Date: 2018-06-21
From: Moose Mountain Shelter

To: Ore Hill Campsites
Miles today: 25.2
Weather: broken clouds

Well, despite my body telling me no, and my mind agreeing-- I woke up at 4am with Two Clicks for sunrise. We woke up and were on trail by 4:30. He was a bit ahead because, well, I took longer to get greased up for the big days hike. As much as I don't look forward to hiking in the dark, it does bring out a whole new image to the forest. The birds hadn't started chirping yet and daybreak was just setting in. It was super peaceful!We hiked the 1.6 miles by 5 for what we were told was a 5:03 sunrise. From the small Vista just below the north peak of Moose Mountain, we sat drinking coffee in the warm weather with a nice breeze. First day of summer, which also happens to be "hike naked day" was kicked off with a bang. No I did not partake in hiking naked, I did however take part in the first day of summer.After the sun rose, we had eaten breakfast and packed back up, it was on the trail again! The first climb for the day was Holt's Ledges. They were amazing views up towards Smarts Mountain. Down the other side we started the ascent up Smarts Mountain. All I could think about was "this is Holly Smart's mountain!" So here's to your mountain Holly! It had a fire tower on top and great views! We were in and out of a cloud so it was definitely chillier than most peaks. Even on this beautiful day! Also, who knew there was a Dorchester, NH? I didn't and we passed a road leading into it!On Smart's mountain, Two Clicks and I met up and descended together. There was a ton of moose poo on the way down and we were hoping to see one but no luck! We stopped at the bottom for lunch along a river. I'll call it butterfly river because there were butterflies everywhere! They were basking in the sun and flying all around. It made for a very peaceful lunch spot.Next came the last "big" climb of the day up Mt Cube at just under 3000'. We had a lot of climbing today and probably bit off more mileage than we should have but it's worth it to get to the base of Mt Moosilauke for tomorrow's nice weather. Mt Cube, like the last two, had amazing views and the sun was so warm on top. I sat up here for at least a half hour and made a call to my mom. Back in Virginia, one of the hostels named Stanimals had a sign that said "call your mom." I think that's important! After our chat, I took pictures for Two Clicks as he yoyoed haha and then we descended the cube seeing our first southbounder of the trail!The campsite tonight had no good water source so we packed 3 liters up. 6 pounds of water plus food and other gear gets heavy and we had the smallest climb of the day (still 1000' gain!) Up Ore "hill." This hill would be a mountain in the south. No offense south! But it was easily doable and we made it to camp by 4. 11.5 hours on the trail to do 25 miles. Not bad for the terrain today but mileage will be cranking back for sure.We ate dinner, dried some gear out then layed in our tents mosquito free listening to Stephen King and hanging out. These bugs have been bad lately and the black flies have gotten me good! P.S: I feel like I was mildly bitter towards Hanover/Dartmouth in my journal. I have to say, it was an awesome town! We had two people walk by and literally give us candy/protein bars for being hikers and another guy yelled "nice job guys!" Out the window of his car as we walked by. A very friendly town for sure just lacking a solid outfitter and some smaller amenities like affordable hostels. Other than that I really enjoyed the town and thank Dartmouth Outing Club for their trail maintenance! Everytime I see their DOC symbol, though, I think "Department of Corrections" especially with the orange signs they use but I digress!