Date: 2015-07-04
From: Lonesome Lake Hut

To: Galehead Hut
Miles today: 16.0
Weather: moderate rain

The Hut sprang to life at the unholy hour of 5.30am. The lights came on and I hid inside my sleeping bag. I tried to get a little bit more sleep. The croo member started cooking something and 15 minutes later told us that we had to get up now. I had some oats and hot chocolate and then left by 6.30am, the earliest in forever. The first part of the morning was mostly downhill. The trail was fairly clear of rocks, so it was quite gentle really, but I had to carefully cross a few brooks. There was a moment where I got stuck in between two rocks, as I was overstretched. Managed to make it across in the end without falling it, but it reminded me again how much I rely on my poles. After the downhill, there was of course a giant uphill. It was an absolute killer. The Liberty Springs trail is literally miles of rocks that go up. It's a bit like rocky stairs but just a bit too tall and awkwardly shaped so it's completely exhausting. After the rocks is the Franconia Ridge trail, which still climbs up but has less rocks. I got to the top of one of the first peaks. I was surprised by all of the people on top. I think there must be an easier access trail. To my surprise, I heard my name being called. This was especially strange because it was my real name, and almost no one in this country knows that. I looked around to see Brightside's mum, Jean, waving nearby. What an incredible and wonderful coincidence. She introduced me to her friends and we took some photos. They also gave me some food, which was much nicer than my food. It was really cool to meet them randomly on top of a mountain. I left them there and made my way across the ridgeline, I still had more than half my miles to do. The ridge was so much better than the rest of the trail. It was up and down, but it wasn't rocky and it was mostly gentle really. It was probably the easiest section of the Whites so far. The views were also incredible, I could see mountains in every direction. They went on far into the distance, making blue shadows on the horizon. Then I had lunch on my way down to Mt Garfield. A couple hikers took a photo of me eating a tortilla and said I was their hero. That made me laugh. One bad part about the Whites is being able to see exactly where you're going. You can see the next mountain, and the one after that, and after that. All the horribly steep ups and downs. I got up to Mt Garfield and then went down to the campsite I was supposed to stay at today. But I got there at about 2. I met BigBen there and we agreed to go to the next Hut. A few people told us that it was a difficult section. It took about an hour and a half to do 2.7 miles. The section started with another waterfall drop, and lots of rocks. The end of the section was a steep rocky climb. We finally made it to the hut, but it looked very busy. However, once again luck was on our side. Not only was there space for us, but someone who had booked two bunks was unable to use them and donated them to thru-hikers. This is incredibly generous, because the bunks cost $125 each. We are still going to help clean up after dinner, but we get to eat earlier and sleep on bunk mattresses instead of the floor. We also get dinner at 6 instead of waiting until 8, which is great.In the meantime, it's nice to just be inside and relax, instead of being outside and waiting hungrily. -Dinner tonight was pork, with mashed potato, salad, peas, soup and bread. It was incredibly filling. Then dessert was a chocolate cake. I drank even more hot chocolate. After the tables had been cleared, I asked if there was any work to do, and I was told that there wasn't any. I could even see that all dishes had been done. This croo is exceptionally efficient and helpful to thru-hikers. Even aside from getting to sleep in the bunks, my experience at this hut has been better than the last one.