Date: 2010-08-14
From: Lincoln

To: Lonesome Lake Hut
Miles today: 13.4

14 August Saturday ¢ 13.4 miles to Lonesome Lake HutMy stomach is pissed off! I almost had to crap in a bucket that I found in the corner of the basement because Tour Guide was in the toilet. I set my alarm clock the night before so I could go to breakfast early. The night before I couldn¢t find my clothes because they weren¢t in the basement near the dryer where I¢d last seen them. Yahtzee had removed them, folded them and put it on the table inside the bunk room of the hostel. I could already be at the dinner but I¢m afraid the search for my clothes might awaken nearby sleeping hikers. I waited for a while but ended up waking a lot of folks up trying to find my clean, folded clothes.Stretcher is up and appears to be interested in going for some coffee. He appears to be in the same mindset as me also about leaving town and getting back to the Whites. I tell Stretcher that Tree met a girl last night. We wonder if he will stay in Lincoln or slackpack in order to see her again. When Stretcher, Yathzee and I get to the dinner it¢s not open yet. We were there before 7am! We loiter outside until they open the doors and let us in early.Kumquat arrives after we¢d already ordered our breakfasts. There¢s a giant metal safe in the back of the restaurant so we all assume this facility was a bank at one time. The coffee is cheap. I thought it was interesting that they have their bathroom plunger labeled with the stores name on the handle. Who¢s going to steal ¢Mr. W¢s¢ toilet plunger?The plan is to return to Kinsmans where Kumquat and Yahtzee will be slackpacking. Stretcher and I are not slackpacking and we¢ll be staying somewhere in the Whites tonight. Tree and Hot Foot have decided to slackpack and I guess we might see them sometime today.Stretcher, Kumquat, Yahtzee and I were standing outside of the dinner when I semi-seriously stuck out my thumb as a van passed by. I smiled with an enormous grin at the thought of the wonderful breakfast I¢d just eaten. I thought of the amount of coffee I¢d drank and felt giddy with delight that I would be using it¢s energy to kick some mountain ass today! Luckily, the third car by picks us up. Lots of people have trouble hitching here but I refuse to take a cab when asking for a ride is free!The guy who picked us up tried to get us to jump off a bridge in North Woodstock. It¢s too cold for swimming today. It¢s 9am and I don¢t know if I trust this guy who already smells like liquor.We all hike out of Kinsman¢s notch except Yahtzee, who forgot to get water while in town. I was surprised that I kept pace with Kumquat even though I was burdened with my backpack. Felt amazing and energetic due to the breakfast and 4 cups of coffee. Taking things easy this morning made me feel strong. Stretcher and I stopped for a short break at Wolf Mtn. vista. Not long after sitting down on the warm rock we could hear Tree, Tour Guide and Hot Foot coming behind us. Hot Foot offered me some whiskey but it¢s early. My stomach is finally behaving itself despite my expectations of disaster. I felt like I might vomit last night. The burping fire from the bottom of my bowls didn¢t let me sleep peacefully. Climbing makes my guts feel better.Stopped at Eliza brook shelter and saw a man who looked just like Boo-Boo. Michigan and T-Funk already saw him and commented on the same similarities. The Boo-Boo look alike is a SOBO. Michigan yelled obscenities at the Boo-Boo imposter when he¢d seen him in town riding a bike. ¢Everyone tells me I look just like that guy!¢ said the Boo-Boo imposter.The AT follows the river behind Eliza shelter for a mile uphill. So many rocks wearing a slipper jacket of moss. The pools of water collecting in the basins of the river rocks are amber in color. The climb up from the ponds made for the most fun I¢ve had traveling along the trail. Hand and toe holds only up a rock slab. Sucking wind and doing leg lunges the whole way up. The ascent reminded me of Lehigh Gap multiplied by 10. It kept going and going! I tried to keep hiking even though I was seeing spots of light in both eyes. Polka dot blurry vision made for an exciting afternoon. Kinsman¢s vista is breathtaking! The view reminded me of a better version of Three Ridges. Moosilauke is very similar to the Priest on the other side of the valley. We dried our sweat off under overcast skies and laughed at ourselves for being so lazy. I¢m surprised I¢ve kept up with the slackpackers. I guess you can only hike so fast no matter what you¢re carrying. The sunlight reflecting off the rocks on Kinsman feel so amazing to my wet skin. I lay back on the rock and