Date: 2011-08-31
From: Rt 2 Rattle River Gorham NH

To: Franconia Notch NH
Miles today: 74.6
Weather: overcast clouds

Our first ten days of hiking (8/31-9/9/11) in NH from Rt 2/Gorham/Rattle River to Franconia Notch has had many enjoyable moments.8/31/11When we first started 8/31/11 with the most challenging hike of the stretch--Wild Cat Mountain, we weren't sure we could keep hiking the AT because it was so hard. We wished we had followed my thought to leave the pack at the base of the Ski Resort Gondola. We could have ridden the gondola down to pick it up after the first hard climb and saved a lot of energy to continue the rest of the peaks. But we weren't sure if it would be safe or not, and thought we might finish earlier than they opened (10am). So our shuttler Bruce Feige took us to the beginning of our hike at Pinkham Notch Visitor center at 8:15am. We didn't get to the top of the first peak til 12:30pm, taking 4 hours to hike up 3 miles. However, we had beautiful views of Mt. Washington and surrounding mountains the higher we climbed. Then it took us another 3 hours to hike the remaining 3 miles up and down to Carter Notch. We had difficulty finding Carter Notch Hut as water from the lake was overflowing the rock path, there were no markings on the trees, and we couldn't see the hut from where we were and didn't know which direction other than the arrow which pointed into the water. I called out and a hiker coming down the path helped direct us. We enjoyed staying at the hut, meeting through hikers and other guests, delicious food (especially lentil walnut burgers), watching stars after nightfall, and playing scrabble with a couple and their two boys ages 8 and 10. The 3 wool blankets and pillows kept us warm and we had the 8 person bunk room in a building all to ourselves since there was only a total of 6 guests.9/1/11We were challenged again by the climb out of Carter Notch one mile up to Carter Dome as it was so steep and our packs were heavier than we were used to carrying. It took us two hours which included breaks to rest, which we don't usually take on our normal AT hikes. We started out at 6am and ended our 15.2 mile hike to Rattle River in Gorham at 6:30pm. We found a restaurant to eat a quick dinner before we went back to our Bartlett lodging to prepare for our next day hike. What was really nice about the Bartlett vacation condo rental was the huge hot tub in the Club House. It was like a small pool where I could float on my back and swim to the other side.9/2/11 We decided that since it was downhill we should be able to hike the 13 miles from Mt. Washington summit to Pinkham Notch. Bob Isaakson (who resembled Jack Nicholson when he smiled) shuttled us to the top. We chatted with thru hikers who had just summitted before we began our descent. We saw great views with clouds under the mountain tops, including views of Wildcat Mountain. There was very little wind.The rocks were like rock piles of volcanic rock, very treacherous and every step had to be planted very carefully. It seemed to take forever to go very short distances. It got somewhat better down the trail but not too much.By the time we finally found Madison Spring Hut 5.8 miles down, we decided we probably wouldn't make it by dark to the bottom and we didn't want to risk getting lost even with our headlamps. We were told by the hut that they only had one bed (already full with 51 guests) but when I explained it was just two of us and weren't sure we could make it down, they said they would make it work and gave us two beds. We were able to pick bottom bunks in a room with a view. We got to have hot vegetarian soup before we took a nap. We got up when we heard there was a moose to watch .3 mile up a path to a pond above the hut. That was so cool! She just hung out there and we enjoyed resting and taking in the lovely scenery. We had a delicious dinner which included sweet potato pancakes for us vegetarians. The hut gave work for stay to 8 through hikers but several more had to be turned away. They ended up staying by the pond where it was very windy and with the moose who nudged them in their tent. Lights out and quiet hours in the hut are at 9:30pm.9/3/11<br>Woke up early around 5:30am when another lady started rustling in her bag. Normal wake up isn¢t until 6:30am for a 7am breakfast. We were going to try to leave early to beat what looked like rain coming. However, lightening and thunder came before we could get out the door, so we stayed for breakfast and waited til the lightening had stopped. We left in the rain with our raingear climbing .8 mile up Mt. Madison on very slippery rocks. By the time we got to the top, the rain had stopped but it was extremely windy and we struggled to keep our balance. On the way down, Dave¢s foot caught on a rock and he went face down causing a bloody nose, scrapes and bruises. But he was quickly on the mend and we resumed our hike to the finish line at Pinkham