Date: 2014-07-25
From: Lincoln, NH

To: Hanover, NH
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

After the Presidentials Athena and I finished up up the White Mountain National Forest. We crossed from Crawford Notch to Franconia Notch then onto Kinsman Notch. Between the notches we got to do a lot of amazing hiking along the ridgelines. This gave us spectacular views in between clouds rolling in and out. Ridge walking is great fun in good weather and we were really lucky to have good weather the vast majority of the time. The climbs up and down right by the notches were decently difficult but the ridgeline was a lovely rolling trail cresting up and down like waves. Although we did have a navigate amongst huge throngs of tourists and day hikers along the ridges it was still wonderful. Once we got beyond Kinsman Notch the traffic died down to normal levels and I felt like I had my trail back!The last bit of awesome that you have to do to be officially done with the Whites is Mt. Moosilauke. Although this accounts for less than 9 miles of the trail it is absolutely tough enough to be considered a good day's work to just get up and over it. Mt. Moosilauke tops out at 4802 feet. This means a very steep up alongside a water fall necessitating multiple sections of rebar and a very steep down with staircases of stone. For SOBOs it is just another killer climb like we faced in southern Maine. For NOBOs it is a taste of what is to come! Almost immediately after this last thrill the trail smoothed out considerably and our pace has begun to quicken. So much so that we arrived in Hanover two days before we expected to! There have been two notable days on the trail that deserve commenting on. First was my visit with Bill Ackerly, the ice cream man. Bill is a wonderful man who lives practically right on the trail in Lyme Center, NH. He invites hikers to come to his home for free ice cream. No thru-hiker refuses free food when offered, especially free ice cream. In addition Bill lets you dump any trash, fill up water bottles, charge electronics, and sells cans of Coke for $0.50. He even has a croquet game set up in his yard for hikers to play and is up for a game just about anytime! Hikers come past his home at all times of day, chat on the porch with him for a while, and enjoy the cool refreshing dairy goodness after signing his log book. The original plan had been to push on to the next shelter only a mile away, but during our croquet game the sky began to darken and the clouds began rumbling. When lightening started lighting up the sky Bill graciously offered to let us stay on his screened and covered porch rather than hike out in such a mess. We readily agreed. In total Bill had eight hikers at his place that night, all happy to be dry and not hiking in that mess. Bill pulled me aside that evening and gave me a wonderful "concerned grandpa" speech. We discussed my travels to Nepal (he has been there multiple times!), my ambitions, my desires, my plans for the future, my strengths, etc. Bill said that I needed to use my brain more (rather than just my heart) in the future, that I was smarter than I think I am, and most emphatically that I should go to graduate school. In the morning Bill brewed us a huge pot of coffee and we sat around his kitchen table eating pop-tarts, a hiker breakfast staple. Upon hearing that it was my birthday he broke out more ice cream, this time with chocolate syrup and cookies! I am totally enamored with him and totally want to be the ice cream lady when I am retired!My birthday is the other event worth mentioning. I turned 35 yesterday! So much fun to celebrate it on the trail! Last night we lit sparklers, everyone at the shelter sang to me, and we stayed up way past hiker midnight (that is 9pm to all you flatlanders) to watch the stars. A section hiker that I had just met that day whipped out some freeze dried desserts and made them for everyone to share so I kind of had a cake too! Normally I get super depressed and teary on my birthday. Just a reminder that yet another year has gone by without me having accomplished anything of significance. I felt very different this year though. I was not sad for a single minute. Even the hiking was super lovely, virtually flat with lots of pine needles to pad our feet as we walked along. The trail in this section is so much easier it is astounding. We hiked a total of 16.1 miles yesterday and I barely broke a sweat. I know the trail won't stay this way forever, but felt like it was a really nice birthday present from the trail and enjoyed every step. We got to Hanover this morning for a resupply and will cross the border into Vermont tomorrow! Yet another state down! Maine and New Hampshire are supposed to be the hardest states on the trail. I'm super proud to have made it through them. There is a saying that at this point a SOBO has completed 20% of the trail but has put forth 80% of the effort. That sounds great to me. To start with the toughest part of such a journey is one thing. To have made is this far and be eager to continue on for another 1700 miles is another. I'm over the top excited to get back on the trail and find my next adventure!