so I popped off my boots, taking a break on the other side. I climbed back into the woods for a spell, stopping at Jeffers Brook Shelter, where I met a couple of southbound section hikers! They let me pore over their southbound copy of the AWOL guide, which fascinated me, being a mirror image. I also found a log book doodle which I really enjoyed which says "The Trail Really Does Provide." It really does. The trail moved back out onto roads, and I climbed up the pavement to the Glencliff trail head which would take me up Moosilauke! I believe this is the third single largest climb for northbounders, only behind Franconia Ridge and Katahdin. And it quickly became one of my favorites. The trail begin nice and wide but changed back to a hike similar to Killington. I was sweaty all over, but the weather was absolutely divine. I stopped by a wonderful spring halfway up and cooled off in the crystal water. Right after the toughest section of climbing, the trail spit me out onto the Carriage Road, which is a surprisingly wide trail leading up to the summit, probably about six or eight feet of well trod path. The trees were short and I could see over them to the mountains beyond, and up to Moosilauke. I couldn't believe my luck with the weather. About a week ago Audubon had sent me a picture of himself and Quixote up at the top in blustery rain. No thank you.The trees fell away completely and gave way to the bouldery, gravelly trail I have seen before in the whites. Soon enough i came out onto the top. Wow. It was spectacular up here. I took an incredibly long lunch break, knowing that I would not get something as special as this often. I talked with some local high school kids and a father and son who came up later. A group of counselors in training from a Christian girl's summer camp nearby gave me a bagel with cream cheese! Yum!The view was outrageously good, back to Killington and away into the next days of hiking: the Kinsman Ridge, the Franconia Ridge, the Twins and Washington itself. Eventually I had had my fill and made my way down and across the flat open summit. This is probably my favorite summit so far on the trail. The trail ducked back into the trees and was surprisingly tough, having me jump over boulders and even do some uphill climbing, but eventually i came to the turnoff for Beaver Brook Shelter. Here begins one of the craziest descents for any northbound hiker, dropping 2000 feet in just less than two miles. The descent is accomplished mainly by wooden steps that have been punched into the granite faces with iron rebar. They are not very confidence-inspiring, especially when you see that a number of them are missing, broken. The brook itself ran right next to the trail, and made for some incredibly impressive cascades. I stopped by a waterfall at one point, amazed at how long the descent was taking, and what a toll it had on my knees. Eventually it flattened out, though, and I neared the trailhead at Kinsman Notch.Right as I pulled into the parking lot, i realized this was going to be a difficult hitch. No cars were going by on the road. But wouldn't you know it, an old couple pulled up from the trail right in front of me, and I asked them whether they were headed into North Woodstock, which they were. I thanked them profusely, but they seemed to think it was what anyone would do, the decent thing. They drove me the three miles towards town, and dropped me at a beautiful white farmhouse, the Notch Hostel. i placed my stuff out on the porch, and headed inside to see what I could do, but nobody was really around. I noticed that check in was from 4 onwards, and it was about 3:20. I waited on the porch. At about 3:50, a truck pulled up with a young woman named serena, who owns the place, and out of the passenger seat popped BLUES BROTHER! I hadn't seen the man since Pennsylvania, since his plan to do insane miles had popped into his head, in order to finish the trail before his family's July 4th gathering in Florida. He explained that he had been getting tired of doing miles, but his father said to him that he would just buy him a plane ticket there and back out of gorham nh if it meant that much to him. Which meant that Blue had about two weeks to kill and only about a week of hiking. So he had been taking it very slow, and indeed stopped for about four days doing work for stay at the Hostel in glencliff. He has been taking side trails, and now was doing work-for stay at this hostel. Serena checked me in to the hostel. She is incredibly sweet, and she and her husband just opened the hostel last year after a successful set of thru-hikes. They are some of the youngest hostel owners around, and seem to be very much loving it. The place itself is beautiful, an actual house; i spose if you also cater to skiers in the winter, you have a higher standard than the usual hiker hostel.I got cleaned up and set up and decided to bike into the little town of North Woodstock for some food. It's amazing the different muscle groups that get used in exercise. I was exhausted. i picked up a sandwich, a pie, and some beer and headed back. I spent the evening playing the 12-string guitar that the hostel had hanging up on the wall. Great day.