Notch.After having two successful experiences with the huts, we decided we should do the huts all the way through the presidential range in the White Mountains. We made reservations at the AMC reservation center in Joe Dodge Lodge. We had pizza on the way to our condo and enjoyed the hot tub again after packing up for the next day¢s hike.9/4/11We were up at 4:30 am to meet our shuttler Bob Isaakson so we could set up our car at Crawford Notch and get back to the auto road by 7:30am for our ride up to Mt Washington summit. The ride was longer because of the bridge on 302 being washed out south of the trailhead. It took us over an hour instead of 20 minutes because of the detour. We met thru hikers--Veggie and Square¢before we began our descent, now heading North to South on the AT with a reservation at Mitzpah Hut for the night. We were now getting used to the rocky terrain and figuring out how to maneuver them more effectively. We still basically averaged around a mile an hour instead of our usual 30 minute miles. We had beautiful views of the various mountain ranges. We stopped at Lake of the Clouds Hut on the way down, taking time to eat an apple. We had to pack out our apple core as they weren¢t composting any more due to the closing season. The trail got easier on our way down past various presidential mountains including Eisenhower and Clinton. The alpine vegetation was different ¢ grass with orange tops and short pine trees. The pine scent was prominent on most of our hikes.We enjoyed hot soup at Mitzpah Hut when we arrived around 1:30pm. We took a nap before dinner of vegetarian lasagna, broccoli, corn chowder, salad and bread. Rain began around dinner time and continued intermittently. We played scrabble before retiring.9/5/11We got an early breakfast and left Mitzpah Hut at 6:35am in the rain since we had to get home early to pack and check out of our Bartlett condo. The rain didn¢t last too long but the slippery treacherous rocks did. There were steep vertical rock faces to scale, especially on the Webster Cliffs. We met several thru-hikers going north including Fish and Lemon and Diamond Dave, and Chicago Bull and Jung going South.When we finally reached Crawford Notch, we drove to AMC Highland Center where we gave two Mitzpah guests¢Dave and Kevin Rydell from Virginia¢a ride to Pinkham Notch. We stopped for fudge along the way. We reserved our final huts and ate Mexican dinner in Bartlett. Then we packed everything so we could check out in the morning and used the giant hot tub one last time. Unfortunately the smoke detector went off with a deafening loud noise and we had to get the front desk to send a maintenance person. He detached it and installed a new one just in time for me to watch my television series before we went to bed.9/6/11 We were up at 5:15am to meet our shuttler Bruce Feige in the rain. We parked our car at Franconia Notch and shuttled back to Crawford Notch to begin our hike 7 miles to Zealand Falls Hut. We hiked in the rain up two miles of trail where the water was running down it. Then we found ourselves more on a flat stretch with bog bridges and rock hopped to avoid stepping in swampy water for what seemed forever. The rain finally stopped. We met a couple we had seen at Mitzpah Hut and took a side trail with them to see Thoreau Falls which were orange/red color from iron and copper in the ground.We were happy to arrive at Zealand Falls Hut, enjoyed the falls beside the hut, and hung all our wet shoes and gear out to try to dry before we lost the sun. We played scrabble after eating some hot soup. Enjoyed listening to the radio station playing Simon and Garfinkle music while looking at the views from the dining room.We met a thru-hiker called Frenchie from Canada who was hiking with his dog named Micah. His dog lost his pack of dog food due to snagging it on bushes along the way. Some other hikers agreed to take him from Crawford Notch to Twin Mt to get him some dog food so he could continue hiking.We met thru-hikers BamBam, Rocket Man, Jen and James and played scrabble with them after they finished their work-for-stay chores. Our dinner that night included gourmet pizzas¢one with goat cheese and pesto sauce, another with mozzarella, tomato sauce and veggies. We had a room to ourselves since there were only 6 overnight guests and got a good night¢s sleep.9/7/11Enjoyed breakfast of eggs, apple cake and juice before leaving Zealand Hut to hike 7 miles to Galehead Hut. We hiked in the rain most of the way up long gradual climbs. On the summits it was cold and windy and we felt like we might be blown away. We were happy to see a sign which said Galehead Hut was only .9 miles, but it took us an hour to get down the steep incline with slippery rock faces.When we walked into Galehead Hut there were several people there. I asked loudly where the hot tub and fireplace was, but no one seemed to appreciate my humor. We checked in and had hot soup while talking to two guests who live in the southside of Richmond, VA¢Mary Beth, a dentist, and Thunder Chicken, an accountant. They¢ve been section hiking the AT like us for years and are working their way north. There were only supposed to be six registered guests for the night, but a group of teenagers from a private school on an Outdoor Education field trip came in. The hut agreed to help them out by giving them bunk beds for the night, but not meals because they didn¢t have enough food and the teachers couldn¢t afford the regular price.Everyone was wet and it was the coldest we¢ve been in a hut. I ended up wrapping one of the wool blankets around me while we talked and played scrabble after dinner.   