Date: 2017-08-27
From: Eliza Brook Shelter 

To: Lonesome Lake Hut 
Miles today: 5.8
Weather: broken clouds

8/27Eliza Brook Shelter to Lonesome Lake Hut 5.8 milesTotal miles:  1813.7Note: I have now been able to upload photos from 8/24 through 8/27.I was up and moving early this morning, and Gravity, Polecat, and I were on the trail by 7:30.  I now understand the warnings about how much daily hiking distances are shortened in the Whites.  I read one account that maintains that when you reach New Hampshire, you have completed 80% of the mileage but have expended only 20% of the energy required to complete a thru hike.  I'm not sure that that is much of an exaggeration.  The difficulty of the terrain is why Gravity, Polecat, and I decided we would hike together and not just plan on stopping at the same place.  Our objective for today was to summit the south and north peaks of Kinsman Mountain and then aim for the Lonesome Lake Hut, which is operated by the Appalachian Mountain Club.  True to reports we received from people who have already hiked it, the trail up Kinsman Mountain was extremely steep and rocky, perhaps the most difficult ascent of the journey so far. It paralleled Eliza Brook for the first 0.8 miles, which cascades down the mountain with a myriad of small waterfalls. It was tough climbing, but along beautiful scenery. When it wasn't rocks, then it was roots.  Or mud. Or muddy rocks. There was very little of what you might call trail today, but we took it slow and steady, and I was able to enjoy the experience of being in the White Mountains after the 1,800 miles to get here.  I'm very happy that I did not try to push the extra distance yesterday, as it took several hours to cover the 2.5 miles from the shelter to the summit.  Near the summit, we shared lunch with Brother Buzz, Quarter Mile, and Tiny, who I met yesterday at Eliza Brook campground. Brother Buzz thru hiked in 2005, and Quarter Mile is close to completing her section hike.  Tiny is also section hiking. They are all seasoned hikers, and Brother Buzz and Quarter Mile have hiked extensively in the Whites and were a great source of information. I really enjoyed visiting with them both yesterday evening while we prepared our dinners, and today for lunch.  We shared the view from the summit with them, which was absolutely stunning. We could see down into the valley as well as mountains far into the distance. Brother Buzz pointed out where we had been as well as where we are going.  After enjoying the view and posing for photos, we continued on our way.  The trail in the saddle between the summits was not at severe as the ascent had been. The descent was also quite challenging, again through woods of spruce and pine, and it was 4:30 before we reached the Lonesome Lake Hut.  We stopped in for a bowl of soup and to see if there was an opportunity to stay or if we would need to continue on until we found a stealth campsite down the trail. We were offered an opportunity to work for stay. By volunteering to work for two hours after dinner is completed by the paying guests, we could eat leftovers and then sleep on the floor at no cost.  That sounded like a pretty good deal to me, and we opted to stay. Our services would not be required until around 7:30, so after eating our bowl of soup, we headed down to Lonesome Lake. The lake is beautiful and our upcoming mountains were showcased by the setting sun. Liberty was on the far right, Haystack, which looked taller because it is closer was to the left of center, and Lincoln and Lafayette were on the left. They were beautiful to look at now, and I'm sure they will be both beautiful and challenging to climb when we meet them up close and personal the day after tomorrow. The time passed quickly as we chatted with Steam, a fellow thru hiker who opted to work for stay.  From northern Georgia, he began his thru hike the day after I did, on April 8th. We've passed each other a few times before but haven't spent any time together before. He has a wonderful sense of humor, and we had a great time talking and laughing down by the lake. We also shared some time with Momma Duck who brought her babies up to introduce them while we waited. It's pretty obvious that she's used to handouts, but not only are there signs not to feed the ducks, we didn't have anything for them anyway.  As thru hikers, there are seldom leftovers, or even crumbs. It was around 8:00 when we were invited in for dinner. It was fabulous and consisted of stuffed pasta shells, green salad, pasta salad, bean soup, and berry cobbler for dessert. I went back for seconds on everything and added some vegetarian lasagna as well. While we ate, we chatted with several of the guests, most of whom shared stories of their love for the Whites.  After dinner, it was time for the "work" part of work for stay. Those who know me will not be surprised that I landed the job of head dishwasher.  For several years I have been an official "Dishwasher for Jesus" during our annual Knights of Columbus fish fries during Lent.  I immediately fell into my comfort zone and made short work of the pile of dirty dishes. Tracy, the head cook for today was impressed enough with our work to ask if we wanted to stay tomorrow as well, but we will have to be moving on. Special  thanks to Tracy and all of the crew at Lonesome Lake Hut for making me feel so welcome and feeding me so well. Our plan for tomorrow is to get an early start and to hike to the Liberty Springs trailhead to catch a ride with Tiny into Lincoln. There we will resupply and prepare to continue our very challenging, but so far very rewarding, journey through the Whites. Next up is the Presidential range.