Date: 2023-07-25
From: Pinkham Notch Visitors Center 1878.8

To: Carter Notch Hut 1884.7
Miles today: 5.9

Hiking Day 124, Elevation 3293 FeetI woke up at 4:30 and I had trouble going back to sleep so I just laid still and tried not to worry about ¢stuff.¢ We got up at 5:30 and removed quite a lot of things from our packs that we wouldn¢t need for the next couple of days, including a lot of food. Then on to breakfast. This Quality Inn only had Wi-Fi in the lobby but had a good selection of food for breakfast (including breakfast sandwiches and yogurt). I uploaded my journals for the last few days whilst eating breakfast. I didn¢t have time to include photos, that will have to come later.Paul picked us up a little after 8 a.m. as promised, and drove us back to Pinkham Notch. There we crossed the road and walked along on fairly level trail for maybe half a mile before it turned uphill. From then on there was a lot of steep uphill climbing that became vertical periodically. It was hard, slow work for most of the day and it quickly became apparent that we would not go as far as I had hoped today, so we decided to go to Carter Notch Hut and see how we felt about going on.I¢ve heard the steepest mile of AT is in this section, and I think that may be true. The hiking was hard but we got into a bit of a rhythm and occasionally the trees parted and we had some memorable views. The sun was shining in a cloudy sky and the light filtered down to us through the trees creating lovely shadows on the ground.It was already 3 p.m. when we got to Carter Hut. Kerry had some lemonade and I had hibiscus tea and at 4 p.m. we asked to do ¢¢work for stay¢ and we were accepted. With the weather uncertain, it¢s good to be under a roof. Also, because if we add a day to our journey on this section, we will run out of food and eating here tonight will solve that problem. I shall have to ration Felix¢ food, but I think he¢ll be O.K.Sara, one of the hut employees asked us if we¢d be interested in hearing a ¢green tech talk¢ on how the huts work and we said, ¢yes.¢ She explained how they bring in fresh food twice a week on Wednesdays and Saturdays they carry in fresh food on pack boards, heavy wooden frames they strap boxes to. They routinely carry 75 lb loads. I told her I could not begin to lift that weight, never mind carry it anywhere. I think you have to be young and strong to do that job. She explained in great detail how the composting toilets work (and don¢t), how helicopters deliver goods at the beginning and the end of the season. She also told us that each employee works 11 days on, then have 3 days off.Reset passed us in the afternoon, she is anxious to get back to Gorham for a zero day. Later we saw Mr. Friendly leaving this hut¢¦he is going up all the peaks as he hikes the trail. He is moving fast. At the hut, we met Butterfly, a section hiker from Alabama, who has walked all the way from Springer Mountain over a number of years. We also saw Dice, who we haven¢t seen for several states.One thing I haven¢t mentioned is all the mica we have seen in the Whites. Bright and shiny it looks like silver shining in the rocks and it¢s everywhere!Just waiting for dinner, and I am very hungry! Kerry is reading a book from the hut library, ¢the best American Poetry from 2015¢ whilst we wait. We will sweep the dining area floor and wipe down the tables for our, ¢work.¢ Then sleep!