Date: 2006-08-12
From: Pinkham Notch

To: Osgood Campsite
Miles today: 4.7
Weather: fog

I packed up early and headed into the visitor's center at Pinkham Notch. I inquired about breakfast and then went downstairs to use the phone to call home. Dad thought I was back in Gorham as that's what showed up on the caller I.D. I informed him that no, I had in fact traveled 20 miles in three days. After our nice chat, I headed back upstairs to take advantage of the $8 breakfast. I loaded up on french toast, scrambled eggs, home fries, bacon, grapfruit, pineapple, peaches, a muffin and orange juice. I definitely have an appetite this morning. Downhill Phil, whom I met two days ago, joins me for conversation. He's taking a couple of days off to recover from a head cold and then he will be back on the trail toward Katahdin. He's from Tuscaloosa, AL and has just recently retired from the Universty of AL. I really enjoyed talking to him.Back downstairs to strip off all the warm clothes and finish packing the pack. A final call home, a call to send out some emails, and I'm back on the trail.The trail follows an old road bed for about two miles. Its nice and easy and the weather is beautiful. This is perfect for hiking! Today is one of those dreamed of hiking days where everything is wonderful. I sing that old Ethel Merman tune, "Everything's Coming Up Roses." That's not to say that the trail doesn't have some ups and downs and rocky sections. It has just enough to make it challenging. There are lots of dayhikers in the Whites. I pass a big group of fathers/sons out for a guys weekend. From their accents, I would say they are from Massachusetts. A while later, I stop for a snack and to look at the map, and two nobos, Heading Out and Tag Along approach me. As soon as they find out I'm sobo, they ask me if I'm Allison. Marta, who stayed with them last night at Madison Hut, has told them to look for me. They fill me in on the trail ahead and the weather and advise me to stop at Osgood Tentsite as it would be very difficult for me to make it to the Madison Hut today. This means that I will only do about 5 miles today. I'm a bit bummed but consider what they say as I don't want to be hiking above tree line in possible thunderstorms or at night. I keep hiking and it keeps being wonderful. The trail turns toward the West Branch of the Peabody River. I have to cross the river on a suspension bridge. Fun. Bounce, bounce, bounce. Then, the trail goes up and back down toward Parapet Brook. The trail gets a little rooty and somehow I guess my boot is too big for the space between roots or something, Anyway, I tip over and roll down the hill into some trees. My skirt is up to my waist and my legs are up in the air. I situate myself, pull myself up, and brush off the pine needles. I liken my behavior after this clumsiness to a cat that has misjudged the height of an object she wants to pounce on, falls to the ground, shakes herself off, then either acts like she totally meant to do that or decided she didn't want to jump up there anyway. Another mile later and I am at the junction for the campsite. There are two more nobos there and I ask them about the three miles up to Madison. They both say it was cold and windy. The girl says she wouldn't dare go back up there. The guy asks me if I have a headlamp indicating that it would be dark before I got up there. It took them 4.5 hours to descend. As it's 3:30 now, I decide to stay at the campsite. Some dayhikers come down the trail, and tell me it was too cold and windy for them to summit. They turned around. They also tell me that there is a group of boyscouts that will be at Madison tonight and then on to the next southbound huts. If I get to Madison tomorrow, I'll be a day behind them. I hate to stop so early, but it seems to be the best decision. I will probably only do 3 miles tomorrow, but hopefully this will set me up for really good weather for summitting Mt. Washington.I find a place to hang my hammock and get some water and begin to fix dinner. I can't believe I am eating dinner at 5 o'clock. I tune into the radio. With all the radio stations broadcasting from the top of Mt. Washington, you'd think I'd get better reception than I do. I guess I'm in a valley or the weather patterns are foiling the reception. No worries, I sing and dance along as I eat my Asian noodles. More hikers have come in and this campsite is filling up. I meet two more sobos, Dorito from MA and Snapshot from PA. These two fellows are moving pretty fast doing in one day what took me two. They do let me know that there are at least 8 other sobos behind me. Yeah! I'm not the caboose. They build a fire in the fire circle and we share stories about our trip. Some weekend hikers are at the campsite as well. John and his dog, Kaleigh from MA and Jeff and Sylvia and their dog Matteo also from MA. Small world, John and Jeff have mutual friends from the rock climbing hobby they both participate in. Jeff and Sylvia share the tent pad with me as the campsite is pretty full and we have a good time chatting. They even leave me with an albacore steak. That will go great with my instant potatoes!Well, the thunderstorms that were predicted evidently skirted this campsite, but it is still cold. In the thirties. It's August, but I feel like I am camping in NC in February!