Date: 2008-08-08
From: Kinsman Notch, NH

To: Franconia Notch, NH
Miles today: 16.3
Weather: moderate rain

Crossed the 1,800 mile mark today. And it took everything I had, physically and mentally, to finish these 16.3 miles today. It turned out to be one of my toughest days on the trail. The combination of the terrain and weather was exhausting for me today. I am used to doing 2.5/mph to 3/mph, but lately here in NH I struggle to do 2/mph and today I was lucky to do 1.5/mph. I knew the terrain was going to become more difficult in NH but today really knocked me on my ass. Constantly expecting to be closer to where I was going than I really was was frustating mentally. The White Mts. are going to be an exercise in patience for sure.Dust in the Wind, Snake Whisperer, Shelter Monkey and I were shuttled to the trailhead in Kinsman Notch by two NH natives doing a section hike, whom we had meet several days earlier, at 6:45AM. Bearpack and Bearbait who I had caught up to in North Woodstock decided to jump ahead and hike north from Franconia Notch. They had been forced to turn back from Kinsman Notch the other day due to rain and bad conditions and vowed to never hike up that section again. So they're at least a day ahead of me again. The hike north out of Kinsman was steep (but not as steep as the SOBO route), rocky, wet, and muddy and as usual required lots of focus to watch where I was stepping. It's amazing how draining it can be to constantly watch where you put your feet so as not to slip on wet rocks and roots or sink into the muddy bogs forming on the trail from all the rain. The weather meanwhile alternated between rain and fog and flashes of sunshine all day. The temperature was only supposed to reach 60 in the valley so I doubt it got much above 55 where I was at. It took me almost 2 hours to do the first 3.3 miles. I climbed Mt. Wolf and Mt. Kinsman (which has south and north peaks that the trail goes over). It certainly felt more like climbing than hiking, especially up Kinsman, as I used my hands as much as I used my feet to scramble up rock faces and grab trees and roots to pull myself up. While climbing up Kinsman there were periods of loud thunder as I got higher and the trees got shorter. I decided to put my headphones on. Ignorance is bliss afterall. It was at this point that my thoughts began skittering along the edges of 'why am I out here and doing this to myself?' and all of the other things I could be doing instead. These were dangerous thoughts. Previously I've thought about not hiking for a day or akipping parts of the trail, but this was the first time I was considering quitting the trail entirely. I never thought I would thinking of quitting the trail so close (relatively) to the end (372 miles to go). I ended up feeling a little better on the climb down as the storms held off other than a little rain. I stopped in my first hut and had some peach cobbler too. The huts are built and maintained in the Whites by the AMC. They basically serve as rustic vacation type lodges and bunkhouses for tourists visiting the Whites and the trail passes close to most of them. Generally if hikers want to stay at them they are relegated to sleeping on a kitchen table (which you pay the privilege for) or sometimes hikers can do work for stay to sleep on a table and have some kitchen leftovers. As much as I wanted to sleep on a kitchen table I decided to push on the last 3 miles to Franconia Notch. It turned out that I got soaked and chilled at the end of the day (5:30PM) just when I got to Franconia Notch as I was waiting for our ride back to North Woodstock. Finally got in the car at 7:30PM and first checked out a hostel in Lincoln, but it was pretty full and I would have had to sleep on the floor and it did not seem to be heated (it was in a garage). By this point it was almost 8PM, I was cold, chilled and ready to eat my own arm off so I just got dropped back off at the hotel in North Woodstock (proud to be a Hotel Blazer '08! haha). I cranked up the heat and took a long hot shower but it was still awhile before I really felt warm. I'm still not feeling great, almost like I have a cold, but I am glad I got this section done today. In the future I think I just need to plan for shorter days until I get through the Whites so I do not get burned out again.