Date: 2006-08-13
From: Garfield Ridge Campsite

To: US-302 Crawford Notch 
Miles today: 17.4
Weather: fog

Last night was pretty cold and this morning was no different. Sleeping on the elevated tent platforms at Garfield Ridge Campsite give a nice flat place to set up our tents that leaves less impact on the landscape but with air circulating underneath your tent all night makes it difficult to get warm when the temperatures are below freezing. I unzipped my tent and Chardonnay, Jangles, H-Bomb, and Shasta were already all out moving around. As I looked over at Chardonnay¢s tent all I could see inside was Leon¢s eyes. He was still buried inside his mummy bag and wasn¢t going to budge anytime soon. I made a few morning groans as I emerged from my sleeping bag when the rush of cold air entered and quickly started moving to get warm. I fired up my alcohol stove and boiled a couple of cups of water for hot chocolate and oatmeal. While this was steeping I packed up my tent and joked around with Chardonnay about how she was doing a good job while Leon watched. About that time the AMC caretaker for the site stopped by and gave us a weather report for the day. He said it was not going to get much above the mid 40s today and to expect wind on the ridges. I finished up breakfast and stopped by the shelter on the way out of the campsite to find Donkey and Hot Springs. They had hiked in after us last night and gone straight to bed after a long hike yesterday to catch up with the rest of us. The short hike back over to the AT was a good sign of what was to come today as most of it was jagged rock. As soon as the two trails joins the AT took a steep descend down. Galehead Hut was only 2.5 miles so Jane and I stuck together for most of the way staying clear of H-bomb and Shasta. The reasoning behind this was we were trying to get cell phone service to give Charles a call. He was driving up from Washington D.C. to make a surprise visit to see H-bomb tonight. We were able to reach him and make final plans to meet us at Crawford notch on US-302. We also gave him a list of things to pickup at a local outfitter before joining us for the night. Just ahead was a small clearing and in the middle was Galehead Hut to which we eagerly entered to escape the wind. On the out side of the hut was typical cedar shake siding trimmed out in green while the inside was all finished with nicely varnished wood. I notice these things due to the construction degree and increasing interests in cabins. We made ourselves at home and for roughly a dollar enjoyed all the hot chocolate we could drink thanks to the Croo here. We checked the weather charts recorded by the weather station located on the hut and the lows were in the 20s last night with winds from 10-25 mph throughout the night. No wonder we were cold. I topped off my hot chocolate one last time and decided to get moving. We still had just under 15 miles to Crawford notch and we had to be there tonight. The next seven miles were fine hiking over South Twin Mountain and Mount Guyot to Zealand Falls Hut. Just before the hut we crossed over Whitewall Brook and found an interesting apparatus on the creek bank. It was red in color and made a few revolutions per minute as it supplied hydroelectric power to the hut just down stream. I studied this thing for a while and then hopped a couple of rocks down to the hut porch. I found this hut to be a little more interesting than the last as the floor plan was quite different. The most interesting part though was the postcard view from the front porch. The porch overlooked a long valley and the contrast between the green forest and bright blue skies made for a picture perfect setting. I took a couple of pictures and found my way inside for lunch. Today the croo had put together a chicken noodle soup and after such a chilly morning this hit the spot. I found myself returning to the soup line multiple times until the pot was empty. I rested on the porch for a while and caught up with Low Gear, Chardonnay, Leon, Jangles, Shasta, H-bomb, Donkey, and Hot Springs before leaving. We made H-bomb lead the way from the hut down along side Whitewall Mountain. This section of the trail was extremely flat compared to the surrounding areas on the trail. After reading some in the guidebook this was explained because the trail follows the old railroad bed that runs into the nearby town down US-302. As we neared the trailhead at Crawford notch we were all excited as Charles was supposed to be there waiting. The last that I had talked to him this morning he had directions, had located the trailhead on the map and was within a couple of hours of arriving. However when we reached the road there was no Charles. Shasta grabs a phone and attempts to make a call to Charles but being down in the Notch no service was available. At this time H-bomb was still clueless to the plan and all she wanted to do was hitch a ride into town to get a bit to eat so we could return before dark to set up camp. She could not figure out why we were avoiding her in her efforts. She got a little discouraged and took a seat on her pack as we all just screwed around in a since of disorganization. About that time a car pulled up beside that looked like Charles¢s, it had D.C. plates like Charles¢s, and there was a guy inside that looked like Charles. We were all over this by this time and then it finally hit her that it was CHARLES. She was a bit surprised as our plan and days of planning had worked. He loaded up the girls in the car and ran them down to down as Baro and I stayed behind to catch the second load. They had been gone about 10-15 minutes when several passing cars began to pull off to the side of the road about and eighth of a mile away. People began to pile out and take pictures of something just in the edge of the woods. Baro and I looked at each other and at the same time said ¢moose¢. We picked up our packs and took off down the road. Sure enough off on the side of the road in a small swampland stood a female moose grazing on swamp muck. I found this most interesting and snapped off a couple of pictures of the moose before starting to take pictures of all the people that had stopped to take pictures. The moose made its way into the wood line and most everyone started to clear out when Charles arrived. We hoped in and headed to town to meet up with the girls. They were resupplying in a convenience store where we also picked up a couple of items before walking over to Fabyan's Station/ The Three Crown Restaurant at Mount Washington Resort. That was a mouth full and should have been a hint on the food that was too come. It was a rather nice place and we all felt a little under dressed and caught a little flaque from the waiter. He introduced himself as Gregory Boone and took our order with a bit of an attitude. He also quizzed us on our looks and what we were doing dressed like bums. After placing our order and serving it to the table he revealed that he was also a big time hiker and goes by the trail name of ¢Grizzly¢. He ended up being one of the coolest people that we have crossed this far on the trail and top this off treated us all to dinner. He just hoped that someone out on the west coast was treating his wife with the same kind of hospitality and trail magic because she was currently thru hiking on the P.C.T. ¢Pacific Crest Trail¢. Charles drove us back to the trailhead and by now it was completely dark. We decided to stealth camp next to the Saco River for the night and park Charles¢s car at the Crawford Notch Trailhead parking area. We made a short hike over the Saco River Bridge and camped along the riverbank for the night. After setting up camp I set out by the river for a few minutes and enjoyed the rare meteor showers that were happening tonight. Tonight at Crawford Notch: Jangles, Baro, Shasta, H-bomb, Charles, and I