Date: 2015-09-14
From: Kinsman Pond Shelter

To: Greenleaf Hut
Miles today: 11.5

When I woke up it was cold, windy and raining, no other hiker had arrived during the night so it added to the few nights that I had a shelter to myself. The conditions outside were a not so great way to start the day. I didn't want to get out of my warm and cozy sleeping bag, knowing that I'd have to change into my hiking clothes and rainsuit. I grudgingly got up and changed quickly then made breakfast and my go juice - coffee! I was soon feeling warm and alive and was more ready to venture forth into the rain. The going was slow due to the wet conditions as the trail was a muddy mess and even a stream at times and I had to rock hop as to avoid wet feet in this cold and wet conditions. The trail descended from the shelter to the Lonesome Lake Hut where the greeter was friendly until she found that I was a thru-hiker and then she got cold and distant so I didn't buy anything and just left and pressed on. The rocks were slippery which slowed me down further but I pushed on against growing winds and colder temps. I passed the Franconia Notch and began my assault of the Franconia Ridge and beyond. I began to worry after passing Little Haystack Mountain that I had bitten off more than I could chew as I was getting very cold and couldn't seem to warm up, even with frequent snacks to boost my metabolism. Hitting Mt. Lincoln I began taking frequent breaks whenever there was a grove of stunted pine trees along the trail to shelter me from the wind. Out of the wind it was much warmer. I didn't know it but I was slowly becoming hypothermic and just shrugged it off as exhaustion. Not long before the summit of Mt. Lafayette as I was taking shelter in a cluster of pines when out of nowhere a fellow thru-hiker showed up. We commiserated about the weather after introductions. His trail name was Honey and upon hearing his accent, found that he was from French Quebec. We started hiking together and it was soon obvious to him that I wasn't doing well. When we reached the summit I was prepared to press on to the Garfield Ridge Shelter, but Honey strongly urged me to go with him on the one mile side trail to the Greenleaf hut. It took some persuading, but he talked me into going so we set off in 70 mph driving wind and rain. I couldn't keep up so Honey stopped and told me to go ahead and he walked behind and talked to me the whole way to make sure that I made it to the hut. They were surprised that anyone would be out in that weather and told us to wait after we asked for a work for stay. I gave the "cru" the beers that I had packed in as I had heard that they appreciated that, which they did. They were serving dinner so we warmed up with some coffee and changed into our dry clothes, hanging the wet ones on hooks in the bathroom to dry. Once I started warming up my foggy thoughts cleared up and I realized how much trouble that I had been in. I found that the armpit vents on my rain jacket had been open and so my body heat had been escaping instead of being trapped by the jacket! I was glad that Honey had come along or I probably would have died of exposure! As it was we were given, grudgingly, work for stay and I cleaned out ice from a freezer that was being taken over by ice and helped finish the dishes after we had eaten. I apparently did the unspoken taboo of plugging in my phone without permission among the other phones plugged in there and the "cru" became more rude after that. While working I learned that Honey's real name was Olivier Boule, who was from Montreal. I thanked him for saving my life and he received it modestly, somewhat downplaying the whole thing. It was late, about 9:30 before everyone went to bed and we could start getting ready for bed ourselves. I was so exhausted that I just put my sleeping bag on the bench and went to sleep, not having enough energy or will for the sleeping pad.