One of the guests named Nancy was hard of hearing and knew sign language, so we got to talk a lot together. Her friend Dave was a volunteer maintainer and had his dog with him. Jay, a scientist who was hiking a loop and staying overnight, played scrabble with us as well. Dave and I got to have a room to ourselves again and slept well until a pump started making knocking sounds around 6:15am before the 6:30am wakeup call.9/8/11After breakfast, we put on our wet socks and shoes and damp outerwear to begin our 7-8 mile hike for the day to Greenleaf Hut. We climbed Mt. Garfield which had a waterfalls flowing down our white blazed trail on these vertical faced rocks. We had footholds but they were all pretty much in the water which sprayed on our raingear as we climbed cautiously to the top. We saw leeches on some of the rocks after the waterfall and I was glad we were headed for a hut.It was Unity¢s World Day of Prayer and we continued our hike in prayer. We felt our prayers were answered as the skies cleared and we were starting to dry out. We thought we were near the summit of our final climb up Mt. Lafayette, but saw from a distance the Franconia Ridge and knew we had not even begun the climb. We finally reached what we thought was the summit only to find even more climbing to reach the top. We enjoyed the views as we walked, more mountain peaks with clouds going in and out. When we finally did reach Mt. Lafayette summit, there were swarms of bugs which we had not encountered in our first several days hiking.We started descending the long 1.1 mile rocky path to Greenleaf Hut with another couple from Canada¢an HR staffer with whom I discussed hiring people with disabilities. She said Canada had enacted a law to benefit people with disabilities and I let her know how about the resources we had.When we reached the hut, we had a great view of the Franconia Ridge which we would be hiking the next day. We had a delicious dinner of Morrocan lentil soup, cheese bread, and burrito bar with butterscotch bread for dessert. We enjoyed talking with the other 9 guests and watched the sunset, stars and almost full moon.9/9/11We woke to a clear but very windy morning. The staffers performed a skit pretending to be cowboys on their horses (large flour bins). They talked about a guy named Jed who had been shot for walking off the trail into the preserved alpine plant area and how they packed all their trash out and folded their blankets just so. They were funny.After breakfast we began the long hill up the 1.1 mile Greenleaf side trail to get back on the AT at the top of Lafayette Mountain. On the way, the wind became very strong. As I picked up one foot to take a step, it forced me back to where I thought I was going to lose my balance. I pushed ahead and made it to the top. We had intermittent forceful gusts as we summitted from the dips in the trail. We climbed over Mt. Lincoln and Little Haystack. There were alpine plants on the side of the trail with lots of rocks and breath-taking views throughout the hike.We met a thru- hiker with a 4 month old black cat heading north and took his picture. We saw some day hikers with some beautiful dogs out for the day. When we finally reached the end of our day, our shoes had dried with all the wind and we made our way from Franconia Notch, NH, to Fairlee, VT.We had lovely views of the lake and surrounding mountains from our vacation rental house near Lake Morie. We saw stars and full moon again after having dinner at Bailey¢s in town. It was great to take a shower and put on clean clothes after hiking 4 days without them. It was nice to see Dave clean shaven again.9/10/11We slept til 8am today, had French toast for breakfast, and proceeded to research what hikes we can and can¢t do while we¢re here. We have our next hikes for 9/11-16 planned and are still trying to decide whether to stay longer or come home. VT is just not doable at this time with the Green Mt Forest closed and multiple road closures. Enjoyed a two mile walk to the lake and back. Had chili and rice for lunch, salad for dinner, and banana split for dessert. Finished our journal and are ready to turn in. Will hike the famous Mt. Moosilauke 9.5 miles from Kinsman Notch to Glencliff tomorrow.