Date: 2005-08-05
From: Guyot Campsite

To: Crawford Notch
Miles today: 11.9
Weather: fog

At 5:00 this morning, it started raining, and I was not going to get out of my tent. It rained a pretty good spell. I laid in my tent there and noticed that OC1 was also not going to get up and get out in the rain either. It ended up stopping at about six. He went up to the bathroom, I think. In the meantime, I got up and started packing and got out of there. OC1 and Easy Goer both left before me. Easy Goer had stayed up at the cabin that was a shelter there. They got a ten minute head start on me. I ended up catching up to them in about a half hour or forty minutes and blew by them with the intention of trying to get down to the Zealand Falls Hut in time to eat the leftovers from breakfast there, which I managed to get there right at 9:00. They had a big stack of pancakes and oatmeal with pineapples. I helped myself to as much as I could possibly eat. Vern walked in about a half hour after I did. Easy Goer walked in about a half hour after Vern. Then we took off out of there. They were still planning to do their 18 miles. I was still planning on going to Crawford Notch and taking a short day or even a zero day. On the way down, I managed to, on a downhill, stick my pole between two rocks and before I could slow down, I snapped the end off. So, now I have one Leki pole that snapped. Then OC1 took a good fall in slow motion. He stepped on a rock, slipped, and fell back on a rock that was slimy. It was actually very funny to watch because it was so slow. He couldn¢t keep his footing and slid sideways on this slick rock that his back was on. He fell down on his side into the crevice between two big rocks, managing to smash his forehead. It was a pretty good hit, enough to open it up and make him bleed. He was cussing like crazy about it. At first, I thought he had hurt himself seriously, but he said it was just his head. So we cleaned him up and bandaged him up. He seemed to be okay. We walked on down to the road. It took until about 1:00 to get down there. There was a couple down there who were asking us questions about the A.T., and I took the opportunity to ask them if they were making a right out on the road. They were, and I got a ride from them to the Crawford Notch Campground where I am right now. Easy Goer and OC1 are continuing on. They plan on doing another six miles, 3,000 feet straight up to the Mizpah Spring Hut tent site. Good luck to them. It¢s a hell of a climb to start at 1:00 in the afternoon through what is going to be terrible rocks. I can be sure of that. This is the beginning climb to the highest peaks in the Whites to the Presidential Range, which is supposed to be quite severe, beautiful and rugged. In fact, all of the Whites to this point have lived up to the reputation that I¢ve heard about them being rugged. I could not imagine going through this stuff without being in the kind of shape I am in. And even then, it¢s just beating me around. I also want to say that the Whites are very busy. There are a lot of tourists. There are a lot of people on the tops. Obviously they didn¢t come up the Appalachian Trail. They came up the road or they came up a side trail, but the A.T., through the Whites, is deadly. You cannot take your eyes off the Trail. You cannot lose your concentration. And even then, at any given time your trip could end in a heart beat because the falls are that treacherous. You take a fall on this stuff, you¢re out for the count. They¢d be in big trouble.Anyway, it¢s now 9:30 at night. I¢ve got a lot of stuff here. I got here around 2:00. I spent all afternoon sewing my backpack again. I had to change out the padding that I put on the belt and the tops. Just generally sat around and ate and relaxed. My knees are both extremely swollen. It¢s an amazing thing because I can walk so well still. After the first two hours, they begin to warm up in the morning, or numb out or whatever, but I can walk as though nothing is ever wrong. All it ever takes is for me to stop about a half hour, and they feel like they belong to an 80 year old man. I¢m seriously considering taking a zero day tomorrow. It¢s economical, it¢s quiet. I have this awesome cabin with seven bunks in it, enclosed with electricity and a store a hundred yards away completely to myself. It would be a hiker¢s dream out in the middle of the woods.I was taking a count the other day. I¢ve taken a lot of short days. Seven mile and ten mile and twelve mile days. Seventeen mile and fifteen mile days. But I have not taken a zero mile day since Dalton, Massachusetts. Long time ago, several states ago. Maybe it¢s time for me to do that now. I'll get a ride to Lincoln tomorrow somehow to the outfitter and see if I can¢t fix my pole and get another water bag or two even, because, the one that leaked is the newer one. So now I am feeling I can¢t trust either one of them.Anyway, that¢s it for the night.