Date: 2011-07-27
From: (110) Chet's Hostel

To: (111) Zealand Hut Falls
Miles today: 19.6

The bunks at Chet¢s were filled last night, so I ended up sleeping underneath another hiker, Humpty Dumpty (He had a great fall), who informed me before going to bed that I was going to enjoy his farts. I didn¢t.I woke, packed, and was one of the first ones out despite having slept in (I also discovered that I had been sleeping in because the alarm on my watch was off).While walking down the sidewalk I met a male south bounder who was trying to hitch back to the same spot on the trail as me, so we teamed up to try and get a ride. We had no luck at all, and in the end started walking up the ramp onto the highway, debating with each other the legality of walking onto a highway as we did so. A girl in a car stopped for us halfway up the ramp, and it seemed to me that she had done so because she thought we would get killed otherwise (I blame the south bounder, they always have crazy ideas¢¦ like hiking south). Having averted walking alongside the deadly traffic, we rode down the highway until I spotted the park where I had gotten off by side trail, and the girl dropped us off. We hiked together down the side trail, the south bounder and I, and when we hit the AT we split off into our separate directions, never to see each other again. We weren¢t so different, he and I, but alas our friendship was not meant to be, for he was a Sobo, and I a Nobo¢¦ (and Nobo is better).My hike today was disappointing. After climbing for hours to the top of Mt Lafayette I entered a cloud and was frozen to a Popsicle. Even worse, when I broke the tree line I was unable to see the so called ¢spectacular¢ view because of the cloud I was in. I hiked a rocky ridge above the tree line for some time, my visibility obscured by the cloud to the point where I could only see a few feet in front of me. The wind was tremendous and several times I was nearly knocked off of my meet, and the rocks I crossed were no help as they were wet and slippery. Then the cloud and wind began shooting chunks of ice at me, which melted at first but then started to cling to my body and clothes. I was unprepared for such violence, and as a result was only hiking in my shorts and tee. I refused to stop, less I become a Popsicle, and as I went I passed countless other hikers who were decked out in full rain gear or expensive coats, or huddled behind a large rock for protection. It was intense and I loved striding past them wearing next to nothing, the wind ripping through me and the ice sticking to my skin. I was a thru hiker.When I finally re-entered the trees, my entire left side was white with ice, but within the trees I was protected, and the air continued to warm as I descended. I ran into Tridub, and together we hiked and talked until reaching a Hut (Galehead Hut). Having gotten work-for-stay at the last hut, Tridub tried to get it again at this one, but we were too early for them to give us a spot and so they told us to move on and try the next. The next hut, Zealand Hut Falls, was 7 miles away, with a climb over the very large South Twin Mountain. It was 3:30 pm and we would have to make it by 6pm to make supper and beat any other hikers there. ¢Well¢ I said, ¢We¢ll just sprint up this last mountain and then it is all downhill¢. And that is exactly what I did¢¦Calorie rich Pop-tart in one hand and hiking poles in the other, I sprinted up the steep mountain as fast as I could and reached the top half an hour later, having destroyed the toughest climb of the day (I would later joke with Tridub that South Twin Mountain¢s bottom was still sore from the spanking I had given it). I continued my fast pace and reached the hut by 6, which meant I had hiked faster than 3mph pace through the Whites, and had done 19.6 miles despite having not hit the trail until 10am (I enjoyed this because of all the crap I heard before entering the Whites about how much they would slow me down and blah blah blah). The Whites really are over-exaggerated. At Zealand Falls Hut I went inside and asked the Croo (crew), a bunch of charismatic college kids, if I could do work for stay, and they said yes! The hut, a large cabin with a dining hall style Main room and bunk house side rooms, was packed full of paying visitors, so I sat outside with another Nobo named Grasshopper (He had hopped across the rocks of a stream like a Grasshopper or something). As it turned out, Grasshopper was one of the other hikers mentioned in the half-gallon challenge newspaper article that I had been in! He and I were later joined by Tridub, who went inside and got work for stay from the Croo as well! The three of us sat on the porch talking and eating the cookies a guest had given us, while the sun slowly sank behind the mountains and the air grew even chillier (While sitting on the porch I learned how Tridub had gotten his name. His real name is Will, and at the start of the trail he had said some wise words that had led to him being called ¢Wise Word Will¢, which led to ¢WWW¢, ¢Dubs Dubs Dubs¢, and at last ¢Tridub¢).After the guests (maybe 30) had eaten supper, the Croo called us in to eat the leftovers. There were tons, and we feasted on ham, rice, peas, cobbler, homemade bread, and more. After eating we hung out in the kitchen with the Croo members and talked about other hikers and the huts. I learned that the Croo is not supposed to throw food out if they can help it, so they often get very creative with their cooking, making meals such as cottage cheese and sausage pizza (which was delicious). The Hut was hydro powered by the nearby Zealand Falls, so the lights went out at around 8pm to save what energy remained in the hut¢s batteries. Despite the darkness, many of the guests stayed up in the dining room with their headlights on, talking and playing board games. When at last they had gone to their bunks the three of us spread out our bags on the dining room floor and went to sleep. In the morning we would clean up the hut as the ¢work¢ portion of our stay.