Date: 2007-07-13
From: NH25 Glencliff

To: Eliza Brook Shelter
Miles today: 17.0
Weather: light rain

Cheeze, Hoosier and I were out of the Hiker's Welcome rather early-- many thanks to Phatt Chap, Pack Rat and Ffej for the great hospitality. Since we knew there was an immediate stream crossing, none of us bothered to put on our shoes, and left wearing our camp shoes.After the ford, which was just a little hairy, and some field crossings, the ascent up Moosilauke began.Mt. Moosilauke is, of course, the first "big mountain" in the North East. That is, it is the first hunk of rock that reaches alpine elevations. It is a long climb of over 3500 feet. I was a little afraid we were going to get shafted and have a cloudy summit, as there were clouds everywhere when we left. But as the day neared closer toward noontime, they broke up more and more, and by the time I reached the top of Moosilauke (after 3 straigh hours of climbing) it was more or less clear, granting Cheeze and me sweeping vistas of the surrounding countryside.A DOC goon was up top talking about everything, and upon command he took our picture. Then came the descent. The infamous descent next to Beaver Brook Falls. That's right. Just like the first mile of the Approach Trail, the AT rides right next to a waterfall on the way down Moosilauke. It was extremely treacherous, and it didn't help that DOC goons were actually working on building the steps as we were tenderly climbing down. We didn't have the luxury of steps. Just rebar. So it goes.At Kinsman Notch, Cheeze hitched into town to grab a maildrop, and we planned to meet at Eliza Brook Shelter for the night. I took my time hiking at this point. the Trail was very difficult, and I took every opportunity to take in some of the magnificent vistas the Trail provided.I was about 2 miles from the shelter when the thunder I had been hearing steadily for the last hour began rumbling louder than appreciated, and I began huffing it a little more quickly. Still, it was slow, and pretty soon Cheeze caught up to me. Yeah, he managed to hitch in and out of town and STILL catch up to me. I'm such a sloth.Anyway, we had only chatted for a few moments when the sky suddenly opened up and began TEEMING. At this point our careful jog broke out into all-out gallop for the last mile, which seemed much longer than it should have. I didn't even bother to put on my rain gear or pack cover, but I ran fast enough so that nothing got TOO soaked.Three people were in the shelter when we arrived, a couple and a guy perhaps a few years older than myself. As soon as Cheeze sees the guy he says, "Caught you, motherfucker!" I love the boy dearly, but he isn't much one for tact.Turns out the guy is Rafiki, a thru-hiker who passed me sometime in Connecticut. For some reason Widowmaker and Cheeze met him back then, but I didn't. He likes to do big days, is a little pompous about it, but is overall a genuinely nice guy, and I got along with him quite well.After a while, about 6 SOBOs showed up, as did about 50 bratty high school camp kids. These kids were so fucking annoying. All of them wanted to sleep in the shelter (which would have been impossible), but luckily their advisors had other plans, and they set up a huge tarp for them in the rain.The girls in particular were plain mean. One of them saw the shelter's resident chipmunk scrounging around for food and she threatened to kill it. Cheeze, who is very gallant, and very not full of tact, told that if she lay one finger on the chipmunk... he would pee on her.It was a glorious moment.