Date: 2018-07-24
From: Kinsman Notch route 112

To: Route 25 hikers welcome hostel
Miles today: 9.3

I slept pretty well last night though it was warm and I kept throwing the covers off me. The bunk room was very quiet with no one snoring. Before dawn I was awake watching the sky turn brighter through the windows on the gable end and just before 6 I started to stretch in preparation for the day. I felt a little restless getting ready to climb Mount Moosilauke today. I packed my day bag and went downstairs to the common area where I scored the two apple and cinnamon oatmeal packages that were up for grabs and made myself breakfast along with a cup of coffee. The shuttle left promptly at 7: 30 and River almost didn't make it having to squeeze an 8th person into a 7 passenger van but it worked. It's been raining a lot here and as we traveled across Route 118 a section of the road had been washed out. We waited for the construction vehicles to move, about 15 or 20 minutes before we could pass through. We got to the trailhead and started hiking around 8: 30 and it was already raining steadily. I noticed that my legs were shaky when I crossed the first two streams so I took a moment to take a couple of deep breath and remind myself that I can do this. Lacking confidence will not help me today. The higher I hiked on the mountain the harder it rained. I absolutely loved climbing up the rocky north side of the mountain to the peak where the wind was blowing the rain sideways and I was thankful to have my rain gear. I made a quick Marco Polo video for Brian from the top and sent it before tucking my phone back safely into its zip lock baggie. As I started the descent I noticed a trail crew out there working, which really surprised me in this weather. They do such a great job keeping these trails accessible to us.The descent was quite nice, actually steep for a little while and of course wet and slippery but I only fell once just slightly and enjoyed the way the terrain mellowed out after that. As it did, the rain stopped and the sun came out so I was mostly dry except my feet and it felt so warm and happy. But by the time I got to the first paved road the sky had opened up again with a new downpour. Not looking at my phone and map I assumed the road was Route 25 and I exited the trail, took a left and begin hiking to where I thought I'd find the hostel but instead I found a sign that said welcome to Warren. Immediately I knew I was not on Route 25 so with the rain stopping once more I pulled out my phone and sure enough I had given myself an extra road walk. I was on High St. I turned around and walked back up the paved Road and entered the trail on the left stopping at Jeffers Shelter just to see what it was like and met a young couple there hiking southbound who were staying for the night. I didn't stay long and headed back onto the trail which dumped me out on Route 25. Across the way was a Class C camper parked and the gentleman yelled to me that he had ice cream! Of course you know I ran right over! and while I didn't have an ice cream because they were ice cream sandwiches. I did enjoy a can of iced tea and conversation with three other hikers and eventually River. We toasted our drinks and I hiked on with River to the hostel where are we got ourselves clean and dry and eventually fed when the shuttle went out to the Country Store at 5pm. There are many hikers here tonight, I expect that they are getting out of the rain because the forecast is calling for more serious rain and thunderstorms on Wednesday and Thursday. I'm not sure at this point if we will attempt to hike in that. I think the wisest thing to do is to look at the forecast again in the morning and make an informed decision because it would be foolish to be on any of these 4000' balds in the middle of a thunderstorm. It's 8:25 and I've brushed my teeth and heading up to my bunk. I hope it's cooled off some up there.