close my eyes but it¢s so windy I can¢t fall asleep.Stretcher and I are anticipating a 4:30pm arrival to Lonesome Lake hut. Yahtzee comes up above the tree line grinning and complimenting the view on Kinsman. She had a lot of fun climbing up here like we all did. The harder it is¢¦the more we like it! We all look happy when we arrived up here. It helps when it¢s this beautiful at the end of a hard day! Yahtzee¢s a few seconds behind Tree, Hot Foot, Tour Guide and Kumquat. They¢ve already left and are headed to Franconia Notch. Everyone but Stretcher and I are headed back to Lincoln tonight. Yahtzee is pretty worn out and wishes that she would have included her sleeping bag in her slackpack. She¢s tired. I offer to let her use my sleeping bag if I get a spot at the hut tonight.The way the trees are shorter at the top tricks your eyes. The variation in height at the tree line gives the illusion that people are giant sized. Hikers look massive and lumbering as they disappear behind the miniaturized forest.I kept getting the sinking feeling that we weren¢t finished with climbing while we took a break at the vista on South Kinsman. We were in fact, on South Kinsman and not North Kinsman! We just added a mile to our remaining day! The next mountain was just as hard but equally incredible as the last. I could see the tower on top of Cannon Mtn. There was a ton of day hikers slowly meandering through the woods near the hut. They don¢t have enough hiking experience to know that you should yield to the faster hikers. Especially let the thru-hikers go when it¢s getting late! I ended up walking behind a large family group for 14 miles and they apparently had no place in particular to go. The wait was unbearable. We wait as patiently as possible for a break in the traffic. All I want to know is that there aren¢t 10 hikers at Lonesome Lake Hut and I¢ve got a place to sleep tonight. I want to sleep in the Whites but they have so many rules here. The Whites have rules about where you can and can¢t camp.When we arrived at the giant log cabin structure the first thing I noticed was the massive amount of split birch firewood at the front entrance. Matt, the Hut Headmaster told us the deal with work-for-stay and we were in. The Headmaster offers Stretcher and I all the turkey, cranberry sauce, gravy, mashed potatoes, and green beans we can eat in exchange for scrubbing the oven, cleaning the compost collector and tooth brush scrubbing the dishwasher rack. Deal! Even though it was tedious work, it was well worth it. I felt tall as the trees when we spent 30 minutes giving a ¢Thru-hiker Presentation¢ to the AMC hut patrons interested in our stories. I would shrink in size and feel 2ft tall when I scrubbed the dishwasher trays with that tooth brush later.¢How will it feel to return to the real world?¢ I wondered as I cleaned the moldy mazes of heat resistant plastic.¢What if I only find a job like scrubbing leftovers with a tooth brush?¢ I questioned.My conclusion surprised me! The realization left me with more than soggy soapy hands but real genuine goose bumps! The answer to that question helped me realize what a difference this trail has made in me! I felt dread when I thought about returning to the labor field but so thankful for my choice to quit working for this moment. Even if I have a mundane career from this point on at least I had the guts to live out my dreams. If I have to scrap and fight for meager rations for the rest of my life, at least once in my life I was strong, proud, brave and free!!One of the patrons who¢d enjoyed the ¢Thru-hiker¢ presentation we gave came over and picked on us while we were doing our work for stay. At first I was offended at what she said, she changed her tone with a big smile and gave us a bag of red wine! We drained the wine bag as we sat on the docks by the lake below the hut. The monstrous ridgeline of Franconia ridge is right in our field of view from the lake shore. I can¢t recall a time where I could see where I¢d end up at the end of the following day. The sight of tomorrow¢s challenge makes my blood boiling hot. I¢m so excited that I might walk along that amazing ridge in perfect weather tomorrow. The forecast is favorable for a great day!The clouds in the black sky fade away and a deep ocean of stars burn through. Stretcher and I are lying flat on the docks looking up into space. How many suburban kids are lying in grass behind their town homes and looking at the same stars as this adventurer? I think I can see the oval shape of galaxies. There¢s a chance that we¢ll see the Northern Lights if we look. I see the Milky Way shortly before my eyes get heavy and fall asleep.